Gonna be a bunch of buses for sale soon

[bobofthenorth]

SK finance minister Kevin Doherty released the provincial government budget this afternoon and it included shitcanning the money losing bus service STC (Saskatchewan Transportation Company).  I won't go into the politics of the move other than to say its long overdue.

Its hard to decipher exactly how many coaches are in the STC fleet.  Their annual report for last year claims 42 "coaches" but some of those are just a glorified handicap van.  They show 25 cargo trailers which I don't think I've ever seen behind anything except a full size coach so that would suggest at least 25 buses.  Their website claims that their bus fleet is entirely MCI D4500 with 12.7 Detroits and B500 transmissions - more details here.  According to Doherty's budget the buses come to the end of the road at the end of May.  

[buswarrior]

How many of their corridors have, or are likely, to gain alternatives?

Glancing at the bafflegab annual reports, the obvious overhead in board and executive is worth quite a bit of fuel...

It's always a tough thing for a remote community to lose their bus service.

happy coaching!
buswarrior

[bobofthenorth]

How many of their corridors have, or are likely, to gain alternatives?
buswarrior

Probably a lot more of them than the NDP would like us to believe.  According to STC the sole profitable route is Regina/Saskatoon with Saskatoon/P.A. being profitable occasionally.  Without the corporate overhead that you referred to I expect there's a lot more routes that would make sense.  And some rationalization of stops wouldn't hurt either.  We live in a community that boasts 220 citizens on the highway sign but the real number is likely closer to or perhaps under 150.  STC stops here twice a day, 365 days per year.  Gimme a break already. 

If I were to guess I'd say the two routes already mentioned, maybe with a P.A./La Ronge extension plus something along the Yellowhead corridor - Lloyd/Saskatoon/Yorkton maybe - and maybe a SE route - something like Regina/Weyburn/Estevan.  None of those would need to be daily runs.  The only real hardship is pensioners needing to get into Regina or Saskatoon for doctor appointments.  That's pretty easy to manage but I don't think it constitutes a business plan.  A little creativity with charters - football games, hockey tournaments and concerts - might make it work.  STC has proved for 30+ years that pounding down SK highways 365 days of the year stopping at every two bit town, ours included, doesn't work.

[buswarrior]

The deadly cycle,

There is no creativity, and no reality, when there are government coffers to back stop an operation.

Most unfortunately, bus parcel express demands the driver stop at the agencies to check for packages, because it's income, but stopping extends the time of the journey for the passengers.

Is passenger service still regulated in SK?

Replacement ventures will not be as likely, if red tape consumes capital...

There will be no saviour in the dogbus, they are just passing through, it has to pay a dividend back to the UK...

yup, kids, pensioners and the disadvantaged all stand to lose when the bus stops coming to town.

happy coaching!
buswarrior

[DaBus]

STC has been a dead horse for 35 yr. They stopped service to our area 30 yr. ago and a private operator took it on. They are still here, providing passenger and freight service 3 days a week. Once people caught on it seems to work. My dad's brother worked in the bus garage for his entire life, retired well. I would think that all of the larger busses and trailers will sell. New providers will probably downsize the equipment. A 50+ passenger with 5 or less aboard won't work.If anyone from afar is interested I would look them over for you. Mark

[bobofthenorth]

...... If anyone from afar is interested I would look them over for you. Mark

Likewise - if anyone is foolish enough to trust my opinion. 

I expect the fleet is in pretty good nick.  I had the frenchy-bus in their Saskatoon repair facility once and it was WAY nice.  They had at least 10 bays and most of them had lifts.  That doesn't mean that the goofs doing the service knew what they were doing but if they didn't, it wasn't for lack of good equipment.