In June, several sustainable transportation and environmental advocacy groups teamed up with 14 alderpersons and sent a letter to the Illinois and Chicago transportation departments, demanding a more people-friendly rebuild of North DLSD.
Last week many of these organizations joined forces for another campaign, forming a team of 22 advocacy, community and civic groups called the Coalition to Save the Chicago Greyhound Terminal. They sent an open letter to Mayor Brandon Johnson calling on him to be proactive about preserving this important intercity transportation hub at 630 W. Harrison St. (600 S.) in the West Loop. See a full list of the signees below.
"With the pending expiration of its lease this coming October, Chicago is facing an intercity bus crisis that will have far reaching impacts," stated Better Streets Chicago cofounder Kyle Lucas, explaining the need for the document. "Particularly for disabled travelers, minority groups, students, individuals who do not own cars or cannot drive, and many others who depend on low-cost travel options, including those fleeing domestic violence or seeking justice at the courthouse down the block." He was referring to the Circuit Court of Cook County at 555 W. Harrison St.
The letter itself tells the mayor that the City of Chicago or another public entity should purchase the bus station, renovate it, and make an agreement with a private firm to manage it. "As a public terminal, its future operator, with guidance from the Chicago and Illinois Departments of Transportation, should work with private bus companies to expand service to and from Chicago, as is happening right now in other cities across the country," the document says. "Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA; Detroit, MI; and New York, NY, for example, have recently made or are making major investments to support intercity bus terminals. Chicago risks falling behind its peers by failing to take action now. With action, bus ridership could easily double in a short period."
The letter states that as lease expiration approaches, it's not clear that the City is trying to buy the bus station or extend the lease, or that there has been any discussion with Cook County, regional, or state officials about the options. It adds that there's no evidence that the City has "conducted a full technical assessment of alternatives that could give Chicago sufficient intercity bus capacity, provide passengers with indoor waiting facilities, and offer safe pickup and drop-off if the Terminal can't be preserved."
The document argues that if no action is taken, Chicago could have a crisis on its hands this fall. "We expect this crisis to be worse than that in Philadelphia, which suffered the loss of a similar station in 2023. Among the possible relocation options for bus lines if the station closes is the dedicated bus lane on Jackson Boulevard next to Chicago Union Station upon the lease expiration."
Wait, what? How could intercity bus lines use a CTA bus lane to pick ups and drop off passengers – wouldn’t that obstruct local buses?
"It would," Lucas told me. "This is the likely option to be chosen in the event the lease is allowed to expire. We do not support this option, because of its interference with CTA bus service."
The letter states that there would be several other major problems with the "take over the CTA bus lane" approach:
- “The available curb space is far too small to handle Chicago’s expansive intercity bus system, which would result in a sharp reduction in bus schedules.
- “It has no passenger facilities.”
- “There would be little capacity to serve passengers connecting through Chicago due to the need for people making transfers to wait outside for extended periods.”
- “There would be no room for growth.”
- “Congestion around Union Station is acute, particularly during rush hour, and the lack of off-street pickup and drop-off zones in the area paired with use of bus lanes for Greyhound will have a dramatic impact on CTA service.”
- “The cost of purchasing and rehabbing the station is estimated at less than $40 million—a small fraction of what we regularly spend on major transit, airport, and highway improvement.”
Indeed, the recent expansion of the Jane Byrne Interchange "spaghetti bowl", right next door to the current Greyhound terminal, cost more than 20 times that much, at an estimated $804.6 million.
The letter concludes, "It is essential that the City of Chicago: 1) move aggressively to buy the station or negotiate a lease extension before it is too late, 2) have the Chicago Department of Transportation be ready with a viable contingency plan that has sufficient capacity, waiting facilities, and needed services if the above proves infeasible." It urges the city to contact the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, Cook County, the Illinois Department of Transportation, the Regional Transportation Authority, and other organizations to come up with a plan well before Halloween trick-or-treaters start making the rounds. The coalition offered to help out with technical assistance to help grease the (bus) wheels.
Maybe you use intercity bus service regularly, or perhaps it's been years since you've taken Greyhound or another carrier to get to or from another town. I think my last such bus trip was coming home from a bicycle trip to Indianapolis in May 2021 to visit Chicago's nearest Waffle House.
Either way, we can all agree that keeping the current bus station going, rehabbing it, and ideally expanding to attract new carriers, is an important piece of Chicago's sustainable transportation puzzle. So the Johnson administration should get moving on this issue, pronto.
Here are the local organizations that signed the letter:
- Access Living
- Active Transportation Alliance
- Austin Coming Together
- Better Chinese American Community Better Streets Chicago
- Center for Neighborhood Technology
- Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce
- Commuters Take Action
- Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
- Elevated Chicago
- Environmental Law and Policy Center
- Foundation for Homan Square
- Garfield Park Community Council
- Greater Southwest Development Corporation
- High Speed Rail Alliance
- Illinois Chamber of Commerce
- Little Village Environmental Justice Organization
- Metropolitan Planning Council
- North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council
- Northwest Center
- Northwest Side Community Development Corporation
- Sierra Club Chicago
