All aboard the gov't bus

Photo: BC Gov't

The B.C. government says a bus service it started to make up for Greyhound cuts in the north gained riders in its first months of operation.

BC Bus North was launched to provide safe, cheap transportation and reduce the need for hitchhiking along the so-called Highway of Tears.

Eighteen women have been murdered or have disappeared along Highway 16 and its feeder routes since the 1970s.

The government says 300 people book rides the service in June and that number grew to 450 in July.

The service runs twice a week between Prince Rupert, Prince George, Valemount, Dawson Creek and Fort St. John and once a week from Dawson Creek to Fort Nelson

One-way fares are between $35 and $45.