In just a few days, Greyhound buses will be making their final stops through the Similkameen Valley.

Greyhound was given approval in February to cut routes in many parts of B.C., including its route along Highway 3 from Osoyoos to Hope which stops in Keremeos, Hedley, Princeton, Eastgate and Manning Park.

Once the cuts come into effect on June 1, there won't be any direct bus from the Similkameen Valley to the Lower Mainland — meaning all Greyhound routes to the coast will have to go through West Kelowna.

"I think it's going to affect a lot of elderly people who use the bus," one person said to Castanet at the bus depot in Penticton. "But (Greyhound's) losing money, so what else are they supposed to do?"

Greyhound said in September it had lost $12.9 million in the last fiscal year, and said it "deeply regrets" the impact of its route cuts.

B.C. Transit has proposed offering more bus trips to Kelowna for South Okanagan and Similkameen residents. However, if approved that service likely wouldn't begin operation until the fall of 2019, and would still leave a void for long-haul service outside of the region.

"It would be easier if we had a direct route through Highway 3, and that's what the ultimate goal will be," Manfred Bauer said, Mayor of Keremeos and vice-chair of the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen.

"We'll have to keep the pressure up on the Ministry and see if we can get some rural subsidies that will enable us to establish that.

"The problem always with rural areas is you don't have the population to support it with tax money... The whole Similkameen from Manning Park to Osoyoos has only about 10,000 people."

The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure has considered subsidizing long-haul rural bus services in areas of the province affected by Greyhound's cuts.

"We will certainly pursue it," Bauer said.

MOTI did not respond by publishing time to a request for comment on whether there has been any progress on a subsidized bus service through the Similkameen.