Intercity buses were once the preeminent travel method in the United States, and there is one company that dominated the space: Greyhound Lines. And while the company still serves 2,300 destinations across North America, there has been a clear decline in Greyhound bus stations.
The aftereffects of Covid-19 are at least partially to blame. The pandemic, with its "social-distancing imperatives and calls for fresh, circulated air, decimated the industry," said National Geographic. However, the true culprit is a combination of several factors, including "high operating costs [and] government underfunding," said CNN. And while the Greyhound buses themselves "offer power, Wi-Fi and free movies to laptop-toting riders," said NPR, this has not helped the bus stations, which are often in states of dilapidation.
A key factor in the decline of the bus stations is Greyhound's decision to sell an increasing number of them to investment groups. In 2022, Twenty Lake Holdings bought 33 Greyhound stations for $140 million, then began "putting a portion of its property up for sale," said NPR.
The erasure of Greyhound's once-boundless station network is troublesome. Many of Greyhound's customers "rely on buses for essential travel during emergencies or in areas without alternative transit options," said National Geographic. The solution is "for the public sector to establish a central hub for intercity travel that also connects to the local transit system," Joseph Schwieterman, a DePaul University bus travel expert, told Governing magazine. But if stations continue to shutter, "low-income groups, immigrants and travelers with mobility impairments will take it on the chin and feel the worst of it." | 
