A new inter-city bus service is ready to roll on the North Island.
This, after the Passenger Transportation Board approved an application from Waivin Flags Ltd. to operate a route from Campbell River to Port Hardy.
Route A serves five communities along Highway 19 including Port Hardy, Port McNeill, Woss, Sayward, and Campbell River.
In its decision, the board said, “The applicant has the experience, skills, operational knowledge and capacity to service the proposed route.”
To read the board’s decision, click here.
The previous service from Tofino Bus Services Incorporated was recently eliminated.
READ MORE: Tofino Bus drops route between Campbell River and Port Hardy
According to the board, the evidence provided by Tofino Bus demonstrated low ridership.
Waivin Flags Ltd. is based out of Port Hardy and runs taxi services in the Port Hardy and Port McNeill areas, and shuttle services from specified areas to the Port Hardy Airport and return.
In its application summary, Waivin Flags said, “This route was terminated by the previous carrier. We are an established taxi/shuttle service in Port McNeil/Port Hardy and would be more than suitable since we have all needed vehicles for this run.”
The company will be offering three trips per week in each direction.
It’ll be Monday, Wednesday, and Friday the first week, and Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday the following week.
Departure times from Port Hardy should be around 7:00am and returning at roughly 5:00pm.
Waivin Flags has been approved for three buses and the service should be up and running in about a week.
