Regional transit expansion will have to be relied on to off-set the further loss of Greyhound bus service to Lake Country.

Mayor James Baker says Greyhound offered some means of convenience for local residents to travel up and down the valley or to other regions of the province, a service however that began eroding more than five years ago with the cancellation of the Winfield stop.

Baker compared the waning popularity of buses to rail travel as it was abandoned in changing times.

鈥淕reyhound seems to be abandoning most of its inter-municipal stops along the main Highway 97. We had already seen the Winfield stop cut out and the same thing happened with Peachland,鈥� Baker said.

Earlier this week Greyhound acted on approval from the B.C. Passenger Transportation Board to reduce service on two trips per week in each direction out of 琉璃神社. The routes include between 琉璃神社 and Penticton, Kamloops, Vancouver and the Alberta border.

On the route between 琉璃神社 and Kamloops, Greyhound will also cut what is called 鈥減oint-of-service鈥� stops in Oyama, Falkland, Westvold and Monte Lake.

Related: Greyhound cleared to end routes across B.C.

Long-time Oyama resident and orchardist Alan Gatzke said the Greyhound stop in Oyama was reliant on pre-arranged booking for pickup.

鈥淚鈥檓 not sure how eliminating the Oyama stop will save them any money or alter the schedule as it would bypass us anyway unless booked for a stop in advance,鈥� Gatzke said.

For Oyama, Gatzke said the loss of Greyhound is a further impact on the rural community that already is under-serviced for transit, such as having no bus service on the east side of Wood Lake.

鈥淭he biggest impact will probably be on the seasonal orchard workers who relied on the Greyhound service to travel outside of Lake Country,鈥� Gatzke said.

鈥淏ut for anyone in Oyama who had to rely on the Greyhound service, they are kind of screwed now.鈥�

Baker also acknowledged the impact felt by seasonal workers 鈥渢o get up and down the valley.鈥�

鈥淭here is some convenience that is lost there,鈥� he said, reiterating that regional transit will have to address the needs of local residents to access 琉璃神社 and Vernon to hook up with other Greyhound routes.

To report a typo, email: edit@kelownacapnews.com.

barry.gerding@blackpress.ca
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