The Tofino Bus company is taking over bus service on eastern Vancouver Island starting Thursday and will add service from Vancouver via the Horseshoe Bay ferry in mid-October.
Service between Victoria and Campbell River, and stops in between, will be increased to three times per day from twice a day Tofino Bus owner , Dylan Green said Tuesday.
Increasing daily service offered by the new “All-Island Express” will help tourism and assist passengers wanting to link up with ferries, he said.
It will also serve Port Hardy on northern Vancouver Island once daily.
Tofino Bus is taking over routes operated by Greyhound Canada. The Island-based company received approval Sept. 16 from the B.C. Passenger Transportation Board to operate the routes. On the same day, the board approved Greyhound’s application to discontinue serving those routes.
Tofino Bus will use the same stations as Greyhound, accept Greyhound tickets and freight and co-ordinate with Greyhound service, which runs a daily service between Victoria and Nanaimo, Green said.
“Other than passengers getting used to the new name and the more frequent buses between Campbell River and Victoria/Vancouver, it is going to be a seamless transition,” Green said.
Greyhound sought permission to discontinue east Island service because of dropping passenger numbers, which resulted in financial losses, said the Passenger Transportation Board. On the Nanaimo-Campbell River route, and the Campbell River-Port Hardy route, the company lost $1.2 million in its 2013-2014 fiscal year, the decision said.
Greyhound blamed higher costs for fuel and maintenance, reduced ridership and competition, the board said.
The board said that by allowing Tofino Bus to take on these routes, inter-city bus service will continue for residents.
It said Tofino Bus has “less overhead and sufficient experience in comparable markets in southern Vancouver Island to sustain and grow ridership in the communities in northern Vancouver Island.”
A Greyhound Canada official was not immediately available for comment. Greyhound operates buses between Victoria and Nanaimo along with routes throughout B.C.
Tofino Bus has a fleet of 21 buses in three sizes, allowing it to be flexible to suit passenger demand, Green said. Motor coaches carry 48 passengers, mini-buses carry 30 and the company also has smaller van-style buses.
Passenger fares will remain the same, he said.
The new service out of Vancouver starts Oct. 15 at Pacific Central Station, Green said. Other Vancouver stops are still being determined.
Green, 38, wants people to know that Tofino Bus is an Island brand that understands the needs of local residents.
He started his company in 2002 with a 10-passenger van, carrying surfers and their boards to the west coast.
A surfer himself, Green tries to get out on the water a few times a week.
“I still live in Tofino. Even with all this growth, I still made sure I can live on the west coast. That’s where we are raising our family.”
Soon after it started, Tofino Bus began regular passenger service from Victoria to Tofino, and took on school-bus duties in Tofino and Ucluelet in 2005.
In 2006, it adopted Greyhound routes between the west coast of the Island and Nanaimo and Parksville.
As the company grew, it added a maintenance facility in Nanaimo. The company’s 30 employees are split between the Tofino head office and Nanaimo, Green said.
On the Web: tofinobus.com
