13
Industry Structure
Bus Transportation Industry
The Canadian bus industry is made up of three main lines of
business: intercity carriers, urban transit and school bus operators.
Figure 13-4 shows the structure and revenues of the bus industry
in Canada in 1996. Table 13-8 summarizes revenues by source of
revenue for the same year.
Major Bus Events in 1998
Legislative and Regulatory Changes
Motor Vehicle Transport Act, 1987 Review
The MVTA currently allows each province to apply its own legislation
and regulations to extra-provincial bus operators. Until the late
1980s, all provinces applied economic controls to most intercity
and charter bus operations. A few provinces still do so, while
others have relaxed their economic controls. Several have completely
deregulated, or have announced their intention to do so as summarized
in Table 13-9.
As a result of these developments, an extra-provincial bus
carrier can be subject to different regulatory rules for its extra-provincial
operations in different parts of the country, despite the fact
that such operations all come under the authority of the MVTA.
This situation resulted in discussions of industry deregulation
at a national level. Between 1994 and 1996, a federal-provincial-industry
task force sought consensus on the future of bus regulation in
Canada, but was unable to agree whether to deregulate scheduled
intercity service.
The federal government has proposed to amend the MVTA as part
of the national implementation of a motor carrier safety performance
regime based on the standards of the National Safety Code for
Motor Carriers. The safety aspects of the proposed amendments
are discussed in the trucking section of this chapter as the MVTA
safety regime would apply to extra-provincial bus operators, as
well as extra-provincial truckers.
Transport Canada has also proposed that the MVTA amendments
be used to co-ordinate national bus regulation for extra-provincial
carriers, and to re-establish consistency in the regime for extra-provincial
operators. In addition, the department has proposed to use the
amendments to deregulate the interprovincial and international
bus operations of extra-provincial carriers, while allowing each
province to decide how it wants to regulate the intraprovincial
operations of these carriers for an additional period. Transport
Canada expects to proceed with these amendments in 1999.
Industry Events
In June 1998, Laidlaw Inc. became a minority shareholder in
Penetang Midland Coach Lines Ltd., an Ontario-based provider of
scheduled, charter, urban transit and school bus services. In
December 1998, Greyhound Canada Transportation Corporation, a
subsidiary of Laidlaw, purchased Voyageur Colonial, an Ottawa-based
scheduled intercity and charter operator.
In addition, Laidlaw placed a bid to purchase Greyhound Lines
Inc. of Dallas, Texas, a company without any ties to Greyhound
Canada. While Greyhound Lines Inc. has a very limited presence
in Canada, this proposed purchase, if finalized, would make Laidlaw
Inc. the largest scheduled intercity bus company in North America.
Bus Services
Scheduled Intercity Operators
Intercity bus services are the smallest segment of the industry,
but provide the bulk of long-distance bus transportation. They
are sub-divided into two groups - scheduled intercity operators
and charter operators - with the latter also operating tour and
airport services. Most of the larger operators in these two groups
provide a combination of both intercity and charter services.
Table 13-10 lists the 10 largest scheduled intercity carriers
ranked by the number of coaches in operation. Three of the top
10 operators are owned by Laidlaw Inc., which operates approximately
520 coaches through its subsidiary companies.
Table 13-11 shows the number of scheduled intercity carriers
by province in 1998. The large number of coaches based in Alberta
is due to the presence of the Greyhound and Pacific Western Transportation
bus lines. The number of coaches does not include school or transit
buses, or other smaller vehicles used by these operators in their
day-to-day operations.
There is no national scheduled intercity bus carrier in Canada;
however, scheduled intercity bus services allow passengers to
travel from coast to coast by interlining. Most operating authorities
give carriers exclusive rights to individual bus routes. Carriers
that operate regularly across provincial boundaries (extra-provincial)
come under federal jurisdiction. This includes all major intercity
and charter operators. However, the federal government does not
actually regulate the operation of extra-provincial bus companies,
having allowed the provinces to do so under the authority of the
Motor Vehicle Transport Act, 1987 (MVTA). Most school and urban
transit operators in Canada fall under provincial jurisdiction.
Charter Operators
Charter services are generally characterized by a group trip
where all passengers embark and disembark at the same point. Generally,
charter operators are granted the right to operate trips out of
a given location or city and are allowed open-ended access to
destinations. Operators have the flexibility to offer a broad
spectrum of services ranging from a half-day school trip to a
three-week excursion. They can also offer return or one-way trips.
Local sightseeing tours are also considered a form of charter
service.
In 1996, 103 charter operators with annual revenues exceeding
$200,000, reported to Statistics Canada total annual operating
revenues of $270 million and operating expenses of $261 million.
Data on the number of passengers carried is not collected; however,
3,300 vehicles travelled a total of 157 million kilometres in
1996.
Table 13-12 shows the number of charter bus companies by province
in 1998. British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec account
for almost 85 per cent of the total number of carriers. It is
important to note that this list of carriers includes only those
responding to the survey conducted for the Bus Industry Directory.
In addition, as was the case for scheduled intercity operators,
the number of coaches does not include school buses, transit buses
or other smaller vehicles used in daily operations.
Table 13-13 lists the largest charter bus companies by number
of coaches in operation in 1998. More than half of these carriers
are based in British Columbia.
Urban Transit
All major Canadian cities have some form of urban transit service.
In terms of revenue, urban transit is the largest component of
Canada's bus industry. This type of service, however, is typically
subsidized by both municipal and provincial governments. Some
transit operators also offer school bus and charter services,
as well as service for the elderly and disabled.
- Annex 13-1 Railway Operators
by Region
Bus Transportation Industry
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