As a people transportation company with over 5,600 employees and 4,100 buses on the road (notwithstanding the current situation caused by the response to COVID-19), Pacific Western Transportation (PWT) has much to be proud of. On a daily basis, our Student Transportation operations safely deliver tens of thousands of students to and from schools across Canada. Our Motorcoach operations provide critical inter-city and charter services for thousands of passengers each day. Our Employee Transportation division transports thousands of workers to job sites critical to the Canadian economy. And our Transit operations provide essential connections for employment, education, health, recreation, and much more in dozens of communities across the country. However, few projects we work on instill pride in what we do like organizing and delivering transportation for large multi-sport Games; especially when they involve youth, for whom competing in these events is so special to their development as athletes and people.
Over the years, PWT has participated in numerous multi-sport Games, from Olympics and other international sport competitions to Canada Games and provincial sporting events. Significant planning and involvement from our local people, tremendous build-up and excitement, and the community pride that swells when showcasing the host community make these events memorable and extremely rewarding, offering substantial payback for the time and effort spent preparing.
In September of last year, PWT signed an agreement to provide bus transportation planning services and transportation execution for both the 2020 BC Winter Games in Fort St. John and 2020 BC Summer Games in Maple Ridge, our latest multi-sport Games project. PWT has operated the public transit services in Fort St. John for many years and participating in the delivery of transportation services for these Games, in particular, was something very special to us and a key reason in our decision to pursue the transportation contract. From February 19th to 23rd of this year, Fort St. John welcomed athletes from across the province, and PWT was there to transport them to and from airports for flights, or over the highways from other parts of Northern BC. Coordinating and operating approximately 20 buses over the five-day period, PWT successfully delivered passengers to practices, competition, accommodations and memorable opening and closing ceremonies. Most important, we helped the community of Fort St. John showcase its considerable assets – in facilities, people, and community spirit – to the rest of the province, things we have long been fortunate enough to appreciate first hand as active corporate citizens in the community.
A few weeks ago, the BC Games Society was forced to cancel the Summer Games in Maple Ridge, another unfortunate casualty of the Coronavirus pandemic. This cancellation negates a great opportunity for the community of Maple Ridge to similarly showcase what it has to offer, something we were extremely excited to support. Fortunately for PWT, we will be retained to participate in the 2022 BC Games in Vernon (Winter) and Prince George (Summer). The Prince George Games will be particularly enjoyable to plan and participate in, as it gives us an opportunity to transport participants in one of our key PWT hubs and a community that we have been proud to operate in and serve since 1967.
Like everyone else, we are unsure when our world, and that of the passengers who rely on our services, will return to some degree of normalcy. However, you can be assured that we will be ready to deliver services once again when possible. And we will continue to look for opportunities to participate in community events and gatherings that uplift our communities and inspire our youth. Now that the world has been forced to withdraw from large gatherings of people, the return of the BC Games in 2022 will be particularly special and rewarding and will serve as a welcome opportunity to gather in celebration of sport, competition, accomplishment and comradery. PWT has always been extremely proud to deliver services for large events and multi-sport Games such as these. We are now even more excited to help bring them back.