> especially if the bus would normally run empty In Switzerland we often have bus service to tiny mountain villages where the bus has to drive incredibly comp

> especially if the bus would normally run empty In Switzerland we often have bus service to tiny mountain villages where the bus has to drive incredibly complex snake roads up a mountain. These buses are often not all that full. And somehow we have not gone bankrupt as a country in the 100 years this has been going on. > A highway is a one-time cost That is just totally false. > a bus is an ongoing cost Bus has an Initial acquisition cost and an ongoing maintenance, literally exactly like a highway. The difference is that you have to pay a bus driver. > It would be much easier to "stick a seat" on some government vehicle that already does the trip regularly, allowing a passenger or two to ride along with the mail truck. Yes. And that exactly how it started in Switzerland. The Mail company operates the buses. But that doesn't change the fact that they are proper buses with reliable schedules. Today these buses don't usually deliver the mail anymore anyway. The waste majority are just normal bus routes, just painted in a cool color. See the Old-School bus: https://artifiche.com/artifiche-images/posters_extralarge/2406.jpg https://artifiche.com/artifiche-images/posters_extralarge/24... Here you see a modern Post Bus station that is above the local railway station. There are 10+ Post platforms, going into all the surrounding vallies and then to all the different mountain villages. They are all synchronized and scheduled with train arrival times. See: https://www.bus-bild.de/bild/Schweiz~Betriebe~Postauto/138029/postauto---postautoparade-bei-der-postautohaltestelle.html https://www.bus-bild.de/bild/Schweiz~Betriebe~Postauto/13802... The city where this bus station is located has only 35k people, it the capital of that whole mountain region. The next large town has 10k people. Many of the villages in the valley, often with population with 1000-2000 are of course connected by rail. Its only once you have to go up that you need the buses. And this city is 100km away from Zürich, a much smaller city then Vancouver. That is much smaller then even many of the small cities in the greater area we are talking about. There are many cities of 100k+ around, and many other small cities of 10k-50k range. So I really can't see how connecting any of village in that area can be such a hard burden. We are talking about a pretty populated region with lots of population. And we are not in the 1920 anymore. Just do fucking run real bus service.