City needs to find 11th hour reprieve for Greyhound bus station

Intercity buses have rolled in and out of Chicago since the dawn of the Motor Age, with passengers boarding and disembarking from depot buildings for a hundred years.

That'll likely end in six weeks or so, when the Greyhound bus company shuts down its big station at 630 W. Harrison St., as a prelude to the site being cleared and redeveloped for residential use.

The parcel was sold to developers two years ago. But as the Sun-Times reported this week, in all that time, the city's Department of Transportation and the bus carrier have not been able to find a site for new station.

So when the end comes, 500,000 passengers a year will leave or enter Chicago from a curb somewhere — but where? — near downtown.

That means no waiting room — imagine that during inclement Chicago weather. No bathroom facilities. Passengers who travel long distances to and from Chicago would be picked up and dropped off like a rideshare customer or a CTA rider.

"It’s becoming urgent," Kai Boysan, CEO of Greyhound and Flix North America, told the Sun-Times. "We’re dangerously close to a major service disruption."

Greyhound and a slate of other bus carriers are scheduled to be booted from the depot in mid-September.

Fact is, this situation should have been worked out by now. That it hasn't, and the carriers still have no new home, is a slap in the face to bus travelers and a mark against Chicago's reputation as the transportation capitol of the U.S.

CDOT in 2023 applied for a grant through the federal government's Buses and Bus Facilities Competitive Program, but was turned down.

Closed intercity bus stations are a national trend

Once the 35-year-old West Loop depot closes, Chicago will be the largest U.S. city without an enclosed passenger facility for long-distance buses. And moving bus service to Chicago's Union Station is pretty much a non-starter since Amtrak says the facility's Great Hall is not equipped for it — and nearby curb space is insufficient.

Even creating a curbside drop-off spot at all can bring its own difficulties. Philadelphia's Greyhound station closed in 2023, and when passengers were moved to a curbside location downtown, businesses started complaining and the stop was moved. Now, residents want the new stop relocated — and Philadelphia needs a real bus depot, just like Chicago.

Without a dedicated new Chicago facility, “We’re going to face that [situation] here,” as Joseph Schwieterman, DePaul University professor and transportation researcher, told the City Council’s committee on pedestrian and traffic safety in July.

Greyhound has been selling off bus stations around the country in recent years. Twenty Lake Holdings bought the station in 2022 and owns 33 others that once belonged to Greyhound. The company seeks to build residences on the properties.

But cities such as New York, Boston, Washington, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Denver have worked against the tide by creating municipally-owned bus stations.

"They’ve all taken action to create high-quality downtown bus facilities," Schwieterman said. "And we stand out among other great cities for our do-nothing approach."

Is all lost? Boysan said there is a potential solution on the board, but he wouldn't disclose what it was. But given the lateness of the hour, now isn't the time to not say.

“We’ve been collaborating for over a year, and it’s time to make a decision,” Boysan said.

Boysan is certainly right. And Chicago, a city so willing to hand out millions to enrich developers — and to spend billions to improve O'Hare Airport — now has to recognize that a quality destination and departure spot is something that even the humblest of travelers deserves.

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