Young entrepreneur wants to take on Greyhound, Perimeter again
The story of the Snowbus and its short stint ferrying bus passengers along Highway 99 is somewhat reminiscent of the little guy's fight against the giant.
This modern day scenario of the age-old tale has David as a young entrepreneur looking for business opportunities on the Sea to Sky highway, and Goliath as Greyhound Canada, trying to stop him.
This time however, Goliath won.
Complaints from Greyhound that the Snowbus was operating illegally during its four-month existence led to an investigation by the Motor Carrier Commission, the body responsible for licensing commercial transportation in B.C.
The Commission found proof the Snowbus was operating without a license, forcing the young company to suspend its services.
According to the Motor Carrier Act, companies are not allowed to provide regularly scheduled buses services where they charge individual fares unless they have an operating license.
Joktan Elbert, founder of the Snowbus, said there is no room for his business on the Sea to Sky highway because there is a monopoly on bus transportation to and from Whistler.
"The people who were doing a similar service didn't like it because they have a monopoly on it," he said.
He places the blame on Greyhound for the demise of the Snowbus.
"Thanks to Greyhound and their high-priced lawyers we were forced to shut down," he said.
"I thought, 'I'm not going to fight these guys because they're bigger than me.'"
So the Snowbus service, which started in December, came to a grinding halt on March 13.
"From Greyhound's perspective, certainly we are happy to compete in an open market, but fair is fair," said Dave Mell, the general manager for Greyhound B.C.
"It has to be legal competition."
Elbert says he will start from the beginning again and apply for a license from the Motor Carrier Commission in order to make his operations legal.
But when Mell was asked if Greyhound would oppose such a license, he said:
"We certainly will... because it's our competition. We are looking to protect our route and our revenues."
The story of the short-lived discount bus service from Whistler to Vancouver and back again began with Elbert, a 24-year-old Vancouver native who liked coming to Whistler to snowboard but found there was no fun or cheap way to travel here.
"We have the number one ski resort in North America and there is no fun way to get there and there is nothing cheap about Whistler," he said.
As a result of this dilemma, the idea of the Snowbus was born.
The Snowbus offered a $25 roundtrip ride (or $15 one way) on a luxury bus with movies, refreshments and other discount deals on rentals, tickets and Whistler restaurants, among other things.
In order to ride the Snowbus, customers had to become a member of the Snowclub for a one time $5 fee.
This whole package deal was geared towards Vancouver and Whistler locals, offering them a cheaper mode of transportation.
Elbert's main target group was students.
He estimates there are about 2,500 members of the Snowclub. Most of them go to UBC and SFU or are ESL students.
"We had a great idea and people that loved it," he said.
"We weren't a bus service. We were a club that had a chartered bus."
He said the numbers are proof there is a need for this type of service.
When the Snowbus was in operation it ran four times a day – twice from Vancouver and twice from Whistler.
A club member could use the Snowbus at any time.
Currently the cost of a roundtrip ticket to Vancouver on the Greyhound is $42. The Perimeter, which is the airport service to and from Whistler, runs for roughly $60 one way. These are the only two commercial bus services to the resort.
"People don't have to pay those prices," said Elbert.
"It's ridiculous. People are getting raked over the coals."
Elbert saw the Snowbus as the cheap alternative, which in fact offered an enhanced service. He called the Snowbus the Costco of Whistler.
And it was a way to break down the Greyhound/Perimeter monopoly.
Greyhound has been operating the Whistler line for four years now, since the purchase of Maverick in 1998.
Perimeter has been operating for about eight years now.
Both services have firmly established roots in the community. They are the only way in and out of Whistler by bus.
"I don't understand how it can be allowed," said Elbert.
"There should be privatization. There should be competition. We let the big American companies come in and take over and there's no room for the little guys. It's not fair."
But the fact remains that the Snowbus did not have a license to operate regularly scheduled services.
"He was trying to operate outside the system that is established in B.C.," said Mell.
At the moment Elbert is continuing to run special events for Snowclub members. He is allowed to do this because they are not regularly scheduled services.
And he is also preparing an application for a Snowbus license.
"Now I'm going to get a license and it's not an easy process. In this province it's like winning the lottery," he said.
Jan Broocke, the director and secretary to the commission, said it takes about 60 days for a license to get approved or rejected.
"But it depends upon how complex and how many objectors.... If it goes on to a public hearing it can go even longer."
Elbert is asking people who support the concept of the Snowbus to log on to www.snowclub.ca and sign his petition as a show of support.
