B.C. man aims to put brakes on Greyhound's northern departure, cites procedural error by PTB

A Kaslo, B.C., man is putting up one last stop sign before Greyhound drives away from northern British Columbia, by applyingfor a delay in the bus company's departure.

AndyShadrackhas applied to B.C. Passenger Transportation Board to halt the bus line's pullout from the North until at least May 2019, arguing that enough time wasn't give for a new business to organize and step in.

The PTB approved Greyhound's application to leave the regionearlier this year. Service is set toend in less than two months and the province has no possible replacements on the table yet.

"We've had a bus service in the Interior of the province for 90 years.You just can't change that in the snap of a finger," Shadrack said.

"That's where I think the Passenger Transportation Board made a serious procedural error."

The PTB acknowledged receiving Shadrack's request for reconsideration of the decision and said that, according to the Passenger Transportation Act, the board may change or repeal a decision if there is sufficient evidence ofan error of procedure.

The board should have consulted with local governments to negotiate a timeframe that would have allowed a different bus service to be put in place, Shadracktold Carolina de Ryk, the host of CBC's Daybreak North.

"The original decision was to abandon six routes in the north and three route segments in the south on 100 days notice," he said. "That's abandoning 70 per cent of the province."

'Common sense'

Greyhound said declining ridership is causing it to lose about $35,000 a day in B.C., with total financial losses of roughly $70 million over the past six years.

The routes targeted for elimination are operating with the biggest losses. TheyincludePrince Rupert to Prince George, Prince George to Valemount, Prince George to Dawson Creek, and Dawson Creek to Whitehorse via Fort Nelson.

B.C. Transportation Minister Claire Trevena toldDaybreak North last week that she doubts a replacement solution will be found by June 1, when Greyhound plans to end its service.

"All around, we need to have common sense prevail and allow a decent amount of time to try and put something in place," said Shadrack.

Greyhound filed its submission to the board on Friday in response to Shadrack's application.

He is waiting to hear back from the board about whether there is sufficient evidence for them to reconsider their decision.

With files from Daybreak North.