(Originally published in TOURISM)
Motor Coach Canada president Brian Crow writes in the November issue of Bus Ride Magazine (to a mainly American audience) that despite many challenges, Canada’s motor coach industry will keep growing.
“Coach operators in Canada face many, if not all, of the same issues US carriers face: low rates; subsidized competition; lack of awareness of the value bus companies add to the transportation system; image in the eyes of the public and government decision makers; taxes and permits; level of ridership; unfair competition from a minority of unsafe operators; operational issues such as congestion in major cities, fuel costs, seat belts, hours of service, CVSA inspections, fires, anti-idling laws; new technology such as GPS, EOBR, onboard cameras, engines, maintenance, parking and access to certain cities and parks. The list is endless.”
The majority of Canadian bus companies are family owned and operate with strong local roots, says Crow, and many began years ago by first providing school bus services, and passing the business down from generation to generation. Several older Canadian bus companies began with a four-horse stagecoach and five family generations later are operating fleets of 400-horsepower motorcoaches. However, the consolidation of the 1990s through today has greatly reduced the number of these family-owned enterprises. The industry is moving from family-owned to corporate-owned.
“While no statistics exist, Motor Coach Canada (MCC) estimates approximately 275 companies operate an estimated 3,000 motorcoaches throughout the Canadian provinces. Scheduled inter-city coach services in Canada had revenues of just under $400 million (Canada), with charter and contract at just over $550 million,” Crow writes.
“Canada experienced a decline in scheduled passenger services similar to the US over the past two to three decades, as low airfares and the love of the car absconded with many former motorcoach passengers.
“Greyhound is the dominant scheduled service carrier in western Canada and Ontario. Coach Canada also operates major scheduled services in Ontario, Quebec and into New York along with charter operations. Orleans Express is the major scheduled carrier in Quebec and Atlantic Canada. In the areas around major cities the scheduled carriers serve a large commuter base as well. Expanding city and regional transit authorities turned many short distance inter-city movements into a transit operation, displacing private carriers to more distant city pairs.”
Crow notes that Japanese tourists discovered Canada in the 1990s and created very significant business for coach operators, but with the devaluing of the Yen in the late 1990s, that business peaked and dropped slightly. He predicts that emerging markets such as China and India may lead to a growth in Canada’s inbound tourism. “If so, this will increase business for coach operators and receptive operators. Mexico and Brazil are growing markets as well but are still showing relatively low numbers. Many indicators suggest the US tour market to Canada will remain flat and well below the levels enjoyed in 2000 and 2001.”
From a charter, perspective growth is inevitable, Crow believes. “Canada just needs all its carriers to adhere to compensable rates to improve their return so they can invest in new coaches and services.
He believes the Canadian bus and tour industry is going to get better. “Canadian operators foresee a renaissance of coach travel as the result of highway and street congestion, cost of fuel, environmental sensitivity, expansion and development of more bus-only lanes, changing demographics, immigration (immigrants generally come from countries where bus travel is preferred and more acceptable), fewer taxpayer dollars available to subsidize rail and public-owned transit, technology (with the coaches themselves, with internet ability to show more people what today’s coaches are like and with how we reach more customers) and owners that will not settle for meager returns on investment.”
Motor Coach Canada president Brian Crow writes in the November issue of Bus Ride Magazine (to a mainly American audience) that despite many challenges, Canada’s motor coach industry will keep growing.
“Coach operators in Canada face many, if not all, of the same issues US carriers face: low rates; subsidized competition; lack of awareness of the value bus companies add to the transportation system; image in the eyes of the public and government decision makers; taxes and permits; level of ridership; unfair competition from a minority of unsafe operators; operational issues such as congestion in major cities, fuel costs, seat belts, hours of service, CVSA inspections, fires, anti-idling laws; new technology such as GPS, EOBR, onboard cameras, engines, maintenance, parking and access to certain cities and parks. The list is endless.”
The majority of Canadian bus companies are family owned and operate with strong local roots, says Crow, and many began years ago by first providing school bus services, and passing the business down from generation to generation. Several older Canadian bus companies began with a four-horse stagecoach and five family generations later are operating fleets of 400-horsepower motorcoaches. However, the consolidation of the 1990s through today has greatly reduced the number of these family-owned enterprises. The industry is moving from family-owned to corporate-owned.
“While no statistics exist, Motor Coach Canada (MCC) estimates approximately 275 companies operate an estimated 3,000 motorcoaches throughout the Canadian provinces. Scheduled inter-city coach services in Canada had revenues of just under $400 million (Canada), with charter and contract at just over $550 million,” Crow writes.
“Canada experienced a decline in scheduled passenger services similar to the US over the past two to three decades, as low airfares and the love of the car absconded with many former motorcoach passengers.
“Greyhound is the dominant scheduled service carrier in western Canada and Ontario. Coach Canada also operates major scheduled services in Ontario, Quebec and into New York along with charter operations. Orleans Express is the major scheduled carrier in Quebec and Atlantic Canada. In the areas around major cities the scheduled carriers serve a large commuter base as well. Expanding city and regional transit authorities turned many short distance inter-city movements into a transit operation, displacing private carriers to more distant city pairs.”
Crow notes that Japanese tourists discovered Canada in the 1990s and created very significant business for coach operators, but with the devaluing of the Yen in the late 1990s, that business peaked and dropped slightly. He predicts that emerging markets such as China and India may lead to a growth in Canada’s inbound tourism. “If so, this will increase business for coach operators and receptive operators. Mexico and Brazil are growing markets as well but are still showing relatively low numbers. Many indicators suggest the US tour market to Canada will remain flat and well below the levels enjoyed in 2000 and 2001.”
From a charter, perspective growth is inevitable, Crow believes. “Canada just needs all its carriers to adhere to compensable rates to improve their return so they can invest in new coaches and services.
He believes the Canadian bus and tour industry is going to get better. “Canadian operators foresee a renaissance of coach travel as the result of highway and street congestion, cost of fuel, environmental sensitivity, expansion and development of more bus-only lanes, changing demographics, immigration (immigrants generally come from countries where bus travel is preferred and more acceptable), fewer taxpayer dollars available to subsidize rail and public-owned transit, technology (with the coaches themselves, with internet ability to show more people what today’s coaches are like and with how we reach more customers) and owners that will not settle for meager returns on investment.”
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