Greyhound rival crafts alternate bus plan
Nov. 1 deadline looming for Greyhound pull-out from routes in west
Last Updated: Saturday, October 24, 2009 | 1:39 PM ET
CBC News
Travellers board a Greyhound bus at the company's terminal at the James Richardson Airport in Winnipeg. (John Woods/CP)A Winnipeg-based bus line says it can run routes to various rural and northern parts of Manitoba if the provincial government can cover start-up costs of about $8 million a year for three years.
Greyhound says it will shut down routes in Northern Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan if it does not receive $15 million annually in financial assistance. The company said it will not operate past Nov. 1 without the government aid.
The alternate service plan, led by Gerry Boutin of Boutin Bus lines, would offer passenger and freight service provided by his company together with other lines.
"We have a lot of experienced people to do this, we're not going in blindly," Gerry Boutin told CBC News on Friday. "Our cost would be around $8 million a year to operate. And within three years we believe we can turn around this company and make it profitable so it could stand on its own."
Boutin is a former Greyhound employee. His company is already contracted by Greyhound to run some rural Manitoba routes.
He said the alternate service would operate from a downtown Winnipeg terminal and suggested the VIA Rail station as a possibility.
Boutin said he believed some of Greyhound's decline in trips can be linked to its new location at the Winnipeg airport.
Boutin's business plan has not been formally presented to the province.
Provincial government officials have meetings with Greyhound set for next week.
About 200 Greyhound employees in Manitoba stand to lose their jobs if the bus line pulls out for good.
