Chicago Bus Station

Chicago Bus Station
Chicago Bus Station
	The bus station in 2011
General information
Location	608 W Harrison St, Chicago, Illinois
Coordinates	41°52′29″N87°38′36″W / 41.8748°N 87.6432°W
Owned by	Twenty Lake Holdings
Operated by	Greyhound Lines
Bus stands	24
Bus operators	Barons Bus Lines ; Burlington Trailways ; Flixbus ; Greyhound Lines
Connections	Blue Line at Clinton station ; CTA 7, 60, 125, 157; Divvy
Construction
Parking	None
Architect	Nagle, Hartray & Associations
Other information
Website	Official website
History
Opened	December 7, 1989
Passengers
	456,000-557,000 annually
Location

Last updated March 28, 2024

The Chicago Bus Station is an intercity bus station in the Near West Side of Chicago, Illinois. The station, managed by Greyhound Lines, also serves Barons Bus Lines, Burlington Trailways and Flixbus. The current building was constructed in 1989. Since it was built, the facility has been the only intercity bus station in the city.^[1]

Chicago has seen intercity bus transit since 1928, when a union station opened on Roosevelt Road, which served Greyhound Lines and other operators. In 1936, a Trailways bus terminal opened on Randolph Street, which would be in operation until 1987.^[2] In 1953, the union station was replaced by another Greyhound terminal, in a more centrally located building on Randolph Street. When the 1953 terminal opened, it was celebrated for bringing a modern terminal to a central location, however, it would later become known as a place of crime and lawlessness.^[3] The current bus station was built in 1989 and is for sale as of 2023.^[4]

Attributes

The Greyhound station building sits in the Near West Side community area, taking up one city block. The terminal is bordered by Tilden and Harrison streets to the north and south, and Des Plaines and Jefferson streets to the west and east. The station has 24 bays for boarding buses with the main entrance located on Harrison Street.

The bus station, managed by Greyhound Lines, also serves Burlington Trailways, Barons Bus Lines and Flixbus.^[1] Buses operated by Indian Trails, Miller Transportation, OurBus, Peoria Charter Coach Company, Van Galder Bus Company, and Wisconsin Coach Lines serve Chicago, but do not stop at the station. These curbside operators collectively provide approximately 54 daily trips and serve 340,000 to 390,000 annual passengers in downtown Chicago.^[5] As of 2023, the Greyhound station sees about 55 buses per day and 456,000 to 557,000 passengers annually.^[1]

The Greyhound location is considered an important site to city officials, given the proximity to the Chicago Loop and Amtrak service at Chicago Union Station.^[6]

History

Early stations

The first intercity bus station in Chicago was the Union Bus Depot, which opened in 1928 at 1157 S. Wabash Ave.^[2] Greyhound Lines and other operators used the station from 1928 until 1953. While the bus facilities are long gone, the station building itself still exists as of 2023.^[1] The major competitor to Greyhound, Trailways, operated a bus station at 20 E. Randolph St. beginning in 1936, until its closing in 1987.^[2]

In 1953, a new Greyhound bus terminal opened at 170 W. Randolph. Upon opening, it was the largest independently owned bus station in the world.^[7] The periodical Traffic Engineering wrote that the location in the heart of downtown would “ provide maximum convenience to bus travelers.”^[3] Buses could easily access the facility via Lower Wacker Drive. While it was originally celebrated for its modernity and location, it would later become better known for vice and crime. The Chicago Tribune columnist Bob Wiedrich wrote in 1977, “If you want to break your heart, pay a visit to the downtown Greyhound Bus terminal in Chicago. Spend a few hours watching the kind of human scum that drifts through its waiting rooms in search of easy prey.”^[3] Greyhound sold the site in 1986, and began looking for a site for a new station.^[3]

Current station

Greyhound first proposed building the new station on Addison Road, on the northwest side. However, community opposition led Greyhound to choose the present site.^[3] The new terminal designed by Nagle, Hartray & Associations was smaller than the old one, with glass doors on the east and west sides of the station to board buses.^[1] A skylit atrium allows in natural light at the center of the station. Architecture critic Paul Gapp wrote, “it's a pity that this good-looking bus terminal was not built downtown, where it belongs.”^[3]

In 2021, when Flixbus purchased Greyhound, the Chicago station and 32 others were not included in the sale. Instead, those stations were sold to Twenty Lake Holdings for $140 million.^[8] Following the sale of numerous other Greyhound stations in cities across the country,^[6] the Chicago station was put up for sale in early 2023. The 88,000 square foot site would likely sell for $20-$25 million and allow for the construction of two high rise towers.^[9] The DePaul University's Chaddick Institute of Metropolitan Development has asked the city to save the station and put it under public ownership, noting that the high passenger numbers and often unseasonable Chicago weather.^[8] The loss of the station would make Chicago the largest American city without an intercity bus station.^[10]

The Chicago Department of Transportation has been supportive of putting the station in public ownership and applied for a federal grant to do so.^[6] Putting the station in public ownership would allow the city to serve other bus operators which currently stop outside Chicago Union Station. Under public ownership, it would operate similarly to an airport, operated by the city and funded by fees paid by bus operators.^[6]

Related Research Articles

Greyhound Lines, Inc. (Greyhound) is a company that operates the largest intercity bus service in North America. Services include Greyhound Mexico, charter bus services, and Amtrak Thruway services. Greyhound operates 1,700 coaches produced mainly by Motor Coach Industries and Prevost serving 230 stations and 1,700 destinations. The company's first route began in Hibbing, Minnesota in 1914 and the company adopted the Greyhound name in 1929. The company is owned by Flix North America, Inc., an affiliate of FlixBus, and is based in Downtown Dallas.

The Trailways Transportation System is a public transport bus service in the United States. It operates as network of approximately 70 independent bus companies. The company is headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia.

Denver Union Station is the main railway station and central transportation hub in Denver, Colorado. It is located at 17th and Wynkoop Streets in the present-day LoDo district and includes the historic station house, a modern open-air train shed, a 22-gate underground bus station, and light rail station. A station was first opened on the site on June 1, 1881, but burned down in 1894. The current structure was erected in two stages, with an enlarged central portion completed in 1914.

The Union Station Bus Terminal is the central intercity bus terminal in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in Downtown Toronto on the second floor of the south tower of CIBC Square, on the northeast corner of Bay Street and Lake Shore Boulevard. The terminal currently serves GO Transit regional buses as well as Coach Canada, Greyhound Lines and Ontario Northland long-distance bus services, among others. Owned by the provincial Crown agency Metrolinx, the terminal is connected by pedestrian walkways to the adjacent Union Station, Canada's busiest transportation hub.

The Harrisburg Transportation Center is a railway station and transportation hub in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It is located on the eastern edge of Downtown Harrisburg between the intersections of Aberdeen and Market Streets and 4th and Chestnut Streets.

The Philadelphia Greyhound Terminal was the primary intercity bus station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The station's function relocated to 618 Market Street between Sixth and Seventh Streets in Center City Philadelphia. Prior to relocating to its current Market Street location on June 27, 2023, the terminal was located at 1001 Filbert Street in Center City Philadelphia.

The Gateway Multimodal Transportation Center, also known as Gateway Station, is a rail and bus terminal station in the Downtown West neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. Opened in 2008 and operating 24 hours a day, it serves Amtrak trains and Greyhound and Burlington Trailways interstate buses. Missouri's largest rail transportation station, it is located one block east of St. Louis Union Station.

The Old Greyhound Terminal was a bus terminal serving Greyhound Lines located at 1100 New York Avenue NW in Northwest, Washington, D.C. in the United States operating from 1940 to the 1980s. It was used extensively during World War II to transport servicemen, and played a minor role in the Civil Rights Movement. It was saved through the intervention of preservationists. Most of the building was incorporated in the new 1100 New York Avenue high-rise office building when it was built in 1991.

The White Plains TransCenter is an intermodal transit center in White Plains, New York. It serves as a terminal/transfer point for many Bee-Line Buses, as well as intercity buses, and taxicabs. The terminal is located along Ferris Avenue north of Hamilton Street, diagonally across from the White Plains station of Metro-North Railroad, and includes a parking garage located next door to the railroad station, across that street. Ferris Avenue is a one-way street north of Main Street, and is flanked by northbound and southbound buses only lanes between Hamilton Street and Water Street.

Ithaca Bus Station, also referred to as Ithaca Bus Terminal, is an intercity bus station in Ithaca, the county seat and only city in Tompkins County, New York. The Prairie-style building, located west of North Fulton Street between West Seneca Street and West State Street, was designed by architect Frank J. Nies in 1912 as a train station of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. DL&W ceased passenger operations in 1942, and Greyhound Bus Lines acquired the station in 1967. The station building accommodates waiting area with seats, ticketing and package express office, and restrooms.
The station closed in October, 2018 due to construction, retirement of the station operators, and changing infrastructure in the area. Buses are now boarding downtown for the time being until long-term plans are made. The City of Ithaca designated the station as a local landmark in January, 2019.

The Grant Street Transportation Center is an intercity bus station and parking garage in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The facility is operated by the Pittsburgh Parking Authority and takes up an entire city block, with the ground floor hosting the bus station and some retail space. Upper floors are dedicated to parking.

The Columbus Bus Station was an intercity bus station in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. The station, managed by Greyhound Lines, also served Barons Bus Lines, Miller Transportation, GoBus, and other carriers. The current building was constructed in 1969. From 1979 until its closure in 2022, with the demolition of Union Station and a short-lived replacement, the Greyhound station was the only intercity transit center in the city.

The Fred A. Williams Easton Intermodal Transportation Center is a bus terminal in downtown Easton, Pennsylvania. It serves as a hub for local routes in the Lehigh Valley area operated by LANta and for intercity routes operated by various companies. In addition to buses, the center hosts Easton's city hall and a restaurant. The center opened in 2015.

The Detroit Bus Station is an intercity bus station in the Corktown neighborhood of Detroit, Michigan. The station, managed by Greyhound Lines, also serves Barons Bus Lines, Flixbus and Indian Trails. The current building was constructed in 1991.

The Kansas City Bus Station is an intercity bus station in the Paseo West neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri. The station, managed by Greyhound Lines, also serves Jefferson Lines. The current building was constructed in 1989.

The Omaha Bus Station is an intercity bus station in downtown Omaha, Nebraska. The station, managed by Burlington Trailways, also serves Express Arrow and Jefferson Lines. The current building was constructed in 1948.

The Des Moines Bus Station is an intercity bus station in the River Bend neighborhood of Des Moines, Iowa. The station, managed by Burlington Trailways, also serves Jefferson Lines. The current building was opened as a bus terminal in 2013.

The Hawthorne Transportation Center is an intercity bus station in the Downtown West neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The station, managed by Greyhound Lines, also serves Flixbus, Jefferson Lines, and Land to Air Express. The current building was opened as a bus terminal in 2000.

References

1 2 3 4 5 "Bus Station on the Brink" (PDF). April 19, 2023. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
1 2 3 "CLASSIC BUS STATIONS CHICAGO/DOWNTOWN" . Retrieved September 6, 2023.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Steve Bogira (January 29, 2004). "Tales From the Terminal". Chicago Reader. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
↑ Karen Jordan (April 19, 2023). "Closing downtown Greyhound station could hurt lower-income travelers: DePaul University study". ABC 7. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
↑ Dan Zukowski (April 24, 2023). "Chicago may lose its only intercity bus station, placing burden on disadvantaged travelers". Smart Cities Dive. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
1 2 3 4 David Struett (June 26, 2023). "How could potential sale of Greyhound station in downtown Chicago affect bus riders at regional hub?". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
↑ "What We're Reading: Chicago's Sketchy Old Bus Station, Twitter Insecurity". dnainfo. March 11, 2015. Archived from the original on September 6, 2023. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
1 2 Ava O’Malley. "Greyhound bus station for sale, causing concern". Gazette Chicago. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
↑ Michael Piff (February 15, 2023). "Wintrust Business Minute: Downtown Chicago Greyhound bus station is up for sale". WGN Radio 720. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
↑ CST Editorial Board (December 21, 2023). "A federal grant to help Chicago buy the Greyhound Bus terminal? That's the ticket". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved January 29, 2024.

External links

Official website

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[Report-1] 1 2 3 4 5 "Bus Station on the Brink" (PDF). April 19, 2023. Retrieved September 6, 2023.

[CRF-2] 1 2 3 "CLASSIC BUS STATIONS CHICAGO/DOWNTOWN" . Retrieved September 6, 2023.

[Chicago_Reader-3] 1 2 3 4 5 6 Steve Bogira (January 29, 2004). "Tales From the Terminal". Chicago Reader. Retrieved September 6, 2023.

[4] Karen Jordan (April 19, 2023). "Closing downtown Greyhound station could hurt lower-income travelers: DePaul University study". ABC 7. Retrieved September 6, 2023.

[5] Dan Zukowski (April 24, 2023). "Chicago may lose its only intercity bus station, placing burden on disadvantaged travelers". Smart Cities Dive. Retrieved September 6, 2023.

[Sun-Times-6] 1 2 3 4 David Struett (June 26, 2023). "How could potential sale of Greyhound station in downtown Chicago affect bus riders at regional hub?". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved September 6, 2023.

[7] "What We're Reading: Chicago's Sketchy Old Bus Station, Twitter Insecurity". dnainfo. March 11, 2015. Archived from the original on September 6, 2023. Retrieved September 6, 2023.

[Gazette-8] 1 2 Ava O’Malley. "Greyhound bus station for sale, causing concern". Gazette Chicago. Retrieved September 6, 2023.

[9] Michael Piff (February 15, 2023). "Wintrust Business Minute: Downtown Chicago Greyhound bus station is up for sale". WGN Radio 720. Retrieved September 6, 2023.

[10] CST Editorial Board (December 21, 2023). "A federal grant to help Chicago buy the Greyhound Bus terminal? That's the ticket". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved January 29, 2024.

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