Should the provincial government be in the bus business? If it is, should it be in it to turn a profit?
The spectre of privatization of Saskatchewan’s provincial bus service (the Saskatchewan Transportation Co.) raised its head, ugly or otherwise, recently when it was announced that the bus company lost $6.2 million in 1996, its second worst year since 1991’s loss of $6.8 million.
There are three schools of thought as to what should be done with the company, which had a cumulative deficit of almost $60 million at the end of last year.
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One, led by the Conservatives in the provincial legislature, called for the sale of the bus company to a private operator.
A second called for only the sale of unprofitable (largely rural) lines to the private enterprise with the government retaining the profitable lines. (I have a bridge for the guy who takes that deal!)
The third holds that the government should keep the bus line as a public service. The government, not surprisingly, has chosen the third.
The government keeping the bus company is probably the best option for rural Saskatchewan. For many communities, the bus offers one of the last lifelines.
With the consolidation of businesses and services, particularly medical, in larger centres, more and more people now have to travel away from their home communities much more frequently than ever before.
Seniors are the group most often caught in this position; this is also the group which often does not drive, or does not care to drive long distances or in the city traffic. A cutback in bus service would be particularly onerous for this group.
Another group which uses the bus a great deal, at least in our town, is the business community which depends on it for quick and reliable freight service.
If transportation is to be a public service, we should not carp about cost. But if we are going to complain about the cost every time the company runs a deficit – as it is almost surely bound to, considering the number of low-usage lines – then the correct action is to privatize it and let the chips fall where they may.
Public services do not come cheap.
They remain public services only as long as the public is willing to pay for the service. Given increasing urbanization, it is anyone’s guess how long the public will remain willing to pay for rural lines which lose money. Rural residents must help the cause along by remembering a simple adage: use it or lose it.
