Greyhound reduces Canada bus service

BURLINGTON, Ontario, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- The Greyhound Canada bus line announced Thursday it is ceasing operations in Manitoba and northwestern Ontario because of government policies.

In a release from its Burlington, Ontario, headquarters, Senior Vice President Stuart Kendrick said operating losses were mounting and talks with various governments weren't showing any progress.

"We have repeatedly asked the federal and provincial governments to change the existing legislative and regulatory regimes that govern intercity bus operations," Kendrick said. "Our financial situation is dire and we are no longer in a position to absorb losses that are almost solely attributable to government policies."

The federal government has constitutional jurisdiction over the intercity bus industry with regulatory powers being delegated to the provinces, all of which exercise some form of oversight over scheduled intercity bus operations.

The release said bus operators are being forced to maintain unprofitable route services to small-town Canada through a web of cross-subsidies from their profitable passenger routes and bus parcel operations.

The release said the company was also reviewing its operations in Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Yukon and the Northwest Territories.