New bus services long way off for Sask. customers

Bus passengers are left without any service now that the Saskatchewan Transportation Company (STC) is done.

Since the announcement of the closure, the government has long said it hoped private companies would pick up some of the routes but that process could take far longer than customers and the business owners want.  

So far, 11 companies have applied to the Highway Traffic Board (HTB) to run passenger service in either a particular region or throughout the province.

But there are been 10 notices of opposition filed against those applications, including from the Amalgamated Transit Union, which means a public hearing must be held.

Those hearings are scheduled for June 5 and 6 in Regina and June 14 in Saskatoon.

After those hearings, the HTB has 21 days to make a decision, so it will be at least mid-July before any service is operating.

The government closed down STC in the budget saying $85 million over the next five years just to keep it operational.

It will be officially wound down by March 2018.