Four years after Greyhound left Canada, a German company is depositing that Canadian travelers still have a lot of appetite for the good outdated bus.
Flixbus, established in Munich in 2013, offers a low -cost bus service in a bright and distinctive green package. The company, which operates in more than 40 countries, began offering trips in interurban buses throughout Europe and entered the North American market with routes on the west coast of the United States in 2018.
The company picked up the Greyhound brand shortly after it left Canada in 2021. It began offering cross -border trips between the United States and Canada, followed by the domestic service in Canada in 2022. He has doubled his Canadian Millaja in this country every year since then, he said.
“We are going to make Flix travel in the mind for anyone who plans a long trip in Canada,” said Kai Boysan, CEO of Flix North America.
Currently, the company operates in Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan and hopes to add the interprovincial traffic to Manitoba.
It is not the only company that sees a future for trips in interurban bus. It has competition in western Canada of long -term rivals as Ebus and Rider ExpressThey say they also keep their eyes open for expansion opportunities.
Even so, a transport expert says there are limits for the type of network that can create the private sector. While companies may be happy to offer service between large population centers, many rural and remote communities are still disconnected.
“It will need government support when it comes to looking at some of those higher places,” said David Cooper, director of the leading mobility consulting based in Toronto.
Flixbus, meanwhile, said he is open to work with different levels of government to provide service in smaller communities, where otherwise he would not be commercially viable.
Uber for bus
Part of what makes Flixbus unique is that he describes himself as a kind of Uber for bus. The company provides technology to predict demand, establish schedules and prices, but keeps its general costs low when trusting local partners to hire drivers and keep the fleet.
Boysan, CEO, presents Flixbus as an alternative to short distance flights that is more convenient and less subject to delays. He also wants to integrate the bus into the travelers’ plane and train trips, offering stops in Through railway stations and airports, to position it as an alternative to a rental car for the last stretch of a trip.
One of these last routes is a trip between Calgary and Banff International Airport. While Boysan said the company points to customers from all areas of life, most passengers on this trip were backpackers in their veins who had chosen the bus only for one reason.
“We are like university students bankrupt, so we got the cheapest we could,” said Leo Fritsch, 18, and added that his tickets cost around $ 25.
More remote options are needed
Cooper, the transport consultant, said Canada is still quite limited in the Available bus and trains options. He thinks it is a positive signal to see any company that adds new routes.
But to serve more communities, it is worth it that governments assign more funds to regional transport in rural and remote areas, pointing out programs such as BC Bus North.
As for Flixbus, the company soon expects to start offering domestic service in BC and Quebec, and from there, to connect the entire east-west country.
“Our vision is to be able to serve the entire Canada,” Boysan said.
