The general manager of DRL Coach Lines says if the operation doesn’t receive support from the government by June, a shutdown of the service will have to be considered.

This follows an announcement from Greyhound Canada that due to a decline in ridership, they will no longer be providing busing services.

Jason Roberts of DRL says they’ve seen ridership decline dramatically during the pandemic and even with a competitor closing its doors, there is little opportunity to pick up the routes. He says they have lost millions of dollars since the start of the pandemic.

The service on the island has seen a 75 per cent decrease in ridership, with only five to six people traveling from St. John’s to Port aux Basque at a time some days.

Six provinces have provided the service with subsidies, but Newfoundland is not one of them. Without government intervention, Roberts says the service won’t survive. He says if they don’t see commitments from government by June, DRL will shut down for the time being.

Roberts says DRL is trying to avoid this as people rely heavily on the buses. He says people use the buses to travel for medical reasons, family issues, and work—especially with flights being limited in the central and western regions of the province.