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.

91裸聊视频淕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,91裸聊视频� 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 Kelowna. The routes include between Kelowna and Penticton, Kamloops, Vancouver and the Alberta border.

On the route between Kelowna and Kamloops, Greyhound will also cut what is called 91裸聊视频減oint-of-service91裸聊视频� 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.

91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檓 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,91裸聊视频� 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.

91裸聊视频淭he biggest impact will probably be on the seasonal orchard workers who relied on the Greyhound service to travel outside of Lake Country,91裸聊视频� Gatzke said.

91裸聊视频淏ut for anyone in Oyama who had to rely on the Greyhound service, they are kind of screwed now.91裸聊视频�

Baker also acknowledged the impact felt by seasonal workers 91裸聊视频渢o get up and down the valley.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淭here is some convenience that is lost there,91裸聊视频� he said, reiterating that regional transit will have to address the needs of local residents to access Kelowna 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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