The B.C. government has responded to news that Greyhound has discontinued bus routes in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.

"Greyhound's decision to completely eliminate service in Western Canada by Oct. 31, 2018, is hugely problematic for people who depend on Greyhound in the Interior, Sea-to-Sky, and to get to and from Alberta," reads a statement attributed to B.C. minister of transportation and infrastructure Claire Trevena. "This move will leave people with limited options to get around, and this will likely impact the most vulnerable.

"It's unfortunate that Greyhound did not communicate their plans sooner," continued the NDP MLA for North Island. "At no point did Greyhound reach out to me, or my staff, to have a conversation on solutions to keep people connected - something I would have expected, given their long history in this province.

"In the weeks and months ahead, I will be sitting down with other service providers, the private sector and local government to discuss how we can ensure people have access to safe, reliable and affordable transportation to get from one community to the next. In the meantime, I hope that other local, private operators will see an opportunity to bring a badly needed service to the parts of the province most affected by Greyhound's decision."

Greyhound Canada announced the service cuts with little warning earlier today (July 9).

“Simply put, the issue that we have seen is the routes in rural parts of Canada—specifically Western Canada—are just not sustainable anymore," the company's vice-president, Stuart Kendrick told the Canadian Press today (July 9).

In February 2018, Greyhound cancelled bus services along four routes in northern British Columbia. The B.C. government responded in May, announcing it was launching an "interim" transportation service for those communities affected. The province has yet to say whether it could create any sort of similar program to cover the much larger areas affected by the cuts that Greyhound announced today.