A Tribute to the Greyhound Bus
Reflections on the magic of coach travel five years after the iconic company left western Canada for good.
Greyhound ceased most of its Canadian operations in 2018. Exactly five years ago today, I rode the iconic bus for the last time, and wrote this while sitting in my favourite seat, watching the sun set over not only the mountains, but a once great transportation empire:
When I tell someone I’m taking the Greyhound Bus, their first reaction is inevitably a mixture of pity and disgust. It is, admittedly, not a first class method of transportation, but those who subject themselves to it aren’t looking. for the five star treatment.
Some do it because it’s the only service they has access to, some do it because it’s all they can afford, and some do it simply because in their minds, nothing compares to rumbling down the highway in a Greyhound, just like vagabonds and beatniks did in the good ol’ days.
Those whose motive is the latter are a dying breed. As flights become more affordable, and driving becomes more convenient, the bus has become a victim of natural selection. Unable to maintain that sense of adventurous spirit that traversing the country by bus once bestowed upon its riders, Greyhound announced that it would be cancelling all services west of Ontario as of November 1st, 2018.
While most will dismiss this news as an inevitable symptom of progress, saying “It’s just a bus,” for a select few, the loss will be a tough pill to swallow.
Taking the Greyhound bus across Canada both in the summer and in the winter is an experience I’ll never forget.
I’ve had the heating on the bus stop working in Thunder Bay, forcing me to shiver in a freezer on wheels all the way to Winnipeg. I’ve had a group of stoners sit behind me for three thousand kilometres, making the whole bus laugh when at a rest stop they each bought a fully cooked rotisserie chicken and brought it with them on the bus.
Ive listened to Neil Young’s “Long May You Run” while actually back in Blind River, Ontario. I’ve driven through the Rockies just as the sun is beginning to peek out from behind the mountains, casting a warm glow upon one of Canada’s many natural wonders.
Greyhound is special. It’s the only method of transportation that brings people face to face with the real Canada, as buses stop at every Tim Hortons in every little town across the country.
I woke up at 5am today to take my last ride on Greyhound Canada, just a short eight hours to Kamloops and back.
As I sit here writing this from my seat on the bus back to Vancouver, an episode of Stuart Mclean’s “The Vinyl Cafe” on CBC Radio playing in my ears, I can’t help but feel nostalgic about all the experiences I’ve had on these buses.
UPDATE:
In 2021, Greyhound Canada ceased all operations in Canada, save for a few routes that travel to the United States. While Flixbus has picked up some of the former routes operated by Greyhound in eastern Canada, the west has largely been forgotten.
Farewell, Greyhound, you will be missed…
