Achi news desk-
People looking for different options to get around Alberta without a personal vehicle now have a new choice.
FlixBus began operations in Alberta on Friday, with the first bus arriving in Calgary on Friday morning at Southcentre Mall.
“It was comfortable and cheap,” said Wahab Al-Hafidh, who arrived in Calgary from Edmonton.
“I thought: I might as well go see Calgary. I’ve never been in the city. I don’t have a car so it’s convenient to go from my home to go by bus,” said Al-Hafidh.
Riders will be able to travel back and forth to Edmonton, Calgary, Lethbridge, Red Deer, Fort Macleod, Okotoks-Aldersyde and Claresholm.
FlixBus will offer four daily routes between Edmonton and Calgary and two daily schedules between Lethbridge and Calgary.
The company’s model is to partner with local bus companies who own the luxury buses and hire drivers. Most of its operations are digital, keeping infrastructure costs down.
“We had great success in Ontario and were excited to jump at the opportunity to move to Alberta based on our success in Ontario and the need in Alberta,” said Jonas Pearce, government affairs liaison with FlixBus.
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“We work with local operators who know the markets and the roads better than we do, so they operate all the tours and we can give them a platform,” says Pearce.
Greyhound Canada discontinued services in Western Canada in 2018. FlixBus bought Greyhound in 2021.
Since then, a number of domestic carriers have entered the market such as EBus, Red Arrow and Cold Shot.
Cold Shot offers Calgary to Edmonton rides but also less profitable runs to Peace River, Cold Lake and Fort St. John.
“I’ll be honest with you, unless the government pitches in, rural communities will not be connected to major cities,” said Sunny Balwaria, owner and president of Cold Shot from its Edmonton office.
Cold Shot has been in business for 18 years, shipping goods and started with passengers in 2013. The company also provides smaller packages.
Since the pandemic started, Balwaria had made the difficult decision to reduce Cold Shot back from 11 to six paths now.
Balwaria said northern Alberta trails typically run about 50 per cent full and he, along with other competitors, has been asking the province for help.
“Provincially we are still working and sending letters, trying to get someone to notice that this public service is important to connect rural Alberta. The answer back I get is to get more loans,” Balwaria said.
“I have to feed my family. It’s my only bread and butter. I broke down to the bare bones and I’m still hanging in there,” said Balwaria.
Devin Dreeshan, Alberta’s minister of Transportation and Economic Corridors, was not available for an interview Friday.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Alberta Transportation & Economic Corridors said: “The private sector is best positioned to meet rural bus needs based on ridership demand.”
FlixBus, which is based in Germany, is also in Ontario and BC and plans to have service between Alberta and BC by next year.
The company is Europe’s largest intercity bus provider and offers services throughout the United States, South America and India.
& copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
