An independent transportation service between Whistler and Kamloops is no more, much to the dismay of many Sea to Sky locals.
Owl Bus, based in Lillooet, stopped operations on Feb. 1. The twice-weekly intercity route ran between Kamloops and Whistler for nearly five years, but owner and operator Jill Stainsby is parking her vehicle for good. Stainsby’s reliable, white Dodge Journey was the only vehicle to provide intercity service past Whistler.
On Dec. 31, Stainsby announced her “wild ride” was coming to an end. She cited her advancing age as her reason for stepping down, but stressed there is a need for another company to take her place.
“Owl Bus ridership has increased over the years and might be viable for another operating company,” she wrote. “Larger bus lines have shown interest in using this route to Vancouver and perhaps one will step up to do so. There is a need here for affordable medical and other travel. It has been a tremendous privilege to offer affordable intercity bus services here in Lillooet and I have been proud to do so.”
Vivian Birch-Jones, Area B director for the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, thanked Owl Bus for its service in a letter to the board.
“The Owl Bus has provided service to some of our most vulnerable people, as well as booking trips for the general public on demand,” she wrote. “Area B has been pleased to provide some financial support to this service over the past few years. It is sad to see the service ending.”
Jones told the SLRD board at its meeting on Jan. 24 she hoped a solution could be found at the last minute.
“This is a sad little note,” she said. “This was the little bus that could. It has provided invaluable service for many years.”
Stainsby told Pique she hopes a new bus will be making regular trips up and down the Duffey soon.
“I had my own license and my own route. I was running it for four years and nine months,” she said. “I still hold the route in the hopes that somebody will come along and want it.”
She said people had often not heard of her service.
“Every time I got a new customer, they said that they had never heard about me before,” she said. “It was a few customers every day. It was a long way to drive for that amount of people. All the customers I’ve had will now be stuck. There is no intercity bus that goes on [Highway] 99 beyond Whistler. I just can’t do it anymore.”
Stainsby said many people use the service to get to the city for a weekend. “It was running twice weekly, Friday and Monday,” she said. “That meant that a lot of people who wanted to go to Vancouver for the weekend or to Kamloops could use it. They could also use it to get to work and back.”
Driving the Duffey was not an easy task, and Stainsby had her fair share of near misses over the years.
“When five people were killed in the landslide [in November 2021], I was stuck on the other side of the landslide. There was another time where I was stuck for eight or nine hours,” she said. “Parts of the Duffey are really getting chewed up. The road really is awful. It needs to be rebuilt. I was very scared of the Duffey when I first moved here. I’m not scared of it anymore.”
She hopes the road will be improved in years to come.
Asked if it would consider expanding its services past Pemberton, BC Transit’s senior media relations and public affairs advisor, Jamie Weiss, said BC Transit has not yet been approached by any local governments about a potential future service connecting these B.C. communities. “The development of intercommunity and interregional BC Transit service relies on strong support from multiple local government partners, funding from the Province and considerable planning,” he said.
The following intercommunity and interregional transit services have been introduced in the last few years: Cowichan Valley Commuter to and from Victoria; Nanaimo Cowichan Express; Fraser Valley Express (which now connects to Lougheed station and TransLink services); service between Pemberton and Whistler; West Kootenays (Nelson-Castlegar and Trail-Castlegar); service between Penticton and Kelowna; and service between Vernon and Kelowna.
Weiss said conversations about improving transportation across B.C. are always open.
“Our organization has played an important role in the implementation of the Highway 16 Transportation Action Plan and BC Bus North to support safe and affordable travel in northern and Indigenous communities,” he said. “While there are currently no other intercommunity or interregional BC Transit routes nearing implementation, conversations are ongoing with our local government partners in various communities.”
