Ontario company to take over Selkirk-Winnipeg bus line

Maybe the third time's the charm. That's certainly what Daniel Denton hopes.

The St. Andrews resident and second-year biochemistry student at the University of Winnipeg relies on a Selkirk-Winnipeg bus route that Exclusive Bus Lines is putting the brakes on after just more than a year in service.

• Beaver Bus route between Selkirk and Winnipeg done
• Bus company to resume route between Selkirk and Winnipeg

Now a Thunder Bay company, Kasper Transportation Service, is taking over the line on Sept. 1, and Denton hopes it will keep the route permanently.

"Since I've started riding the bus, we've gone through two bus companies and constant schedule changes, so something constant, reliable and easy to work into your schedule would be fantastic," he said.

Denton said the bus service from Exclusive has been excellent, and he was sad earlier this year when the company announced it was doing away with the line due to declining ridership.

'Here we go again'

"It was sort of the feeling 'oh here we go again,'" Denton said.

Exclusive took over the route in 2016 after Beaver Bus Lines dissolved the route after 68 years of service.

The line runs from Selkirk to Winnipeg and has several stops along the way, including in St. Andrews.

Kasper is banking on using smaller Mercedes-Benz sprinter vans on the route to make sure it gets the best bang for its buck.

Minibus to be used

Scott Spak, Kasper's vice president of operations, said the smaller vehicles make sense as opposed to large charter buses currently used by Exclusive Bus Lines.

"We've had great feedback already," he said speaking of a meeting he had with the City of Selkirk. "I'm very confident that it's going to take off and do very well."