Jayda Noyes, Daily Herald
A Prince Albert-based transportation service started a Saskatoon to Edmonton route on Monday to fill voids left behind by Greyhound.
The owner of KCTI Travels, Harkanwal Singh, said they got their permit from Alberta’s transportation department on Friday.
The route has stops in North Battleford, Lloydminister, Vermillion and Vegreville.
To Singh, sustaining transportation services is crucial to fulfill people’s needs who are unable to drive themselves.
“People can go to work; people can visit family and friends; they can go for medical treatment,” he said.
Greyhound halted all routes in Western Canada on Nov. 1, and KCTI worked together with Alberta-based Cold Shot Bus Service to get customers to their destinations until they got their permit.
“We were going up to Lloyd and they were carrying passengers from Lloyd to Edmonton and to other places,” said Singh.
He added their partnership will continue to benefit customers.
If someone wanted to travel to a destination past Edmonton, he explained, they could use Cold Shot so they don’t have to pay for a taxi.
Singh said the company has more enhancements coming in the future, including having trailers behind their shuttles for courier services.
“We have to add freight on it, just to make it successful,” he said. “It might take one or two weeks to get the ball rolling.”
Additionally, KCTI is working on adding more routes within Saskatchewan, including Prince Albert to Saskatoon and Saskatoon to Regina.
Its new route from Saskatoon to Edmonton costs $90 one way, but prices differ for destinations at any other stops.
Saskatoon to North Battleford costs $40, to Lloydminister is $60 and to Vermillion is $70.
Tickets are available on www.kcti.ca or while boarding the bus.
KCTI began operations back in August between Prince Albert and La Ronge.
However, Singh said it didn’t produce many customers because a Facebook group with people in the area allowed them to communicate and carpool back and forth.
