TORONTO - Catching a bus to Ontario cities outside of Toronto continues to get more difficult, with Greyhound announcing on Friday more cuts to inter-city bus routes as of April 11.

The closures will affect service in 60 communities across eastern, central and southwestern Ontario.

Most of the affected routes are between Toronto and destinations north of the city such as Barrie and Orillia.

Greyhound Canada vice-president Stuart Kendrick said he the company is reluctant to terminate the service to these areas, but with an average of seven passengers per trip on the affected routes, business as usual is difficult to justify.

"Greyhound Canada takes this decision with great reluctance but with such low ridership, the financial case for maintaining service simply does not exist," he said.

A full table of specific routes and communities affected are available online at files.newswire.ca/845/Greyhound.doc.

Kendrick said the changes will allow the company to "break even" on its Ontario operations based on current estimates.

He said the long-term future of its cross-country operations will rely on the outcome of the federal-provincial-territorial working group that is due to recommend regulatory and policy changes in September, 2010.

The company said last fall it needed $15 million in government aid in order to subsidize its unprofitable routes or it would be forced to implement service cuts.

The company is the largest provider of inter-city bus transportation in Canada, serving nearly 1,100 locations.

-with files from Alison Langley