Intercity buses were once America's premier transportation option, but one company dominated the field. That's Greyhound Lines. Greyhounds, the instantly recognizable silver racing dogs adorning buses, are a classic piece of Americana. In the 1940s, the company operated an estimated 4,750 bus stops across the country.
Although the company still serves 2,300 destinations in North America, the number of Greyhound bus stops is noticeably reduced. This has been marked by a proliferation of the company's terminals being sold to investment companies, relocated to less desirable areas, or shut down completely.
The decline in bus travel in recent decades can be blamed on the emergence of the commercial aviation industry, but why have there been so many Greyhound station closures recently? What will happen to the approximately 60 million people who depend on it for their daily transportation?
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Which Greyhound stations will be closed?
Greyhound stations in Houston, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Tampa, Louisville, Charlottesville and Portland, Oregon, have all closed in recent years, according to CNN. Negotiations are also underway to relocate Cleveland's Greyhound station, with the real estate hedge fund that owns Chicago Station reportedly putting the city's station up for sale.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the Chicago station “could be worth more than $30 million.” But if a buyer is not found, the 87,000-square-foot store could be closed, making Chicago the largest city to ever lose a Greyhound terminal, the newspaper reported.
Why are these stations closed?
At least in part due to the after-effects of COVID-19, the pandemic “decimated the industry with social distancing mandates and demands for fresh air circulation,” National Geographic said. This change resulted in layoffs, station closures, and an overall decline in bus ticket sales.
The real cause is a combination of factors, including “high operating costs.” [and] CNN added that the cost of maintaining Greyhound routes will increase as the industry shrinks, which “threatens to destroy the comprehensive network of bus routes nationwide.”
It is also true that intercity buses are mainly used by low-income people. While there have been protests by authorities and passengers in some cities, “other cities are not disappointed that bus stops are being removed from gentrifying downtown locations,” NPR said. Ta. “In many cases, I have to blame local governments that treat the intercity industry like third-class citizens,” Peter Pantuso, president of the American Bus Association trade group, told NPR.
And while Greyhound buses themselves “currently provide power, Wi-Fi, and free movies for passengers carrying laptops,” they are not helping the often aging bus stops. NPR said it hasn't.
Another important factor is the purchase of the bus station by the aforementioned investment group. As business slows, Greyhound has ramped up sales of devices to these companies, the largest of which is Twenty Lake Holdings. In 2022, Twenty Lake purchased 33 Greyhound stations for $140 million. Twenty Lake is a subsidiary of Alden Global Capital, a hedge fund that is “notorious for buying up newspapers and other companies, cutting costs and often selling real estate,” NPR reported. Ta.
This also happened with the company's Greyhound properties, as Twenty Lake began to put some of its properties up for sale. “It means you're on your way to a pick-up point,” the marketplace said.
What will happen to those left behind?
Many Greyhound customers “use buses for essential travel in emergencies and areas where alternative transportation options are unavailable,” National Geographic said. The newspaper said that in large parts of the country, “bus lines like Greyhound are the only option for getting to other cities if you don't have a car.”
And beyond the bus itself, the bus stop is [historically] “It's the only one that's open 24 hours a day,” Joseph Schwieterman, a bus travel expert at DePaul University, told NPR. “They had eateries that were open until late at night, and they were always busy with people coming and going.'' But when stations close, there is often no safe place for passengers to wait.
The solution is to “establish central hubs for intercity travel where the public sector can also connect to local transportation systems,” Schwieterman told Governing magazine. But if stations remain closed, “low-income people, immigrants and travelers with disabilities will feel the worst of it,” he said.
