Fewer people used Saskatchewan’s bus company last year, despite its efforts to attract more riders.
Nearly 259,000 customers rode the bus, according to the Saskatchewan Transportation Company’s annual report, down four percent from the previous year.
Officials said the decline was at least partly the result of lingering unease following the beheading of a passenger on a Greyhound bus in Manitoba in 2008.
STC added wireless internet service on its Regina-Saskatoon route, improved leg room on some coaches, reduced rates for seniors for one month and extended service to Green Lake, Big River, Debden, Canwood and Shellbrook.
The company earned $15. 7 million from passenger fares and parcel revenue, down from $16.3 million in 2008.
It required an operating subsidy of $7.8 million from the provincial government to cover losses.
Highways minister Jim Reiter, who is responsible for STC, said customers reported a satisfaction rate of 91 percent and the senior one-month seat sale showed a 227 percent increase.
“Those are very encouraging signs going forward,” he said.
Another seniors flat-rate special is planned for May.
