Greyhound still without home, still with problems

Wisconsin State Journal, June 12, 2010
George Hesselberg

Months after its depot was razed, Greyhound buses make eight trips daily to or from a curb outside Metro Transit's North Transfer Point off Aberg Avenue but passengers anecdotally still report problems with the service in Madison.

That stop, one of four the national bus company has had since August when the Badger Bus Depot Downtown closed, has no sign, no place to buy tickets or place luggage and no place for riders to sit and wait.

The city's bus service, Metro Transit, is working on Greyhound's behalf to sell tickets at the nearby Dane County Job Center, 1819 Aberg Ave., said Mario Mendoza, assistant to Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz. Right now, passengers can board the bus at the 1213 Huxley St. stop but must surrender their driver's license or ID to the driver until they arrive at a stop where tickets are sold.

Mendoza said the city is also considering Greyhound in its short term and long term transportation plans for the city, including in railroad-bus station or "intermodal" plans. Greyhound has confirmed it is eager to be a part of any "intermodal" transport station in the city.

Greyhound has been searching for a permanent home in Madison since Aug. 31 when the Badger Bus Depot, 2 S. Bedford St., was closed and eventually demolished to make room for condos and a drugstore. First the station moved its stop to 2023 S. Stoughton Road, on the Southeast Side, about 7 miles from Downtown.

In April, a temporary stop was announced at East Washington Avenue and Baldwin Street on the city's Near East Side. Four days later, buses began departing and arriving at the Huxley Street stop. Two days after that, the bus company announced a "permanent location" in DeForest at a TravelCenters of America truck stop on Highway 51 at Interstate 39-90-94. That lasted one day and buses were moved back to the Huxley Street stop.

On Monday night, four people were at the Huxley Street stop to catch the Greyhound.

Greyhound officials claim a uniformed bus company employee meets all incoming and departing vehicles. This was not evident at Monday's 7:15 p.m. arrival from St. Paul, destined for Milwaukee.

The north transfer point is more than a block long and is adjacent to a park-and-ride lot which is virtually vacant after 6 p.m. The Greyhound bus stops at the curb.

A sign on the Metro shelter warns it is for "commuters only," though Greyhound passengers are said to be welcome to sit there.

The Greyhound schedule "has not been much of an issue with us," said Mick Rusch, of Metro Transit.

"It's gone quite well, we always said the (Greyhound) stop should be on a bus route so people can use our service to get to their service," he said.

Greyhound officials couldn't explain Tuesday why they didn't have a sign. Rusch, at Metro Transit, said "I'm not aware of Greyhound approaching us about a sign.

"If they were interested, we could probably arrange for a smaller sign to be temporarily mounted on the bus stop that is in front of the transfer point."

While those waiting Monday were unhappy about the difficulty of getting tickets, schedules and location of the stop, one man, Dan Nelson, who was departing the bus in Madison, said the stop was an oasis compared with the St. Paul location, where he had boarded. "That was a dump, located in a slum," said Nelson, who was happy to avoid driving and fuel costs.

A day later, however, Nelson's opinion of Greyhound had soured, as his return trip to the Twin Cities was "a nightmare," his mother, Arlene, reported.

"The bus was an hour late, making it an hour and half late to Minneapolis. When he went to pick up his luggage it was not there, he lost some things that are not replaceable as he attended the funeral of his aunt and had some things of hers that can not be replaced, plus other things of value. Being an hour and a half late he had to take a taxi home which was another added expense," she wrote in an e-mail.


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