Drumheller residents travelling from small communities who depend on the services provided by Greyhound Bus service, will be now left with fewer options for travel.
Greyhound has announced they will be cutting back services across Alberta as of October 24, 2011.
A combination of 12 routes in Northern and Central Alberta will be affected by the cuts.
Calgary to Alsask, Saskatchewan is one of the routes being cut and will have an affect on some passengers from the Drumheller area.
“People who use the service really need it.” Mayor Terry Yemen told inSide Drumheller.
“There may be an increase in other companies services,” commented the Mayor.
Bonnie Giesbrecht, the dispatcher and co-ordinator for Valley Bus Service in Drumheller said, “There are not that many citizens we transport down to the Greyhound bus depot.”
“The times the bus comes to pick up passengers is at crazy hours. They are dropped off at wee hours in the morning,” Giesbrecht commented.
“I think they should have more accommodating hours.” Giesbrecht replied.
Passengers who may not drive due to age or do not have a car could be significantly impacted by the reduced route changes.
The announcement came after Alberta Transportation recently deregulated passenger service allowing for more carriers on the province's highways.
Tom Olsen, spokesperson for Greyhound, said the company was losing $7.5 million each year when 54 seat buses were running nearly empty on these routes.
In 2010 Greyhound trimmed routes in B.C, Alberta and Ontario including Kelowna, B.C to Calgary and from Toronto to about a dozen communities in Ontario’s less populated area’s.
The deregulation will allow an open market for smaller carriers the opportunity to fill the gaps and provide services to smaller communities.