Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Tourism Whistler to consider position on transportation to Whistler

Tourism Whistler President Barrett Fisher said her organization would investigate lobbying...

Tourism Whistler President Barrett Fisher said her organization would investigate lobbying for another transport provider to Whistler if research reveals there is a demand for it.

Fisher’s comments come a week after the Motor Carrier Commission shut down Whistler Star Express, a company that has brought an estimated 100,000 tourists to Whistler during five years of operation.

The MCC concluded that Randy Snider, the owner and operator of Whistler Star Express, "had operated for a number of years without regard to the requirements of the Motor Carrier Act and its regulations".

Fisher said she was not yet aware of the details surrounding the MCC’s decision but she was confident action would be taken if it was deemed that the decision could affect Whistler’s customer base.

"First and foremost our concern is meeting customer needs and we want to ensure that every one of our customers has an efficient and effective means of getting transportation to Whistler," Fisher said.

"With the number of people he (Snider) brought in, this is going to present challenges, and certainly it poses a concern for tourism and our goal is to ensure that we have the right transportation options to meet our customers’ needs.

"I don’t have the detail of the service they were providing but I would think they were filling a void in the marketplace that is now going to be left unserviced.

"If our customers’ needs include a variety of transportation options, and we think competition is a good thing, we will make sure that the scheduling meets their needs – it’s all about supply and demand."

Fisher said Snider and Whistler Star Express could still be an option if Tourism Whistler decided to lobby for more transport to and from Whistler.

"…Tourism Whistler is absolutely prepared to make their lobbying voice heard whenever there are tourism issues that are directly effecting our customers.

"We do have individuals within our organization, we have a research manager who’s new with us and we have another communication manager, who specialize in understanding our transportation options and we certainly will be analyzing what the offerings are to our guests," she said.

"And if we believe that they’re (guests) under-resourced they’ll (Whistler Star Express) be, certainly, one of the companies we’ll look at to increase and improve that service if we saw the need."

Whistler Star Express specialized in door-to-door service from Vancouver airport to Whistler and Snider said that some months it was so popular it brought in more than $320,000 of business.

Much of this business happened late at night or early in morning, which is when the major bus companies, such as Greyhound and Perimeter, do not have regular services.

Whistler Star Express’s business may now go to a variety of limousine services that operate shuttles to Whistler, but Greyhound and Perimeter, who both testified against Whistler Star Express at the MCC hearing, are likely to benefit the most.

Fisher added that Tourism Whistler would also have to look at whether the MCC’s rules cater for the kinds of transportation issues in Whistler.

"If research comes back from our customers saying that there is a need for transportation at a certain time of the day that’s not being provided we would look at providing that.

"If there is a segment of the population that is looking for a particular level of transportation, whether it is a different type of carrier, we’re prepared to lobby on behalf of our customer base.

"If the MCC doesn’t cover what the customer needs, we’re certainly prepared to analyze that as well."

Director and Secretary of the MCC Jan Broocke would not comment about specifics but agreed new transport legislation recently released by Transport Minister Kevin Falcon could promote better competition in areas such as Whistler.

"There is a new act and I think that with the Olympics scheduled for 2010 it will have some impact on the needs and services in the area," Broocke said.

The legislation is expected to make it much easier for small businesses to apply for and be granted licenses to run commercial operations.

Falcon said in a press release dated April 19 that the Passenger Transportation Act would be replacing the Motor Carrier Act and this is due to take effect some time this summer.

"The Motor Carrier Act is outdated, and has not been significantly changed since it was introduced in 1939," Falcon said.

"This bill helps modernize the regulation of the commercial transportation industry, maintains safety, and provides significant benefits to small business across B.C."

Despite this new legislation regulators must expect that the major carriers, will always make an effort to protect their market share.

Greyhound’s General Manager in Western Canada Dave Hickie said Greyhound opposed Whistler Star Express because of its interests in the "Whistler corridor".

"All we know is that we have capacity in the corridor and we feel we can accommodate passengers up to Whistler without adding vehicles on the road," Hickie said.

"We wanted to object to this because we felt that the carrier in question was operating illegally.

"Our view point is we want to reduce the number of vehicles on that highway and if they’re on a bus it would reduce the number of vehicles.

"We also want to ensure that the regulations are met and that people are operating within the restrictions placed on them."

But in light of the MCC’s decision and the need for another affordable, all-hours service operating from Vancouver airport, Hickie confirmed Greyhound was considering starting a service from the airport.

"We’re evaluating all our options," he said.

Currently if airport passengers want to use Greyhound’s services to Whistler they have to get to the downtown Vancouver terminal first.