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Major Moves in State-Supported Intercity Services
Intercity Bus E-News, October 2025
October 23, 2025 | Above: Detroit Air Xpress in September 2025. See caption below
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Editor’s Perspective
Like many trips on the country’s local and state-supported bus network, this edition of Intercity Bus E-News is short but significant. This vast intercity system ensures that scheduled ground transportation is available between hundreds of communities and to countless rural areas. This edition’s featured topics include the following:
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• Greyhound's concerted push into state-supported services, including new routes in the lower Midwest, recently vacated by Burlington Trailways. We also feature its new Albuquerque – Durango, CO, service.
• Michigan's plans for a new station in Detroit to be built with state government support.
• Complementarities between commercial and publicly supported routes and stations seen on my recent trip through Indiana and Illinois two weeks ago.
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If you are interested in these topics, read on, and join me for the webinar on Wednesday, October 29, featuring speakers from three prominent providers, including Travel Washington and Virginia Breeze—this free event will feature a fast-paced discussion.
There is also much anticipation surrounding the upcoming Rural Transit Assistance Program conference in Austin, TX.
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Joseph Schwieterman, PhD
Intercity Bus E-News Editor | Professor and Director, Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
| Masthead Caption: A queue forms in downtown Detroit for a Detroit Air Xpress coach headed for the city’s international airport. This “DAX” service, operated as a pilot by Indian Trails in partnership with the Regional Transit Authority of Southwest Michigan, is enjoying heavy ridership. | The State of Michigan Announces New Detroit Station | |
The Michigan Department of Transportation will construct a new combined passenger rail and intercity bus station in Detroit. The station will be next to the recently renovated Michigan Central train station, which has been lavishly restored but remains in non-transportation use.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced plans for the new facility on October 15, 2025, ending years of on-again, off-again discussion about it. In a press release, a Detroit official noted, “For decades, Michigan Central Station was the gateway to Detroit, and we are excited to begin the work of re-establishing train service at a new multi-modal transit facility in the shadow of the station.”
Detroit’s current intercity bus station, located on Howard Street, serves Indian Trails, FlixBus, Greyhound, and Barons Bus and is owned by the state’s transportation department. The timeline is unclear, but the new station, to be situated in an area that has seen much redevelopment, could be completed by late 2028. Both the Howard facility and Detroit’s modest Amtrak station were described as outdated and in need of significant renovations. The move continues Michigan’s prioritization of intercity bus and train station integration, building upon consolidated facilities in Kalamazoo, Jackson, Grand Rapids, and elsewhere. Indian Trails is the agent and leaseholder of the current station on Howard Street.
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The New Mexico Department of Transportation and Greyhound launched a new state-supported service from Albuquerque, NM, to Durango, CO, via Farmington and Bernalillo, NM. The service line operates five days a week, with one round trip each day, and offers connections with Navajo Transit and Red Apple Transit in Farmington—a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on October 17 in that New Mexico community.
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The Rural Transit Assistance Program will host the 6th National RTAP Conference in Austin, TX, from December 6-10, 2025. The conference will feature sessions on best practices in rural services and innovations helping small communities, service providers, and tribal areas. Among the session themes are “The Challenges of Same-Day Service in Rural Transit” and “The States' Role in Intercity Bus: Expert Perspectives and Case Studies.” The Schedule at a Glance is here. You can register here.
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The Washington State Department of Transportation is in the midst of the largest service expansion in over 10 years. It is moving forward with the implementation of several recommendations from its 2024 Study Update, including a new route operating between Spokane and Pasco, as well as additional frequency on two existing routes. The state also reports being excited to have MTR Western as a contracted provider, taking over operations of the Dungeness Line, with service between Port Angeles and Seattle, on November 1.
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Virginia Breeze, through September 2025, has seen a roughly 5% increase in ridership over the past year. The cost recovery of this state-supported system has increased to around 40% systemwide. State officials are arranging for the construction of a bus shelter in Wytheville, VA, a small community in southwest VA off Interstate 81, which will also be used for local bus service and maintained by the town.
| Greyhound's Push into State-Supported Services | Greyhound continues its push into state-supported services. Before the ink was dry on our September Intercity Bus News, it had launched numerous publicly supported services in the Midwest and Corn Belt, some of which were supported by the federal 5311(f) grant program. In so doing, it has filled most of the voids remaining from Burlington Trailways' September exit that were not previously covered by Jefferson Lines, which, too, made major moves after Burlington’s loss, as we described in the last issue. Specifically, Greyhound has | |
• restored direct Chicago – Waterloo, IA, service, which has the benefit of providing a convenient mid-day departure to Des Moines, which lacks Amtrak service; and
• added a morning Chicago – Omaha, NE, service that runs through to Denver, CO, which brings Greyhound back to Omaha and restores the direct Windy City – Denver link after a long absence; this replaces Burlington’s now-discontinued through route to the Colorado capital from Indianapolis.
The Omaha – Denver leg is an overnight run that, like the previous Burlington service, is publicly supported. This complements Arrow Express, which runs at opposite times of day.
| Significantly, this new Denver route creates a new all-Greyhound “transcontinental” option from Chicago. It builds on last year’s addition of Salt Lake City – Reno/Sparks, NV service, which is also publicly supported. Although traveling from Chicago to San Francisco requires transferring twice, in Denver and Reno/Sparks, this service is slightly faster and often less expensive than Amtrak’s California Zephyr, which sells out at busy times due to equipment shortages. To be sure, few “riders of choice” will endure a 2+ day bus trip; many “riders of necessity” don’t have this luxury. Such coordinated schedules also improve convenience for hundreds of origin-destination combinations. Greyhound’s and Jefferson’s moves are good news for the national network. We thank John Corey for sharing Illinois news. | Webinar: State Initiatives to Improve Intercity Bus Service | |
Join us online for our webinar titled “Successful State Initiatives to Expand and Improve Intercity Bus Service” from 1:05 to 2:00 pm CT (11:05 am to 12:00 pm PT) on Wednesday, October 29, 2025. Part of the Research to Practice Transit Symposium, being convened by a partnership between many organizations, this webinar features presentations by the following experts:
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John Andoh III, Transit General Manager, Redding Area Bus Authority, California, which has several services, including Amtrak Thruway offerings
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Nina Stocker, Program Manager, Travel Washington Intercity Bus, which has many popular state-supported routes, including the Apple Line and Grape Line
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Zach Trogdon, Chief of Public Transportation, Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, which oversees Virginia Breeze
Presentations will be brief to allow for a Q&A segment. The Intercity Bus E-News editor, Joseph P. Schwieterman, Ph.D., DePaul University, will moderate. For the conference webpage, click here. You can register here.
| Sampling the Services of Hoosierland | |
On Saturday, October 4, 2025, I had a firsthand look at intercity bus services that fill gaps in Middle America’s ground transportation network.
A Short Trip on Barons Bus. Starting in Greensburg, IN, a community of 12,000 people that has lacked rail passenger service since 1971, I caught the town's lone scheduled passenger connection to the outside world: a daily Barons Bus service between Cincinnati and Indianapolis that stops at a Mobil station at the north edge of town. My fare, booked in advance, was $20, whereas a 52-mile Uber trip to Indianapolis costs around $90—if you can find a driver willing to take you. The city’s car-rental service was closed at the time, so Barons was the only practical way out of town without a private vehicle.
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The riders were older than those seen on most busy city-to-city express routes. (My presence helped push the average age even further upward!). One middle-aged customer had a large and frayed duffel bag, suggesting he was on a long trip on a tight budget. Barons’ publicly supported routes through this part of Indiana offer myriad connecting opportunities.
The Indianapolis terminal, leased from the City of Indianapolis by Greyhound, is essentially an intercity bus station with an “occasional” train. The newest tenant, Jefferson Lines, recently launched a state-supported route from here to Iowa, a former Burlington Trailways route. The station's only train, Amtrak’s Cardinal, runs three times a week, and at inconvenient times.
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A Longer Trip on FlixBus. It was Saturday afternoon, the next train departure to Chicago wasn’t until Monday, and the airfare was $175, so “the bus” was the way to go. Getting to Chicago’s 95th Station—my preferred destination—while minimizing wait time put me on FlixBus. There is no through-ticketing between FlixBus and Barons, so I bought a separate ticket ($31 in advance). Flix’s curbside spot is a short walk away and pleasantly situated next to a city park. Greyhound offers a morning service to Chicago, supported by the State of Indiana, which stops at several smaller towns. My departure, however, was part of Greyhound’s and FlixBus’s larger, unsubsidized express schedule.
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College students, young adults, and urban dwellers traveling light were the most prominent among the 20 passengers on board. After a stop in Lafayette, IN, we arrived at 95th Street Station, a publicly owned transit hub, on time, where eight alighted, some (like me) likely wanting to avoid doubling back from Chicago’s Loop to get home. It was nighttime, and city-provided security personnel were prevalent.
If you subscribe to the idea that public agencies should support efforts to enable those without cars to travel outside their home region, my trip exemplified how this can be achieved through private-sector collaboration. Taking the bus may be low on frills, but my trip was affordable and comfortable. J. Schwieterman
| News Photos from Around the U.S. | At Detroit’s Intercity Bus Station, Greyhound (left) and FlixBus (center) will soon depart. A few minutes after this photo was taken on September 15, 2025, a Barons Bus from Columbus, Ohio, arrived, adding to the bustle. The state-owned station, leased by Indian Trails, the station's agent, will be replaced by a new facility shared with Amtrak. | An Amtrak Thruway departure at San Jose Diridon Station is imminent in September 2025. This service allows for a well-timed connection from an Amtrak Capitol Corridor train from Sacramento, which arrived a few minutes earlier. The electrical catenary for Caltrain's San Francisco route is visible at the upper left. | A Greyhound agent assists customers at the Indianapolis Bus Station, which is located underneath the massive rail viaduct at the former Indianapolis Union Station. Several state-supported bus routes radiate from the station. Inset: Barons Bus has just arrived from Cincinnati, Ohio. | Chicago 95th/Dan Ryan Station, IL | The driver of a FlixBus service from Indianapolis, ridden by the Intercity Bus E-News editor, assists customers at Chicago’s 95th Street/Dan Ryan Station—the last stop before downtown Chicago. This recently enlarged station is the southern terminus of the Chicago Transit Authority's Red Line, the city's busiest heavy-rail route. The station, also used by Greyhound, has assumed an expanded role in recent years due to strong traffic from Chicago’s South Side. | | |
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For a link to our previous (late September) E-News, click here
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Our newly released Schedule Frequency analysis of 69 routes, updated for summer 2025 schedules.
This independently produced e-newsletter brief has been shared with our Intercity Bus (IB) and Transportation listservs. The Chaddick Institute does not receive funds from transportation companies or related industries.
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