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Greyhound in the news


A. Wong

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Greyhound has been given approval by the BC Transportation board to Eliminate Route Q the cross water Nanaimo to Vancouver service. It will operate as a connector bus, which means Greyhound can do as it pleases without going through anyone. So that means we could see them maintain their current 2 schedules on ferry and 4 pick and drop or we could see one pick and drop a day and one bus on the ferry, who knows Greyhound can do as they want, We could even see NO buses on the ferry and all pick and drop service. This is going to be a great inconvenience to many,especially seniors! Whatever Greyhound "Feels" their is a market demand for they will do it.

I think Pacific Coach Lines is going to see an increase in business going to the Island. I know I would take them to Victoria then take the bus to Nanaimo and go that way if I was goin up Island as I hate walkin on/off the ferry...too many people if ur their at the Wrong time,such a hassle! I will pay extra for convenience as will many others!

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I think Pacific Coach Lines is going to see an increase in business going to the Island. I know I would take them to Victoria then take the bus to Nanaimo and go that way if I was goin up Island as I hate walkin on/off the ferry...too many people if ur their at the Wrong time,such a hassle! I will pay extra for convenience as will many others!

That may be. But Pacific Coach Lines has recently filed for a reduction in the minimum number of trips on this route too. How will that effect travel to and from the Island?

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That may be. But Pacific Coach Lines has recently filed for a reduction in the minimum number of trips on this route too. How will that effect travel to and from the Island?

Pacific Coach Lines has indeed filed for a reduction in service, however not nearly as drastic as Greyhound! Right now here is how PCL's frequency would be;

PEAK SEASON; Current 13 individual ferry trips(pretty much all the regular sailings,plus any extras) to 8 trips per day which is all the odd hour sailings only and none of the Extra summer sailings.

OFF PEAK; Current is daily except Fri&Sun 7 trips reduce to 6. Fri and Sun only reduce from 9 trips to 6. And Vancouver Airport reduce from 7 to 6.

So basically PCL just wont have any buses on the First and Last Sailings of the day in the off season, but they are free to add buses on those trips during School breaks and long weekends if they want! So basically PCL is where Greyhound was when they took over the Island service in 2005. BUT one big difference PCL markets their service like mad and they have many different packages for people travelling across the water. Like Greyhound could have increased business by offering Whistler Mtn ski packages from Nanaimo/Island or promoting the run offering discounts in off season.haha!

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BUT one big difference PCL markets their service like mad and they have many different packages for people travelling across the water. Like Greyhound could have increased business by offering Whistler Mtn ski packages from Nanaimo/Island or promoting the run offering discounts in off season.haha!

I can't argue with you there. I have wondered many a time why Greyhound isn't marketing their product more. I guess they think the general public takes them for granted or something. The last time I saw any sort of marketing campaign from Greyhound was back when we would see those billboards saying, "No one ever heard of Bus rage." That quickly disappeared after one incident in Manitoba.

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Greyhound has been given approval by the BC Transportation board to Eliminate Route Q the cross water Nanaimo to Vancouver service. It will operate as a connector bus, which means Greyhound can do as it pleases without going through anyone. So that means we could see them maintain their current 2 schedules on ferry and 4 pick and drop or we could see one pick and drop a day and one bus on the ferry, who knows Greyhound can do as they want, We could even see NO buses on the ferry and all pick and drop service. This is going to be a great inconvenience to many,especially seniors! Whatever Greyhound "Feels" their is a market demand for they will do it.

I just checked the British Columbia Passenger Transportation Board website and they still say a decision is pending. Where did you get this information from?

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  • 4 weeks later...
I know this is old but still here is some more info

http://busride.com/2011/01/refurbishment-c...d-and-nappanee/

I do remember reading this article, but I wonder if it includes the Canadian buses too...one would think cause I dont think Greyhound US has 2200 buses alone,especially 600 MCI coaches. It looks to me like those numbers are for the entire Canada and US operation.

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From looking at various web pages I was able to come up with a fleet size of around 2000, included in that number are the fleets of U.S. Greyhound, Greyhound Canada & Bolt. According to http://www.greyhound.com/en/about/factsandfigures.aspx Greyhound U.S. has a total of 1253 MCI's. I should look up the fleet sizes of Valley Transit and Americanos.

Valley Transit has a fleet of 60 bu I can't find stats for the other

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  • 7 months later...
I do remember reading this article, but I wonder if it includes the Canadian buses too...one would think cause I dont think Greyhound US has 2200 buses alone,especially 600 MCI coaches. It looks to me like those numbers are for the entire Canada and US operation.

As far as I know only 1 Greyhound Canada bus has been refurbished, which is Unit# 251 with Manitoba Plates. You'll see it mostly at the Toronto Coach Terminal.

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aren't the ones in the 11XX series, Canadian units? pretty sure 1131 has a tow hook setup....

Are the 1100 series being re-built? I have not seen any... yet unless they send them back to Calgary to be inspected to Alberta's Standards... Unit 251 caught my attention when I only saw 3 digits in the unit number (usually its 4 digits) and then I saw the license plate as Manitoba. It dawned on me that Greyhound Canada is probably also going to refurbish their Coaches.

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Are the 1100 series being re-built? I have not seen any... yet unless they send them back to Calgary to be inspected to Alberta's Standards... Unit 251 caught my attention when I only saw 3 digits in the unit number (usually its 4 digits) and then I saw the license plate as Manitoba. It dawned on me that Greyhound Canada is probably also going to refurbish their Coaches.

well, HERE is the rebuild Wiki page, there are a few 11XX buses alreadfy rebuilt.... albiet, they have Alberta plates...

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well, HERE is the rebuild Wiki page, there are a few 11XX buses alreadfy rebuilt....

Thanks for the link, seems to me that Greyhound Canada has taken care of their 'bus shortages' by taking on Greyhound Lines' surplus Coaches. We may see them coming down to Toronto soon! Maybe I should apply at Greyhound Canada (Lakeshore Garage) as an Apprentice mechanic since they're growing the fleet! :(

I wished Greyhound Canada would have their Coaches rebuilt in Canada since the Government of Canada has invested in the trades by giving out grants. There is so many apprentice mechanics in Canada that the industry is so competitive versus the States whereI found so many Bus Mechanic jobs in New York State & New Jersey and I was even offered employment. I came across an article and found out the the buses are built some where in the Mid-west USA with the assistance of ABC Companies. Although, Greyhound has a valid reason on why they chose that town. Nice to see Greyhound do something for the better of the economy.

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Thanks for the link, seems to me that Greyhound Canada has taken care of their 'bus shortages' by taking on Greyhound Lines' surplus Coaches. We may see them coming down to Toronto soon! Maybe I should apply at Greyhound Canada (Lakeshore Garage) as an Apprentice mechanic since they're growing the fleet! :lol:

I wished Greyhound Canada would have their Coaches rebuilt in Canada since the Government of Canada has invested in the trades by giving out grants. There is so many apprentice mechanics in Canada that the industry is so competitive versus the States whereI found so many Bus Mechanic jobs in New York State & New Jersey and I was even offered employment. I came across an article and found out the the buses are built some where in the Mid-west USA with the assistance of ABC Companies. Although, Greyhound has a valid reason on why they chose that town. Nice to see Greyhound do something for the better of the economy.

They already have been spotted in southern Ontario already in London, Toronto and KW areas

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Are the 1100 series being re-built? I have not seen any... yet unless they send them back to Calgary to be inspected to Alberta's Standards... Unit 251 caught my attention when I only saw 3 digits in the unit number (usually its 4 digits) and then I saw the license plate as Manitoba. It dawned on me that Greyhound Canada is probably also going to refurbish their Coaches.

So far I have seen 1122, 1125, and 1131 in Alberta after being rebuilt. All three had trailer hitches and plumbing when I first saw them. However 1122 has since had her hitch removed. That was the one of the three I got to drive on Sunday. What a B-E-A-UTIFUL ride.

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So far I have seen 1122, 1125, and 1131 in Alberta after being rebuilt. All three had trailer hitches and plumbing when I first saw them. However 1122 has since had her hitch removed. That was the one of the three I got to drive on Sunday. What a B-E-A-UTIFUL ride.

Odd. I wonder why they would remove a hitch?? What's the point? Greyhound has some strange ways of thinking...lol!

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What I keep hearing is that they do NOT want trailers behind these blue buses.

Yeah I know that, but why would they even bother to take them off..? Unless it is something thats easy to do! Well that must mean they are NOT going to run them on any other mainline runs ever!! Which is kinda odd, cause I thought Canada was getting all refurbished DL's? Interesting!

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