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State officials concerned about Greyhound cuts
Monday, July 12, 2004 | 1 comment(s)
COTTAGE GROVE (AP) - State officials will gather on the South Coast this month to discuss a pending transportation crisis.
Cities throughout Oregon will be tougher to reach next month when Greyhound Lines Inc. makes good on its decision to pull out of 35 communities.
Beginning Aug. 18, buses will still travel to major cities along the Interstate 5 corridor. But many towns, including all South Coast stops, including Florence, Reedsport, Coos Bay, Bandon and points south and larger cities such as Bend, will no longer see Greyhound buses.
The loss of service has legislators and state administrators concerned. They will meet this month in Coos Bay to discuss their next step.
State officials are talking with the company about restoring service to at least some of the communities, said Martin Loring, administrator of the Public Transit Division, part of the Oregon Department of Transportation.
State officials will also be talking with regional operators to see if they can help fill some of the gaps.
"Our goal is to ensure that the people in these rural communities that rely on Greyhound aren't left in the lurch," Loring said. "We don't want their quality of life to deteriorate."
Passenger records show 52,734 in- and outbound trips last year to the Oregon towns slated for cuts.
While Greyhound spokeswoman Kim Plaskett said she couldn't address specific route cuts, the company looked at revenue, passenger flow and operations costs compared to revenue at individual sites.
"We were cutting unprofitable and marginally profitable routes," she said.
Ticket sale information provided by Greyhound to ODOT shows that some of the stations made little or no money last year, but others brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Ticket sales for in- and outbound Cottage Grove travelers totaled $48,000 last year, for example, compared with $13,000 for La Pine and $1,000 for Chemult. But Bend sales totaled more than $500,000.
The Oregon changes are part of 260 cuts in Greyhound's 13-state northern region and an effort to stem financial losses, Plaskett said.
Company losses for 2002 and 2003 totaled $140 million, she said.
Cities throughout Oregon will be tougher to reach next month when Greyhound Lines Inc. makes good on its decision to pull out of 35 communities.
Beginning Aug. 18, buses will still travel to major cities along the Interstate 5 corridor. But many towns, including all South Coast stops, including Florence, Reedsport, Coos Bay, Bandon and points south and larger cities such as Bend, will no longer see Greyhound buses.
The loss of service has legislators and state administrators concerned. They will meet this month in Coos Bay to discuss their next step.
State officials are talking with the company about restoring service to at least some of the communities, said Martin Loring, administrator of the Public Transit Division, part of the Oregon Department of Transportation.
State officials will also be talking with regional operators to see if they can help fill some of the gaps.
"Our goal is to ensure that the people in these rural communities that rely on Greyhound aren't left in the lurch," Loring said. "We don't want their quality of life to deteriorate."
Passenger records show 52,734 in- and outbound trips last year to the Oregon towns slated for cuts.
While Greyhound spokeswoman Kim Plaskett said she couldn't address specific route cuts, the company looked at revenue, passenger flow and operations costs compared to revenue at individual sites.
"We were cutting unprofitable and marginally profitable routes," she said.
Ticket sale information provided by Greyhound to ODOT shows that some of the stations made little or no money last year, but others brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Ticket sales for in- and outbound Cottage Grove travelers totaled $48,000 last year, for example, compared with $13,000 for La Pine and $1,000 for Chemult. But Bend sales totaled more than $500,000.
The Oregon changes are part of 260 cuts in Greyhound's 13-state northern region and an effort to stem financial losses, Plaskett said.
Company losses for 2002 and 2003 totaled $140 million, she said.
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