Chicago’s intercity bus station could close next month

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Diving certificate:

• Intercity bus operators could be forced out of Chicago’s bus terminal in September when Greyhound’s lease expires, Gilda Brewton, director of public affairs for FlixBus, said in a webinar Tuesday. Greyhound and FlixBus are both brands of Flix. The bus terminal’s owner, Twenty Lake Holdings, intends to sell the site.
• The bus station carries over half a million passengers annually and serves four bus lines: Greyhound, FlixBus, Barons Bus Lines and Burlington Trailways.
• Chicago is in talks with Amtrak to allow bus service along Jackson Boulevard at the railroad’s Union Station as a temporary measure. However, Amtrak said in an Aug. 13 letter to Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Transportation Commissioner Thomas Carney that there are concerns about overcrowding at the station, which could lead to dangerous conditions for pedestrians outside, and other problems.

Diving insight:

When Flix acquired Greyhound in 2021, the iconic bus line’s real estate, including some bus stations, was not part of the deal. In some cities, like Los Angeles, the bus operator moved to a major transit hub. But in Chicago, “City Hall did not do any kind of scenario analysis that would have brought the stakeholders together, and that’s why we’re in this crisis today,” said Joseph Schwieterman, director of the Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development at DePaul University, in a webinar on Tuesday.

The Chaddick Institute released a statement Tuesday noting that the closure of the bus terminal would make Chicago the largest city in the Northern Hemisphere without an intercity bus terminal.

“We’re running out of time. We’re in a dire situation,” Brewton said in the webinar. Even if the Union Station site or another curbside location is found, FlixBus and Greyhound will not be able to provide the same level of service they currently provide at the bus station, she explained.

Chicago is a major hub for service to and from cities such as Cleveland, Detroit and St. Louis, as well as smaller cities such as Champaign, Illinois, Green Bay, Wisconsin and Des Moines, Iowa. With limited parking for buses, fewer buses could be accommodated and service would become more difficult. “You can’t just drop someone off on the street in January and tell them to wait here in the snow for three hours (for the next bus),” Schwieterman said.

The impact of reduced intercity bus service would hit low-income passengers, students, seniors and others who cannot or do not want to afford to fly hardest, Brewton said: “71 percent of our passengers in Chicago earn less than $35,000 a year.”

Chicago Councilman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa said in the webinar that the city has considered taking over the bus station but does not have the necessary funds. However, he said, “The city also needs to think creatively about the regulatory power that it has.” For example, he said any current or future owner of the property may need to ask the city for a zoning relief, which he said “could be well received by the city if they extend the lease in the short term.”

Brewton said: “We are open to ideas and anything that could help us continue our service.”

Amtrak met with Chicago city leaders yesterday afternoon. Amtrak did not respond to a request for information about the meeting.