Zero? crossborder bus lines USA-Canada between Niagra and Vancouver?

[NW cannonball]

I've been searching for buses either Fargo or Grand Forks to Winnipeg, or MSP or Duluth to Thunder Bay. Not finding any.

Looking wider (because Greyhound offers MSP-Thunder Bay via NFL - a 50+hour trip for $300+) -- and wondering -

Seems that the only way is to fly less than 2 hours each way for $400-$500 round trip.

Is there no other way but flying?. Seems no cross-border buses anywhere between Bellingham-Vancouver and Niagara Falls.

Ouch.

 

[NS VIA Fan]

Calgary Airport Shuttle Express provides a scheduled Van Shuttle between Calgary and Glacier Park Montana. It could provide a connection between the Empire Builder and the Rocky Mountaineer in Calgary or Banff. Or in Calgary connect with Greyhound to Edmonton to connect with VIA's Canadian

http://www.airportshuttleexpress.com/

Here in the Maritimes there was once two or three buses a day between St. Stephen, New Brunswick and Boston and at one time thru buses between Sain John, NB and the Port Authority Terminal in NYC. But just like out west......everyone flies now. The last time Acadian Lines operated the Saint John <> St. Stephen service, they were lucky if they got a couple of passengers a day.

 

[OBS]

Unfortunately, the ND to Winnipeg Busses were discontinued several years ago. There was some talk of someone resuming service, but never came to fruition. I used the service 2-3 times and was never crowded back in 90's and early 2000. Possibly you could arrange private driver/transport?

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Unfortunately, the ND to Winnipeg Busses were discontinued several years ago. There was some talk of someone resuming service, but never came to fruition. I used the service 2-3 times and was never crowded back in 90's and early 2000. Possibly you could arrange private driver/transport?

I think a company named Blue Star did restore service in 2013, but high fares drove away passengers and it's not operating anymore.

Now there is still a connection at Sault Ste. Marie between the US and Canada side. The US side is served by Indian Trials and the Canada side is served by Greyhound Lines of Canada.

Please consult the US Intercity Bus & Rail Map for more information: http://www.kfhgroup.com/aibra/pdf/usmap.pdf.

It appears that Calgary Airporter does provide a lot of service that is not shown on the linked map above.

 

[Eric S]

Thanks for linking to that map, Swadian. I know I've looked over it a few times in the past, but this time I focused on the US-Canada border. EDITED TO ADD: One thing that map does not really make all that clear, though, is which services actually cross the border, as opposed to just serving communities on or near the border.

As far as cross-border bus service between Seattle-Vancouver on the west and Niagara Falls on the east, it looks like Michigan-Ontario is the only option.

There is cross-border bus service at Detroit-Windsor, both intercity bus service (Greyhound, others too?) and local transit service (Transit Windsor's Tunnel Bus). Is there cross-border bus service at Sault Ste. Marie, or just service to near the border on both the American and Canadian sides?

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

I think at Sault Ste. Marie the buses stop at both sides but don't cross. Indian Trails goes to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, then turns around to head back south. Greyhound Lines of Canada makes a long stop at Sault Ste. Marie on the Toronto-Calgary route, so they obviously just keep going on the TCH.

Here's a nice shot of Greyhound D-units laying over at Sault Ste. Marie: http://www.barraclou.com/bus/greyhound/greyhound1150.jpg.

More recent scene: http://30masjids.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Greyhound-Bus-1173-Sault-Ste-Marie-Friday-Morning-July-26-2013.jpg.

It's the same type of bus but now they're getting rebuil and painted blue.

I agree with Eric that the map should include international service into Canada or it could just expand to include all of Canada. There's not that many bus routes in Canada anyway, if the mapper discovered all those obscure bus routes and operators in the US then he could easily discover everything in Canada. Now doing the same with Mexico would be much harder due to language barriers.

 

[CHamilton]

From this website. Let's hope their information is more accurate than their spelling!

Buses Indian Trails bus line service Sault Ste. Marie regularly. The Mackinaw Shuttle Service also offers bus and limo service from its’ headquarters in Mackinaw City to Sault Ste Marie, Chippewa International airport, casinos and other Upper Peninsula destinations.

Traveling Between Sault Michigan and Sault Ontario The International Bridge Bus travels between the Twin Sault’s. The bus picks up and drops off at specific locations on both sides of the boarder.

 

[railiner]

So apparently service at SSM has actually improved somewhat over what existed a few years ago....by that at least indian Trails goes all the way there, as opposed to when North Star Lines turned passengers over to a limo company for an expensive ride from St. Ignace to SSM. The International Bridge Bus that CHamilton has posted a link to completes the connection, it would seem. Not quite as good as when Eastern Greyhound still ran the Detroit to Sault Ste. Marie thru service, that first stopped at the GL terminal in Michigan, and then crossed the bridge to the GLC Ontario terminal and vice versa on the return trip.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

With all the apparent border crossing troubles, it's no surprise there would be an International Bridge Bus.

According to old Greyhound maps, as late as 2003, there were international connections at International Falls with Greyhound, Pembina with Jefferson, and Sweet Grass with an unknown US operaotr connecting to Greyhound Canada. However, in 2003 there was no connection at Sault Ste. Marie.

It's even more surprising how many major bus routes have been cut since 2003. Back then Greyhound served Fargo, Billings, Bismarck, Pierre, Butte, Cheyenne, Omaha, and Des Moines, all cut now. I guess LCC's and G4500's really pinched Greyhound from the inside and out into massive cuts.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

One must remember that Greyhounds real business is cargo.

 

[George Harris]

One must remember that Greyhounds real business is cargo.

By default.

Thanks to cheap air fares the long distance bus passenger if near a historical curiosity. There are some "won't flys" but little more. Simple math: By the time you spend two days on a bus and buy meals, you could have flown for about the same money and not burned the time.

However, as short and medium distance flights have either dissapeared or gotten rediculous in price there should be a market for bus service that could possibly be tapped with good advertizing.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

One must remember that Greyhounds real business is cargo.

By default.

Thanks to cheap air fares the long distance bus passenger if near a historical curiosity. There are some "won't flys" but little more. Simple math: By the time you spend two days on a bus and buy meals, you could have flown for about the same money and not burned the time.

However, as short and medium distance flights have either dissapeared or gotten rediculous in price there should be a market for bus service that could possibly be tapped with good advertizing.

What is Green Maned Lion talking about? Greyhound doesn't carry much cargo at all compared to JB Hunt, Swift, or CR England. And they sure treat passengers a lot better than cargo, with WI-Fi on long-distance routes.

Contrary to your statement, Greyhound re-introduced many long-distance routes in 2013, including New Yokr-Miami, New York-Atlanta, Atlanta-Jacksonville-Miami (weekends), and Chicago-Dallas. However, these are mainly supplementing existing routes, the service gaps are a different matter.