A new company is stepping in as a replacement for Greyhound in Ontario

After nearly a century in business, Greyhound Canada shuttered all of its operations last spring, citing "sustained ridership declines" of a whopping 95 per cent across the country, in part pandemic-related.

As previously suspended routes in Ontario and Quebec were permanently cancelled by the move, many wondered what, if anything, would end up replacing these services, especially as travel and tourism ramped up again and things reopened.

Megabus was among the companies that stepped in and expanded its offerings north of the border, adding trips between Ottawa, Toronto, Scarborough and Kingston.

Now, another competitor has entered the market, this one from Europe.

FlixBus, an intercity travel company from Germany, acquired Greyhound's U.S. arm in October, which means it took over remaining cross-border lines, like the one between Toronto and New York.

The company is also establishing new direct routes within Canada between Toronto and Kitchener-Waterloo, Toronto and Ottawa, and Toronto and St. Catharines/Niagara Falls.

Following bad news from GO/Metrolinx today, I was happy to read that @FlixBus is launching service in South Western Ontario on April 7th. Fares start at $5 and buses take 2hrs 20 mins to travel from UWaterloo <-> Guelph Central <-> Square One <-> Toronto Harbourfront.

— Justin (Taylor's Version) Fan (@not_taylorx) March 24, 2022

Buses will run from downtown Toronto's harbourfront (as the old coach terminal is now closed and slated for redevelopment) to sites like the University of Waterloo, downtown Kitchener, downtown Guelph, Mississauga, Ottawa's ByWard Market, St. Catharines downtown bus terminal and the Niagara Falls Convention Centre.

Some of the routes are only once per day on select days (Tuesdays and Wednesdays for Toronto-Waterloo, Thursdays to Mondays for Toronto-Ottawa, and daily for Toronto-Niagara), and others will be twice per day (Thursdays to Mondays for Toronto-Waterloo).

And, trips are starting soon, on April 7, with a promotional fare of only $4.99 up until the day prior.

After that, one-way tickets range from around $15 to just under $50 depending on destination and date.

Rider Express is supposedly starting service between Toronto and Ottawa in July, and I’m hoping that Megabus will step up to fill the Toronto to Detroit route. Flixbus would definitely still be welcome though… lots of routes they could supplement

— Zach 🚏🚌 (@VanishingUnder) May 13, 2021

FlixBus vehicles will notably be operated by existing coach company Gallexy Tours, and will have the typical features of free wifi and plugs at every seat in an all-new fleet.