The Ebus team is thrilled to be celebrating three years of service in British Columbia on October 31, 2021!
What a ride it’s been. Ebus was conceived in Alberta in 2011 as an economical inter-city travel alternative and sister company to the luxury Red Arrow brand. On October 31, 2018 Greyhound ceased its operations in Western Canada, and Ebus was quick to step up for BC residents and visitors, launching the Ebus service in BC on the very same day.
Eager to support the travel needs of British Columbians, we launched with two daily trips between Vancouver and Kamloops, Vancouver and Kelowna, and a convenient commuter between Kelowna and Kamloops. With a main office established in Kamloops, Ebus started out with temporary curbside service until brick and mortar options were secured in the major centres of Vancouver and Downtown Kelowna. With convenient pick-up and drop-off locations in Surrey, Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Hope, Merritt, and Vernon, we were proud to be able to continue to connect a large part of the population to a large part of the province, with as minimal interruption to their inter-city service as possible.
Over the past three years, Ebus has been getting passengers Safely Home while rising to the challenges brought to us in entering a new market, answering to the call of the public for expanded routes and schedules, improving access to the region and beyond through airport partnerships, and in responding to the unprecedented effects of a global pandemic after only 16 months of service.
Here are some of the highlights of our past three years:
- October 2018: Launched service in BC
- December 2018: Added a stop in West Kelowna
- March 2019: Added additional weekend schedules to Kelowna
- May 2019: Started operating out of Pacific Central Station in Vancouver
- November 2019: Expanded into the Shuswap; serving Chase, Sorrento, Salmon Arm, Enderby, and Armstrong
- April 2020: Made the difficult decision to suspend service for the safety of passengers, staff, and communities, encourage the public to Stay Safely Home
- June 2020: Responsibly resumed limited schedules in BC with our industry leading Safely Clean program for those who needed to travel safely for essential reasons
- December 2020: Opened a conveniently located office in downtown Kelowna in addition to the West Kelowna and Airport service
- December 2020: Partnered with Pacific Shuttles to offer service to Langley, Aldergrove, and Surrey SkyTrain
- May 2021: Partnered with Thompson Valley Charters to connect to Alberta via Kamloops <> Edmonton
- July 2021: Expanded and optimized schedules for better connection options and improved customer experience
- October 2021: Launched a brand-new website and turns 3!
“We’ve had a great ride so far,” says Glen Desjardine, BC Operations Manager. “We want BC to know that continuing to provide exceptional customer service, while safely supporting the communities we serve is important to us and we’re committed to improving access to medical, social, educational and employment opportunities for residents and visitors alike.”
John Stepovy, Director of Business Development adds, “We’ve learned a lot over these past three years and we’ll keep that mindset to continuously optimize our services. People choose us for many reasons; from our Safely Clean program, to customer service, to easing the financial burden, to reducing stress, to impact on the environment, and we’re dedicated to increasing customer satisfaction and supporting the travel needs of BC for many more years to come.”
Most of all, we want to thank our amazing staff, our partners, and our valued passengers for supporting us in helping us making this dream a reality. Here’s to many more years in beautiful BC!