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Roundup of Bus Station News around U.S.
Intercity Bus E-News Bulletin, September 2025
September 6, 2025 | Caption: A Greyhound bus at Atlanta Intercity Bus Station, August 17, 2025
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Editor’s Perspective
A recent bevy of news concerning bus terminals convinced me we needed an Intercity Bus E-News Bulletin. As Smart City Dive senior reporter Dan Zukowski describes in a succinct and timely article, several U.S. cities are having a “Cinderella Moment” regarding intercity bus stations. “Cities are getting the message. Several cities are renovating and expanding bus terminals or adding bus facilities to existing intermodal stations,” he concludes.
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You'll find updates on Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and other cities in Zukowski’s “Are Intercity Buses Having a Cinderella Moment?”. He has separate sections on each city, including comments from Peter Pan’s Peter Picknelly and Flix North America’s Kaitie Czuchaj.
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Zukowski notes that the expanded South Station bus concourse in Boston, which is nearing completion, will have new escalators, elevators, and stairs, improving the flow between buses and trains. C&J's Jim Jalbert remarks that the expansion will facilitate bus-to-bus connections.
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The article confirms that FlixBus/Greyhound will this autumn "move its main Dallas bus station to a new intercity bus terminal in northwest Dallas."
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Separately, we have just learned that Greyhound will have its lease at Denver Union Station's bus concourse renewed. This location offers extensive transit connections and is within walking distance of many downtown amenities. Last year, there were reports that the lease would not be renewed despite the lack of a high-quality alternative.
| Not all cities have stations on solid footing, and there is much work to do in many places, including Albany, NY, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, and Portland, OR. Still, we are encouraged by the recent news. Also, in case you missed it, check out our analysis below showing how a shortage of Amtrak seats at the Chicago Hub is raising the importance of intercity bus service. Watch for a complete Intercity Bus E-News edition in late September. | |
Joseph Schwieterman, PhD
Intercity Bus E-News Editor | Professor and Director, Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
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Shortages of Seats on Trains at the Chicago Hub
Creates an Opening for Intercity Bus Service
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Our institute recently released a Transportation Brief, Growth Spurt: The Outlook for Chicago’s Intercity Rail Travel through 2030, that showcases the strong demand for intercity rail travel in Chicago. We highlight the growing shortages of seat inventory resulting in many sold-out trains at peak times, with no clear resolution to the problem evident through 2030. Rail ridership at the Chicago Hub expanded 8% during the first nine months of Amtrak's fiscal year through June, a rate faster than the other regions we evaluated. Load factors (the percentage of seats filled) are higher than in these other regions and far above the national average.
The nine-page brief calls for policymakers to expand coach capacity on trains and leverage the potential of intercity bus service in coordination with Amtrak. We urge state governments to follow the lead of Oregon, Washington, and Vermont, which extensively supplement their train services with motorcoach offerings. Buses are listed alongside trains on Amtrak.com. This budget-stretching technique is underutilized in the Midwest. Bus service could fill gaps on routes with limited schedule offerings, such as those to Champaign, IL, Indianapolis, and Grand Rapids, MI.
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Due to seat shortages on trains, bus lines appear to have significant pricing power on several routes at peak times. Bus fares on Labor Day departures between 9 am and 6 pm on the Chicago – Detroit and St. Louis routes, for example, rose above $125. Bus lines appear to use airline-style dynamic pricing to a greater extent than Amtrak, holding a few seats for passengers willing to pay substantial premiums, resulting in fewer sold-out departures. From a financial standpoint, the associated revenue may offset the problems posed by demand being more heavily concentrated during peak periods than a decade ago, which leaves buses with only light loads on certain days. The pattern is reflected in a growing tendency for lines to scale back capacity significantly during the mid-week, which is evident in our Frequency Report. We'll watch this play out as we approach the Thanksgiving Holiday.
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Invite others to join Intercity Bus Listserv
Check out past editions and reports here
Invite your colleagues to join our Intercity Bus Listserv. To become part of our Intercity Bus ListServ and receive 8 – 10 emails per year, email Zaria by replying to this email. No spam. Free. Also, check out our recent studies, briefs, and podcasts below. The Intercity Bus E-News team is Zaria Bonds and Joe Schwieterman.
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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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