Millions of Americans Poised to Lose Primary Transportation

Millions of Americans are at risk of losing key modes of transportation as intercity bus depots close down en masse in many cities due to rising operation costs and loss of government funding, among other reasons.

Made up of companies like Greyhound, Trailways, and Megabus, intercity bus lines offer transportation options between cities that have become heavily relied upon by many Americans commuting long distances for work, in addition to customers traveling for myriad other reasons. The industry is estimated to serve more travelers year-round than Amtrak.

Primarily driven by Greyhound, but encompassing the entire industry, intercity bus depots have already been shuttered in major cities like Cincinnati, Charlottesville, Virginia, Houston, Louisville, Philadelphia, Portland, Oregon, and Tampa, among others. Yet more depots are set to close soon in places like Chicago and Dallas. Roughly 60 million people are estimated to be at risk of losing access to intercity bus services.

In many cases, Greyhound and other companies have relocated these depots further away from city centers to places not easily reached via public transit. Other areas have simply seen their offerings shuttered completely. In some cases, the closure of one station has had the knock-on effect of shuttering another station heavily reliant on the original station's traffic, as was the fate of a station in Little Rock, Arkansas, after the closure of a Jackson, Mississippi, station.

Around 75 percent of travelers who utilize intercity bus services make $40,000 or less a year and would not be able to make their regular trips if such services were not offered. Such services also cater to a considerable number of travelers with limited mobility.

According to CNN on Sunday, these moves by bus companies have largely been blamed on rising operations costs, loss of government funding, and the sale of 33 Greyhound stations to Twenty Lake Holdings LLC, which has avoided commenting on the matter and is a subsidiary of hedge fund Alden Global Capital.

"All this happening at once is really startling," Joseph Schwieterman, a DePaul University professor and director of the Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development, told CNN. "You're taking mobility away from disproportionately low-income and mobility-challenged citizens who don't have other options."

Schwieterman added: "Intercity buses should no longer be an invisible mode to city governments. The era of privately-run stations is rapidly ending, so governments need to figure out how to assure that service continues without pushing people out into the rain and cold."

A spokesperson for Greyhound told the network that while it has "encountered challenges in some instances," it still works to "actively engage with local stakeholders to emphasize the importance of supporting affordable and equitable intercity bus travel."

Newsweek reached out to Greyhound and the Department of Transportation via email for comment. Newsweek also attempted to reach out to Twenty Lake Holdings LLC via email for comment.