Bus service severs Grande Prairie-Fort St. John route

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A rural bus service will no longer be supplying a route between Fort St. John and Grande Prairie.

The announcement from Cold Shot bus service to turn the route off comes over a year after its president Sunny Balwaria, issued an open letter to Fort St. John Mayor Lilia Hansen, requesting assistance to keep the company afloat.

“Our financial situation is dire,” wrote Balwaria in the letter dated December 2023. “Without immediate support, we may be forced to make [more] route closures.”

Now, it appears the day has come. In an interview with Energeticcity.ca Balwaria says escalating costs put the service on ice.

“The market is tough,” said Balwaria. “Passenger tickets are not enough. Especially when there are ride shares and other services in the market.

“[When you add] high running costs, fuel and maintenance costs plus [the U.S.-Canada tariff war is driving prices up, [the service] has been washed for almost six months.”

A press release on Thursday, March 20th says the company incurred losses of $3 million running at half capacity during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The federal government’s Safe Restart Agreement was announced in September 2020, with $70 million from the Canadian government matched by the Alberta provincial government.

However, the statement reads none of the $140 million was allocated to inter-city transportation.

The company’s statement adds “an aging fleet the company cannot afford to replace” has made the trip to B.C. unprofitable.

“This is the only route which connects Alberta and northern B.C.,” said Balwaria. “We did our best. The volume of passenger tickets is seriously not there to keep running in the red ink.

“Any private company who wants to come up, they’re going to face the same challenge. The government has to pitch in to provide public services.”

The announcement means Cold Shot now has only five and a half routes, all within Alberta.  It acquired 11 routes when Greyhound bus moved out of the Canadian market in 2018.

The Cold Shot route from Grande Prairie to Fort St. John will end on Saturday, April 12th.