Though the blow of the pandemic proved to be too much for Greyhound Canada to weather, Megabus appears to be benefitting from the loss of its 92-year-old competitor, and is now expanding its operations in parts of Ontario.
Greyhound's Canadian arm had seen a staggering 95 per cent drop in ridership by May 2020, and temporarily suspended service on all routes in the country — which at that point was already limited to to those in Ontario and Quebec — as a result.
Then came the decision last week to end Canadian operations permanently, though the company will still operate between thousands of destinations in the U.S. and Mexico.
Just one day after that news broke, Megabus announced that it was launching a brand new route between Ottawa and Toronto, with service to Kingston and Scarborough Town Centre as well.
Introducing Our NEW Route between Ottawa &
— megabus.com (@megabus) May 14, 2021
Toronto, Scarborough & Kingston! To welcome you aboard, for the first week, all tickets on the new Ottawa route will be totally FREE. Don't wait, book now! Tickets are on sale today for travel beginning on 5/20. https://t.co/haz6xbqqCS
The recognizable blue double-decker buses will commence rides to and from the national capital's St-Laurent Station starting May 20, and will run Thursdays through Sundays.
Tickets will also be completely free for the launch week to promote it.
Even with Megabus stepping in to claim the new route between the two major Ontario cities, many worry about the gap that the loss of Greyhound is leaving behind for students, certain vulnerable groups, and others.
According to Global News, Megabus is currently also exploring options for lines between other cities north of the border, though it already runs between Toronto and Montreal, Kingston, Niagara Falls, and other locales.
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