A new passenger bus service could be coming to the Cariboo.
Alberta based EBus BC has applied to the Passenger Transportation Board to service two new regions in B.C; Salmon Arm and Prince George.
The Salmon Arm route according to a news release will be an addition to the company’s existing run between Kamloops and Kelowna, providing, service to Chase, Sorrento, Salmon Arm, Enderby, and Armstrong. The Prince George service will be a new route from Kamloops, heading up Highway 97 through Cache Creek, 70 Mile House, 100 Mile House, Lac la Hache, Williams Lake, Quesnel, and Hixon to Prince George.
“It’s due to a lot of public feedback. We fielded numerous inquiries, comments, and suggestions on a nearly daily basis, and this was a good opportunity,” John Stepovy, Director, Sales & Business Development told MyCaribooNow Thursday.
“It’s a good opportunity to go to Prince George to connect northern British Columbia with BC Bus North operating some of the northern corridors, and this is a conduit to be able to connect some of those northern centres into Kamloops, Kelowna, Vancouver, and in between and beyond, so it’s very exciting. And then Salmon Arm, again same sort of idea.”
Stepovy said EBus BC is currently working on stop locations, schedules, and pricing, with a goal to launch service as soon as possible after receiving approval from the Passenger Transportation Board.
“Our primary goal was to apply and hopefully we get positive authorization from the province very soon and then from there we can work towards finalizing all those details, so we should hopefully within in the next couple of weeks have more details firmed up and be able to make some more announcements.”
With seven months of operations B.C., EBus BC currently operates routes in Vancouver, Surrey, Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Hope, Merritt, Kamloops, Verona, and Kelowna
“It’s been pretty good. Certainly, at certain times of the week, certain times of the year we’ve seen greater demand, but its been steady and we’re continuing to try to work with all the communities to grow interest and grow our ridership,” Stepovy said.
“Ultimately we want to make sure that it’s sustainable.”