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Greyhound providing transit services on month-to-month basis while new agreement is discussed

The five-year agreement between Greyhound and the city for the operation of local transit buses expired at the end of last year but the company is still providing its services on a month-to-month basis while negotiations on a new longer-term agreemen

The five-year agreement between Greyhound and the city for the operation of local transit buses expired at the end of last year but the company is still providing its services on a month-to-month basis while negotiations on a new longer-term agreement take place.

“We’re still in dicussions with them [on a longer-term agreement],” said city manager Gary Ceppetelli. 

The city was billed $22,357.98 for services in Feburary, which included 435.5 hours of operation at a cost of $45.22 per hour, which includes the variable fuel rate cost of the 2010-2015 agreement of $4.71 per hour, though that amount could change.

“When an agreement is reached on the fuel cost, Greyhound Canada will submit a supplemental billing for any additional costs incurred,” said a letter from Carol Bogobowicz of Greyhound Canada included on the agenda of the April 7 meeting of the public works committee. “Likewise, we will issue a credit if the variable fuel cost rate is lower than the agreed amount.”

February’s invoice also includes a $1,600 charge for the provision of standby buses for two days in February.

“We get charged [$800] on a daily basis if our buses break down,” said Ceppetelli, and one of the city’s transit buses is having its transmission replaced.

The cost for the provision of transit services in the last year of the five-year agreement between Greyhound and the city was approximately $285,000, which works out to $23,750 per month.

The city also receives reimbursement for 50 per cent of its transit costs from the provincial government.

Statistics provided by Greyhound show that 8,499 people rode Thompson transit in February, including 2,017 adults and 1,073 students along with 5,409 pass holders. That was up slightly from January, when 8,301 people rode the buses, including 2,442 students. The total amount of fares collected from passengers was $5,126.35 in February and $6,926.40 in January.

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