Bus travel safer than cars, B.C. transportation expert says

On the heels of a deadly rollover bus crash on the Okanagan Connector on Christmas Eve, a transportation expert says bus travel is safer than driving in a car.

Transportation planner with Victoria-based Ecopath Planning, Eric Doherty, tells CityNews while the recent crash on the B.C. highway is devastating, more people end up injured in personal vehicles annually and over the holidays than in large vehicles like buses.

“Because it’s unusual, it’s news,” he said of bus crashes. “It’s not news to have a few crashes over the holiday season – even ones where people are seriously injured.”

---

Related Stories: 

• Four people confirmed dead in Christmas Eve bus crash on Highway 97C

• B.C. highway bus crash second in four days; survivors call out company

---

Four people are dead and eight remain in the hospital after a bus travelling from Kelowna to Vancouver crashed on Highway 97C near Merritt Saturday evening. In the wake of the crash, a Kelowna couple shared their story of surviving a crash on the same stretch of highway just days before, with both buses arranged by the same company.

However, when it comes to safety, Doherty says the larger issue is the lack of options for bus travel between cities since Greyhound pulled out of western Canada in 2018. He says that has forced more people to use personal vehicles, even though buses are safer.

“Experienced, professional drivers get into far fewer crashes. The other thing is that as a vehicle, a bus is a much safer thing to be in if you are in a crash,” he explained.

Canada, B.C., needs more bus service

Doherty says Canada needs a stable and consistent bus network that connects cities now that Greyhound is gone. In B.C., he points to the BC Bus North run by BC Transit that connects towns in the northern part of the province, suggesting it could be expanded.

“There’s been a reduction in the service of public transit available to smaller communities and that’s forcing people to drive private cars that are far, far, far more dangerous than travelling by bus,” he explained.

“Getting affordable highway bus service is something we need to do for the climate. It would be much more affordable for people, and it’s much safer.”

The company that operated the vehicle in the Christmas Eve crash, Ebus, told CityNews that due to higher demand in the holiday season, vehicles from other companies are contracted to help out. The Kelowna couple that survived a bus crash on Dec. 20 had their trip arranged by Ebus, but the vehicle and driver were part of Blue Star Coachlines.

Doherty says when Greyhound was in western Canada, it would arrange extra buses of its own around the holiday season.

“If you were going from, say, Vancouver to 100 Mile House just before Christmas, quite often, there would be three buses leaving at the same time so that you could actually fairly reliably know you could get where you wanted to go,” he said.

“That’s the real safety benefit: getting people where they want to go without having to drive their car.”

Investigators of the Christmas Eve bus crash say icy conditions led to the rollover. The President of Ebus has previously told CityNews that the company will cooperate with the RCMP’s investigation.