Each year, about half a million people pass through Chicago’s Greyhound bus station, at all hours. There is a climate-controlled waiting area with bathrooms, security guards and a snack bar, and about three dozen arrivals and departures every day. Those passengers could soon be out in the cold, the Wall Street Journal reported. The station’s owner, an affiliate of hedge fund Alden Global Capital, has put it on the market. The 87,000-square-foot property in the rapidly developing West Loop could fetch more than $30 million. The potential closure highlights a plight confronting millions of travelers, many on lower incomes, that attracts far less attention than passenger rail or aviation. Intercity bus stations are closing throughout the country. At least eight cities have lost their stations so far, including Philadelphia, Ohio’s Columbus and Tampa, Fla. Passengers have had to wait on street corners and parking lots, causing tensions with local officials. Greyhound’s owner, German bus operator Flix, wants cities to help fund new facilities; local officials say that is the company’s responsibility. Chicago would be the largest city to lose its terminal. Years of declining ridership and company missteps have dragged down the fortunes of Greyhound, a century-old icon of the American road. Its former owner sold its stations to raise cash. Many, in desirable downtown locations, are worth more as something else, such as apartments or entertainment centers. For now, Greyhound is leasing back the stations that remain open. Intercity bus travel isn’t federally regulated and attracts less attention and public funding than passenger rail or air travel. Nonetheless, it plays a vital role for passengers who need cheap transportation or who are traveling to places with no air or train service. A 2016 DePaul University study put the number of bus riders at around 62 million a year, roughly twice that of Amtrak. Greyhound, the country’s largest operator, carried about a third of those.
