A Shuttle Bus to connect Prince George to Prince Rupert to prevent hitchhiking on the Highway of Tear is becoming more of a reality.  Smithers Town Council brought the resolution forward to the UBCM resolution committee, to have the idea of a Shuttle Bus voted on, and the results were unanimous. Smithers Mayor Taylor Bachrach explains, “The story is that we are successful in bring forward the resolution and we received overwhelming support from the delegates and it was really great to see and really positive response.”

Due to previous statements that the UBCM had made, that this might an issue better dealt with by the North Central Local Government Association, Council wasn't even sure if the resolution would have even made it to the floor Bachrach is happy to see that there was time to bring forward the resolution. Now council is looking to move forward, with support from other parties.  Bachrach explains, “We are going to continue to build support for the idea among Northern Councils and social service provides in our community as well as first nations providers in our communities and we are going to be taking the support to the provincial government.”

In a statement the Minister of Transportation Mary Polack did say ‘Our primary goal is safety and how we can make travel along Highway 16 safer and discourage the practice of hitchhiking