Free buses proposed for Highway of Tears

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Nearly half of the recommendations in the recently released Highway of Tears symposium report are focused on prevention, including one that proposes that a unique free shuttle system operate between Prince Rupert and Prince George.

The report, which is the result of a gathering held in late March in Prince George on the subject of the young women missing or found murdered along the highway between the two cities, calls for greater vigilance by police and residents along Highway 16, as well as free buses for low-income young Aboriginal women that would provide round-trip service.

?We?re looking at hard and direct ways of taking these girls off the highway,? said First Nations consultant Don Sabo, who compiled the 39-page report with the co-operation of the RCMP and victims? families. ?Most of these girls live at or below the poverty level and they can?t afford transportation. It?s also a geographic problem for many of them as they need to travel great distances to get necessities.?

Under the proposed plan, there would be a series of shuttle buses between all the communities along Highway 16, between Rupert and Prince George, each approximately 100-kilometre round trips. For instance, one might travel from Rupert to Terrace and back, while another would travel from Terrace to Hazelton and back, and so on. There would be perhaps four round-trips per day and it would likely only be during a particular time of the year.

?This predator, or predators, seems to target young women on the highway during the hitchhiking season, which is the spring and summer in the rural settings,? said Sabo. ?In the winter, it?s too cold to hitchhike up here, so what does the predator do? He moves into the city.?

In the last 35 years, more than 30 women have disappeared or been found murdered on the 724-kilometre stretch of northern B.C. highway. Most of those women have been young and Aboriginal.

The bus plan would be costly, likely too costly for the provincial government?with one estimate at $500,000 minimum?but North Coast MLA Gary Coons says there is one way it can work.

?People are saying it?s a huge cost and it?s not going to happen but there are options out there,? said Coons, pointing to the new Northern Health Connections bus service as something that could be part of the Highway of Tears shuttle plan.

Northern Health Connections will be providing northern patients needing to travel for medical appointments in northern B.C. with a low-cost bus service, starting this summer. It has both short and long distance routes.

Said Coons: ?There are going to be five big buses and four shuttles. They?re already going to be going between the communities and, if the government is serious about stepping up to the plate, why not use it to alleviate some of the concerns (of the Highway of Tears)??

Greater vigilance was another of the recommendations in the report, meaning that the RCMP, bus drivers, government workers, and anyone who regularly travels the stretch or lives near the highway, must take some responsibility for hitchhikers.

?While the RCMP has done a commendable job in patrolling the highway, they can no longer just drive past women who fit the victims? profiles,? said Sabo.

?We have a predator or predators basically hunting these victims, so the police have to kind of hunt the victims too, for their protection. If they don?t stop and talk to them, advise or assist them, then five minutes behind them could be the predator.?

The full report be viewed at www.highwayoftears.ca