A few companies tried to fill the gap with varying degrees of success. Brandon and Dauphin already have had airport and appointment shuttles since 1997. The Brandon-based family business has slick mini-vans that can be seen regularly in the city of Winnipeg headed to the airport and beyond. As good as they are, they are not a coach bus doing a regular route back and forth at a reasonable rate.
Thompson has had a few bus services set up for Thompson to Winnipeg and has had varying degrees of success. Difficulties in bus comfort in terms of heating have been mentioned in the past. It is not easy to run a bus service in Manitoba. However, there is good reason to have it.
Anyone going to the airport doesn't want to necessarily park in long term parking for two weeks although many do and appreciate that option. It is probably easier if there is a regular bus one can catch and take to the airport in comfort. It is doubly worse for people who have to come in for medical appointments. No one, and I mean no one, wants to park all day at the hospital regularly?
Greyhound went under in Canada in 2021. Ridership was down and the pandemic kicked them to the curb after many decades in business. There was no obvious competitor in much of the country to take over. In Manitoba, there had already been supports in place by the government for smaller communities. In the end, it was not enough.
There are really not enough options for a coach bus throughout the province. Rider Express has one stop here with routes across the country. However, the stop is at the Southdale Mall. Not exactly central. It is hard to find any service that uses a central or airport location for a stop.
The Greyhound name got scooped in 2021 up by the big German Flixbus that began operations in Canada in 2022 with three provinces. Manitoba is now going to be the next province to see bus routes added. The result will likely be routes that connect Winnipeg and Brandon and go beyond to the Saskatchewan border. The route east through Kenora and on to Thunder Bay would likely next.
The key to Flixbus's success has been hiring local expertise, routing through airports, bus depots and train stations and keeping prices affordable but not building, owning or managing infrastructure like Greyhound did. The goal is to set up routes where air travel is not practical or cost effective and where car travel is inconvenient such as flying home and the last leg being a bus ride a few hours away.
Flixbus and others like it are helpful after the crushing blow of losing decades long service. It gets worse as the population ages. My seniors just might not be able to drive to go visit their kids or grandkids. An affordable bus from places like Dauphin or Brandon or Steinbach or Kenora might be perfect. There will be many communities still left out. And worse, the cargo trailers that Greyhound towed have not made a comeback. However, maybe this is the start of something new for buses in Manitoba.
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