Grande West Transportation Group Inc. Completes Initial Public Offering, Announces Trading Date and Retains the Howard Group

ALDERGROVE, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Dec. 19, 2013) - GRANDE WEST TRANSPORTATION GROUP INC. (the "Company" or "Grande West") (TSX VENTURE:BUS) is pleased to announce that it has completed its initial public offering of 10,000,000 common shares at a price of $0.50 per common share (the "IPO") for gross proceeds of $5,000,000. Euro Pacific Canada, Inc. and Richardson GMP Limited (collectively, the "Agents") have been paid a cash commission equal to 8% (reduced to 4% for the president's list) in respect of the sale of common shares pursuant to the IPO and Richardson GMP Limited was paid a cash corporate finance fee. Additionally, the Company has granted agents' options to the Agents entitling them to purchase up to 800,000 common shares at an exercise price of $0.50 per common share, exercisable on or before December 13, 2015.

The Company also announces that it has completed a concurrent private placement of 600,000 common shares at a price of $0.50 per common share (the "Private Placement") for gross proceeds of $300,000. A finder has been paid a cash commission equal to 6% in respect of the sale of common shares pursuant to the Private Placement. The common shares issued pursuant to the Private Placement are subject to a four month hold period.

The Company currently has 35,840,000 common shares issued and outstanding.

The Company's common shares are expected to commence trading on the TSX-V on Friday, December 20, 2013 under the trading symbol "BUS".

Grande West's management will be in Toronto at the Exchange Building located at 130 King Street West "ringing the bell" at the opening of trading on December 20, 2013. The Vicinity bus will be on display outside the Exchange Building and management will be offering viewings and demonstration rides at 10:00 am and 11:00 am (Toronto time) to interested parties (please RSVP to lisa@howardgroupinc.com).

Grande West is also pleased to announce that it has retained The Howard Group as its strategic investor communications advisor. The Howard Group will direct both traditional and online initiatives targeting the investment community and the investing public.

Since 1988, The Howard Group has provided comprehensive investor and capital markets programs, business development solutions, strategic planning and financing services to public companies. The Howard Group is associated with the Insight Limited Partnership II, which invests in micro and small cap companies.

The investor relations agreement with The Howard Group has been extended for an initial period of 12 months to December 31, 2014. The Howard Group will be paid a monthly fee of $10,000 and has been granted an option to purchase up to 358,400 common shares of Grande West at $0.50 per share. The options vest in equal amounts at the rate of 25% per quarter and have a three-year term. The principals of The Howard Group and The Insight II Limited Partnership, which is associated with The Howard Group, own 320,000 common shares of Grande West.

For further information on The Howard Group Inc. please visit www.howardgroupinc.com. In addition to its ongoing services, The Howard Group Inc. will be providing an ongoing commentary on Grande West's activities in its "Insight" online newsletter. Interested parties are encouraged to subscribe to the newsletter feed: http://howardgroupinsightnewsletter.blogspot.com/.

About the Company:

Grande West was formed in 2008 to design and develop a 27.5 foot bus, known as the "Vicinity", in response to a Request for Information ("RFI") by BC Transit ("BC Transit"), a crown agency of the Province of British Columbia.

The Vicinity bus is a Canadian designed, community shuttle bus transportation innovation that was conceived to meet the demand for a greener compact bus than what was currently available in North America. It also had to be easily accessible for everyone and customizable to meet each customer's unique needs, capacity requirements and seating configuration.

The Grande West team worked closely with BC Transit to create a unique and innovative transportation solution that met their specific requirements, developing and amending the specifications of the Vicinity bus.

The first Vicinity bus prototype was delivered in February 2010 as part of a beta-testing program. The Vicinity bus debuted appropriately in its first trial during the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Initial trials and evaluations of the Vicinity bus were completed for 21 months during the Vicinity bus' tour of B.C. being tested in a variety of climate conditions and terrain. The Vicinity bus has received certification by the Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standard, Transport Canada, and the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation.

Initial deliveries of 15 Vicinity bus occurred in August 2013 to BC Transit. Sales efforts across Canada have resulted in orders being received and production commenced for 10 Vicinity buses for Quebec and for 3 Vicinity buses for a Nova Scotia transit authority.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

William R. Trainer, President and Chief Executive Officer

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.