Greyhound Canada

Greyhound Canada Transportation ULC is the Canadian affiliate of Greyhound USA, and part of the North American operations of FirstGroup.

Greyhound Canada
Motor Coach Industries 102DL3 in Toronto in October 2014
ParentFirstGroup
Founded1929
Headquarters1111 International Boulevard,
Burlington, Ontario
Service areaQuebec (Montreal) and Ontario (Southern Ontario), Canada
Service typeIntercity coach service
AllianceGreyhound Lines
Trailways of New York
Destinations1,200+
Hubs
Stations1,100+
Fleet436
Websitewww.greyhound.ca

Operations are confined to the provinces of Quebec and Ontario, providing services in the main centres such as Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Kingston, Barrie, London, Hamilton, Kitchener, Windsor, and Niagara Falls.

Greyhound Canada bus services are suspended since May 6, 2020 until further notice due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.

History
Pre-2009 logo
Motor Coach Industries D series in June 2011

In 1929, Greyhound Canada was founded as Canadian Greyhound Coaches Limited by George Fay and Speed Olson, operating first in Nelson, British Columbia and then Alberta.[1] It was sold to Greyhound USA in 1940. In 1948 it purchased a controlling interest in bus manufacturer Motor Coach Industries, taking full ownership in 1956.[2]

In 1992, Gray Coach was purchased from Stagecoach while control of Motor Coach Industries passed to Greyhound USA. In July 1996, Greyhound Air was established operating Boeing 727s.[3] In September 1997 the business was purchased by Laidlaw.[4] The Greyhound Air business was not included and shut down. Voyageur Colonial Bus Lines was purchased in 1998 followed shortly after by Penetang-Midland Coach Lines. In 2007 it was included in the purchase of Laidlaw by FirstGroup.[2][5]

On May 6, 2020, Greyhound Canada announced it would temporarily shut down all its remaining bus services effective May 13. The reason was a 95 percent drop in ridership due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. The shutdown would affect 400 employees. Greyhound had already reduced service on March 25 and suspended 6 routes on April 5.[6]

Western Canada service termination

In February 2018, Greyhound Canada received permission to terminate its two remaining routes on Vancouver Island running from Victoria, British Columbia to Nanaimo and Vancouver. Tofino Bus Services subsequently took over these two Greyhound routes.[7][8]

Greyhound Canada terminated service along Highway 16 between Prince George and Prince Rupert in British Columbia with the last run being on May 30, 2018. Greyhound said it was losing $35,000 per day on routes in Northern British Columbia and in parts of Vancouver Island, and had lost $70 million in the six years prior to 2018[9] At the time, BC Bus North stepped in to provide services between Fort Nelson, Prince Rupert, Prince George, Fort St. John and Dawson Creek.[10][11][12]

Greyhound Canada also terminated service from Prince George, British Columbia to Whitehorse, Yukon with the last trip from Whitehorse occurring on May 30, 2018.[13]

From 2014 to 2017, ridership along that part of the route between Dawson Creek and Fort Nelson had dropped from 18,307 to 9,647 passengers.[14]

Greyhound Canada announced on July 9, 2018 that it was cancelling all services west of Sudbury, Ontario. The sole remaining route between Vancouver and Seattle would be operated by Greyhound USA. Greyhound Canada claimed the cancellations were due to declining ridership, which dropped 41% nationwide since 2010 and 8% in Western Canada alone in 2017. The cancellations took effect on October 31, 2018.[15] Greyhound said that the decline in ridership was due to increased car ownership, subsidies to competing passenger carriers, competition from low-cost airlines and regulatory restrictions.[16]

Routes

Regular service

Greyhound Canada's scheduled bus service operates only in two Canadian provinces, namely Ontario and Quebec.

Connections to US destinations are available, primarily through Greyhound USA, although there is direct service to New York City, Detroit and other cities in states bordering Canada via Greyhound Canada.

For travel into areas not served by Greyhound, passengers may need to transfer onto other bus lines which have inter-line agreements with Greyhound:

Prevost in QuickLink branding in 2008

In Southern Ontario, Greyhound operates a commuter service known as 'QuickLink Commuter Service'.[17] A list of cities served by this service:

Greyhound Courier Express
Greyhound Courier Express vehicle

Greyhound Courier Express is a courier company run by Greyhound Canada. It provides courier and freight service to more than 1,100 destinations across Canada and internationally by bus or air.

Stations
Main article: List of Greyhound Bus stations

Fleet

As at October 2018, Greyhound operated 436 vehicles, but it has an extended fleet through connecting operators:[18]

Greyhound Canada's fleet:

Product list and details
 Make/Model   Description   Fleet size   Year acquired   Year retired   Notes 
Motor Coach Industries D4505 suburban coach 42 2006 Active
Motor Coach Industries G4500 suburban coach 65 2002 2014
Motor Coach Industries D4500 suburban coach N/A 2001-2002 Active
Motor Coach Industries 102EL3 suburban coach N/A 2000 2015
Motor Coach Industries 102C3 suburban coach 76 1991 2011
Motor Coach Industries 102D3 suburban coach 20 1994-1996 2015
Motor Coach Industries 102DL3 suburban coach 189 1994-2000 Active
Prevost Car H3-45 suburban coach 2 1995 2018 Most retired and sold in 2016
Prevost Car X3-45 suburban coach 17/54 2008/2010-14 Active 2008 Prevost transferred from Greyhound Lines in Oct.2014. 2014 Prevost transferred from First Canada in Mar.2018.

denotes wheelchair accessible vehicles

Historic

Most buses are registered in Alberta and bear the province's license plates. In Ontario, Voyageur buses and some Greyhound buses have Ontario plates.

Older buses sport the old colours of the American parent, but the current scheme is a white base with large greyhound image on the front and sides with a large light grey wording Greyhound on the sides (now the old scheme for the rest of the Greyhound operations).

Transmissions

From the 1985 model year 96A3 to the 1995 model year D4000 and D4500 (102D(L)3), as well as the first Prevost H3-45 coaches, Greyhound Canada specified manual transmissions in all their intercity coaches. At first, five speed Eaton Fuller transmissions were equipped in all 96A3 and 102A3 coaches. Beginning with the 1989 model year 102C3SS coaches, Greyhound Canada specified seven speed manual transmissions.

Allison B500 and B500Rs have been used on coaches equipped with Automatic transmissions until the D4505s which use the ZF-AStronic (automatic standard) transmission.

Unions

Notable incidents and accidents
  • December 23, 2000: An attempted hijacking of a Greyhound Canada bus near Thunder Bay, Ontario left one woman dead and 31 others injured.[19]
  • July 30, 2008: Tim McLean, a passenger on an Edmonton to Winnipeg schedule, was beheaded by another passenger near Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. The attacker was arrested at the scene and charged with second-degree murder, but later found to be not criminally responsible by reason of insanity.[19][20][21][22][23][24] Greyhound Canada withdrew ads with the slogan There's a reason you've never heard of "bus rage" following the event, citing that the campaign was "no longer appropriate".[25]
  • September 21, 2008: A young man was attacked by another passenger on a Greyhound Canada schedule in northwestern Ontario. Police arrested a 28-year-old man near the town of White River, about 300 kilometres (190 mi) north of Sault Ste. Marie, shortly after the bus driver let him get off at the side of the highway.[26]
  • December 16, 2010: A Toronto Transit Commission 505 Dundas streetcar was heading eastbound at River Street when it crashed into a Greyhound Canada bus after running a red traffic signal. 17 passengers, including 4 schoolchildren, received serious, but non-life-threatening injuries.[27]

References
  1. Foran, Max (1982). Calgary, Canada's frontier metropolis : an illustrated history. Windsor Publications. p. 322. ISBN 0-89781-055-4.
  2. Historical Timeline Greyhound Canada
  3. Greyhound Starts Discount Airline in Canada Business Travel News November 25, 1996
  4. Laidlaw plans to buy Greyhound Canada for $72 million New York Times September 3, 1997
  5. FirstGroup buys Greyhound buses BBC News February 9, 2007
  6. Dickson, Janice (May 6, 2020). "Greyhound Canada announces temporary shutdown of remaining routes". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  7. "Tofino Bus Services to take over Greyhound routes on Vancouver Island". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. February 25, 2018. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
  8. CBC News (February 25, 2018). "Tofino Bus Services to take over Greyhound routes on Vancouver Island". CHEK News. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  9. "Greyhound makes final passenger trip on B.C.'s Highway of Tears". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. June 23, 2018. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  10. Joseph, Rebecca (9 July 2018). "What are the alternatives to Greyhound in Western Canada? | Globalnews.ca". globalnews.ca. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  11. Boynton, Sean (25 April 2019). "B.C. strikes deal with Ottawa to keep funding BC Bus North on routes that Greyhound abandoned | Globalnews.ca". globalnews.ca. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  12. Little, Simon (29 May 2018). "B.C. announces new northern bus service to replace Greyhound | Globalnews.ca". globalnews.ca. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  13. Dougherty, Michael (July 11, 2018). "Without the Greyhound bus, it'll be much more difficult to discover Canada". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
  14. "Transportation board approves Greyhound route cuts in Northeast B.C." Alaska Highway News. February 21, 2018. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
  15. "Greyhound cancels most of its routes in Western Canada". Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  16. "Greyhound Canada to end service in Prairies, B.C., eliminating 415 jobs — and leaving small towns in the lurch". Financial Post. 2018-07-09. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  17. "Greyhound.ca -". Greyhound.ca. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  18. Fleet Greyhound Canada
  19. Archived December 16, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  20. Archived August 5, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  21. "Beheading suspect in court - CTV News". CTVNews. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  24. Archived August 5, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  25. "Bus suspect utters death wish - CTV News". CTVNews. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  26. Archived September 26, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  27. Doucette, Chris (17 December 2010). "Bus driver charged in crash with streetcar". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
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