As the company shutters stations, passengers are left without shelter, basic amenities, and often farther from central cities and transit connections.
Inter-city bus riders in more and more U.S. cities find themselves having to wait in outdoor parking lots or sidewalks as Greyhound continues to close many of its indoor waiting areas, reports Kea Wilson in Streetsblog USA.
The carrier has been shutting down stations since it sold its stations in 2022 following the company’s sale to Flixbus in 2021. “Some of those stops are located in suburbs miles from the core downtowns where terminals used to be located, with few transit connections for passengers who can't afford a ride to their ride.”
The move is partly a result of newer budget bus companies that purport to keep prices low by eliminating stations. “By ditching the traditional depot — and slashing thousands of station-based jobs in the process — these bus line “disruptors” were able to increase service and cut prices to the bone, even as they added amenities like onboard charging points and WiFi,” Wilson explains.
While some decommissioned stations are being converted to affordable housing and other uses, Greyhound’s core demographic will suffer from the changes. “In an era of accelerating climate change and traffic violence, shared modes like buses and trains should be our mode of first resort, especially on busy holiday travel weekends like this one, which are expected to spike 2.3 percent.”
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