The Oil Sands Express: Luxury Buses In The Works For Alberta's Oil Patch | HuffPost

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All Aboard The Oilsands Express!

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An Alberta oilsands worker hopes his idea for a luxury bus line to transport passengers in and out of the oil patch will help save lives on one of the province's most dangerous highways.

Randy White plans to launch The Oil Sands Express this spring, which will shuttle oilfield workers between Edmonton and Fort McMurray, offering beds, televisions, internet, microwaves and even beer to those willing to pay the price.

White, a 30-year employee of the oilsands, is currently in the fundraising stage of his idea.

In a pitch on the crowd source funding site Indiegogo, he says his idea for scheduled bus service will remove 56 people a day from Highway 63 – the main road in and out of Alberta's oil patch – and save drivers from potential risks like fatigue and drunk driving.

Highway 63 frequently makes headlines in Alberta, known as a notoriously dangerous stretch of highway. More than 120 people have died on Highway 63 in the past 12 years.

Conditions on the road can be so dangerous that at least one association forbids their own employees from driving it. The Alberta Construction Safety Association instituted a "no-drive" policy after they lost an employee to a crash several years ago.

The Alberta government has been working to twin portions of the highway, but until that lengthy project is finished, White says his motorcoach idea may help save lives.

“If I can save one tired worker from getting in his car or truck after a 10- or 12-hour shift and help them get home safe, it will be worth it," he told the Edmonton Journal.

White says one-way fares from Fort McMurray to work camps would be $149, while workers could travel between Fort McMurray and Edmonton for $169 and $229 for service between Edmonton and the oil camps.

Each bus would have nine sleeping cabins and transport 14 people in total.

White says he just needs to raise an initial $300,000 to purchase the buses from a supplier in Winnipeg. When he secures the vehicles, his crew will step in to renovate the buses into luxury rigs.

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Wildest Pictures Of The Oil Sands

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Syncrude's Mildred Lake Upgrader, part of The Syncrude Project complex for oil sands processing, is pictured Monday, March 8, 2006 in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. (credit:Getty)

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The Syncrude oil sands extraction facility is reflected in a lake reclaimed from an old mine near the town of Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada on October 22, 2009. (credit:Getty)

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A disused mining machine on display in front of the Syncrude oil sands extraction facility near the town of Fort McMurray in Alberta on October 22, 2009. (credit:Getty)

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The Suncor oilsands operation uses trucks that are 3 stories tall, weigh one million pounds, and cost 7 million dollars each. (credit:Getty)

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Oil sits on the surface at a Suncor Energy Inc. oilsands mining operation near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2013. Photographer: (credit:Getty)

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A large oil refinery along the Athabasca River in Alberta's Oilsands. Fort McMurray, Alberta. (credit:Getty)

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Oils mixes with water at a tailings pond at a Suncor Energy Inc. oilsands mining operation near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2013. (credit:Getty)

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Fort McMurray is in the heart of the world's biggest single oil deposit - the Athabasca Oil Sands, and the oil is extracted by surface mining and refined in the region. The oil production is at the heart of the economy. (credit:Getty)

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This Tuesday, July 10, 2012 aerial photo shows a Nexen oil sands facility near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. (credit:AP)

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This Sept. 19, 2011 aerial photo shows an oilsands facility near Fort McMurray, in Alberta, Canada. (credit:AP)

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This Sept. 19, 2011 aerial photo shows an oilsands tailings pond at a mine facility near Fort McMurray, in Alberta, Canada. (credit:AP)

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This Sept. 19, 2011 aerial photo shows an oilsands tailings pond at a mine facility near Fort McMurray, in Alberta, Canada. (credit:AP)

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The Syncrude extraction facility in the northern Alberta oil sand fields is reflected in the pool of water being recycled for re-use. (credit:Getty Images)

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Aerial view of a lake and forests in the vicinity of oil sands extraction facilities near the town of Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada on October 23, 2009. (credit:Getty)

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Workers use heavy machinery in the tailings pond at the Syncrude oil sands extraction facility near the town of Fort McMurray in Alberta , Canada on October 25, 2009. (credit:Getty)

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Fort McMurray is in the heart of the world's biggest single oil deposit - the Athabasca Oil Sands, and the oil is extracted by surface mining and refined in the region. The oil production is at the heart of the economy. (credit:Getty)

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A large oil refinery in Alberta's Oilsands project. Fort McMurray, Alberta. (credit:Getty)

CFB Cold Lake, CNRL(18 of37)

A bitumen leak was reported at a Canadian Natural Resources oilsands operation in the weapons range part of the RCAF base in June 2013. (credit:WikiMedia:)

CFB Cold Lake, CNRL(19 of37)

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CFB Cold Lake(20 of37)

As of early August 2013, more than 1.1 million litres of bitumen had been pulled from marshlands, bushes and waterways. (credit:Getty)

CFB Cold Lake, CNRL(21 of37)

Although CNRL could not say when the leak may finally be stopped, it estimates it will likely cost more than $40 million to clean up. (credit:Getty)

Plains Midstream Canada(22 of37)

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Plains Midstream Canada(23 of37)

Debris pushes up against a boom as it stretches out to contain a pipeline leak on the Gleniffer reservoir near Innisfail, Alta., Tuesday, June 12, 2012. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)

Plains Midstream Canada(24 of37)

A boom stretches out to contain a pipeline leak on the Gleniffer reservoir near Innisfail, Alta., Tuesday, June 12, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipelines leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of sour crude near Sundre, Alberta, on June 7 and flowed downstream in the Red Deer river to the reservoir. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)

Plains Midstream Canada(25 of37)

A photographer snaps a boom stretching out to contain a pipeline leak on the Gleniffer reservoir near Innisfail, Alta., Tuesday, June 12, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipelines leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of sour crude near Sundre, Alberta, on June 7 and flowed downstream in the Red Deer river to the reservoir. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)

Plains Midstream Canada(26 of37)

A boom stretches out to contain a pipeline leak on the Gleniffer reservoir near Innisfail, Alta., Tuesday, June 12, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipelines leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of sour crude near Sundre, Alberta, on June 7 and flowed downstream in the Red Deer river to the reservoir. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)

Plains Midstream Canada(27 of37)

A worker slows traffic while a boom stretches out to contain a pipeline leak on the Gleniffer reservoir near Innisfail, Alta., Tuesday, June 12, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipelines leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of sour crude near Sundre, Alberta, on June 7 and flowed downstream in the Red Deer river to the reservoir. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)

Plains Midstream Canada(28 of37)

A no swimming sign along the banks of the Gleniffer reservoir while a boom stretches out to contain a pipeline leak on the lake near Innisfail, Alta., Friday, June 12, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipelines leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of sour crude near Sundre, Alberta, on June 7 and flowed downstream in the Red Deer river to the reservoir. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)

Plains Midstream Canada(29 of37)

Oil from a pipeline leak coats a pond near Sundre, Alta., Friday, June 8, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipeline leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of oil. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)

Plains Midstream Canada(30 of37)

Tracks pass through oil on the banks of the Gleniffer reservoir after a pipeline leak near Sundre, Alta., on Friday, June 8, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipelines leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of oil. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)

Enbrige's Athabasca pipeline(31 of37)

Approximately 1,450 barrels of oil spilled from a pumping station along Enbridge’s Athabasca pipeline in June 2012.The spill occurred approximately 24 kilometres from Elk Point, Alta., a village located 200 kilometres northeast of Edmonton. (credit:(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Larry MacDougal))

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Wreckage from the August 3rd train derailment and subsequent oil spill is seen lining the shore of Lake Wabamun on Monday, August 8, 2005, as clean-up continues. (credit:(CP PHOTO - Tim Smith))

Lake Wabamun(33 of37)

Wreckage and black oil from the August 3rd train derailment and subsequent oil spill are seen lining the shore and waters of Lake Wabamun on Monday, August 8, 2005, as clean-up continues. (credit:(CP PHOTO - Tim Smith))

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White absorbent boom is seen lining the shores of Lake Wabamun, Alberta, as the clean-up effort from the August 3rd train derailment and subsequent oil spill continues on Monday, August 8, 2005. (credit:(CP PHOTO - Tim Smith))

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