IslandLink expands bus service to north Vancouver Island

A Vancouver Island bus company is stepping up to provide daily bus service to the north island starting this spring. 

IslandLink will launch a 230-kilometre, three-hour route connecting Campbell River on the island's east coast to Port McNeil and Port Hardy in the north on May 16. Two buses, one northbound and another southbound, will operate on the route.

The community of Port Hardy, about a 500-kilometre drive north of Victoria, has long been advocating for public transportation. 

According to Mayor Pat Corbett-Labatt, many residents do not have a driver's licence so they rely on public transportation. She says the route will help keep people in the community.

"It will give us services that are designed for us in Port Hardy and to the North Island and it's recognizing that we have needs too, that have been neglected," she said. 

"To be able to have a strong workforce in the rural communities, it's important to have the services that are needed."

IslandLink already offers bus services between Campbell River and communities to the south, as far as Victoria.

The new route will connect Port Hardy to the already established network of busses, according to Phillip Morgan, owner and founder of IslandLink.

The network of routes will now connect four B.C. Ferries terminals. 

"​​The island north of Campbell River, up as far as Port Hardy is badly underserved, there's no question of it," said Morgan.

After Greyhound pulled out in 2018, other companies have tried — and failed — to establish a route on the north Island. Currently, the only option for public transportation is the Waivin Flags taxi bus, which operates three times a week.

It's not the first time IslandLink has stepped up. Just under a year ago, the company announced it would take over Wilson's Tofino bus, connecting communities between Victoria and Tofino, after Wilson Transportation suspended the route. 

According to Morgan, while that line was not immediately profitable for IslandLink, partially due to that summer's lengthy Highway 4 closures, the route is now viable.

He cites the success as a reason to believe IslandLink will be successful on the north island, when other companies have struggled.

"​​The trick is to be able to do it as efficiently as possible," said Morgan. 

Importance of inter-city transportation 

The lack of transportation options on the north island was exemplified in an April 2023 episode of BBC's Race Across the World last year.

Contestants were tasked with getting from Vancouver to Haida Gwaii without flying or renting a car, and were shocked at their limited public transportation options. 

One father-daughter team on the show tried to take the bus from Campbell River to Port Hardy, but missed the Waivin Flags bus by 45 minutes. They ended up hitching a ride with a local. 

The lack of transportation isn't news to those living on the north island — in fact, it's a story many of them share. 

Mayor Corbett-Labatt says she drove a tourist from Campbell River back to Port Hardy when they were faced with the prospect of paying for an expensive cab ride. 

Corbett-Labatt says it's important to invest in the health of small, rural communities so they can continue to contribute to the overall province and maintain a healthy population and workforce.

"So much of the resources that come out of the north island and other rural communities are supporting those that live in urban communities," she said. 

"And the people that are in the rural communities don't necessarily have the same services, to that of the larger populations."

Customers can now start making reservations between Campbell River and Port Hardy. A ticket from Victoria to Port Hardy will cost about $100 through IslandLink.