Letters to the Editor

Bus stop needs

December 25, 2009


To the editor:

On Dec. 16, I went to the service station used as a Greyhound bus stop to pick up a friend. It was very cold, so I made sure I arrived early enough that my friend would not have to wait for me outside, as the service station went out of business around October.

A mother and daughter arrived with luggage to wait for their bus connection. I invited them into my warm car to wait. My friend arrived, and I discussed with the bus driver what an inconvenience it was not to have a facility that offered shelter and a bathroom for passengers. He agreed. My friend said that she had called and complained numerous times over the past two months with no results.

Not wanting to put my new friends back out into the cold, I remained as a “temporary shelter.” Another gentleman arrived, but my car could only hold four so he waited in the cold. Their bus was over an hour late.

Lawrence has numerous people, including students, who depend on Greyhound for travel. The inconvenience the lack of a proper facility presents certainly does not reflect well on our city, especially when passengers are forced to wait in inclement weather. It seems to me that the Lawrence City Commission or Chamber of Commerce could put some pressure on Greyhound and possibly help them find a new location that would provide shelter, a rest room and bus information/tickets because they are not responding to the individual calls and complaints.


gilly 5 years ago

The lack of a station is only part of the problem, and the City and the Chamber of Commerce have tolerated it for a long time without indicating an interest or even acknowledgment of a problem.

The Greyhound company itself doesn't care. I took Greyhound from Denver back to Lawrence a few years ago, and I won't do that again: a ride on a poorly maintained bus with a reeking bathroom, a breakdown within Denver city limits, an indifferent driver, and no interest in keeping to a schedule--and this was a straight shot down I-70. It took forever.

With a business like that, and a city and chamber that have shown little to no committment to public transit of any kind, we have little chance of getting a decent regional transit station set up.

TheBigW 5 years ago

Well we used to have a real nice bus station my grandpa ran the place for 30 years, it was in a central location so if you were a student you could walk for the most part to KU or hop a city bus/taxi. Then trailways went out of biz, grayhound lasted for a while but downsized the bus stop to a gas station on west 6th and the nice downtown station is now The Free State Brewery, yep that cool porch you sit on and where the bar and brew area is.... that used to be the driveway for the bus station and the coffee next door was the station. You can't have a transit station downtown it gets in the way of the al the bars and places to dine.

Hey maybe with all the money being spent on the train depot they could find room for the bus station there too.... Oh no then we'd have all those stinky bus fumes driving past city hall.

wagonburner23 5 years ago

What ever happened to the ol'en days. Where you can just put your thumb and get a free ride. I rode the bus and do not care what service they give me as long as I get there. Them racist people that used to own that store used to make the passengers buy something if they needed to use their restroom.

mr_right_wing 5 years ago

I have just a little history with Greyhound/Laidlaw...they are pretty strict about 'rural' bus stops. They were still pretty regulated when I had some experience with them, and they have very little regard to stops in communities that the government mandates. Of course if they do select a new bus stop it would need to be no further away from the access their current stop provides to the Kansas Turnpike.

If the Hampton Inn wouldn't mind Greyhound types sitting around in their lobby that would be a great location.

kenos 5 years ago

Why do you have to be close to the turnpike? The first place I thought about was the train depot. I think the city is going to buy it, and if they do then I'd think it could be multitasked with a bus station. It doesn't seem to be very busy as it is. I'm sorry to hear Greyhound has gone down hill. I used to ride the bus fairly often, and it was OK.

Charles L Bloss Jr 5 years ago

I believe the one in Topeka closed down many years ago. They built a new one, kept it open a few years, then closed it down. In this weather, there should be a warm place for people to wait. Thank you, Lynn

mr_right_wing 4 years, 12 months ago

There is no way they (Greyhound) are going to send one of their buses across the city. I'll amend my earlier comment...the Holiday Inn over there on McDonald Dr would be an even better spot for them; (...and there are 1 or 2 gas stations right there as well) closer to the turnpike, so it would be an even shorter detour to pick up riders. I have no doubt that if our government didn't tell them to get off the turnpike and set up a stop in Lawrence they'd be perfectly happy passing right by... We're dealing with a company that either is still in bankruptcy or recently was under bankruptcy protection. You've probably noticed that Laidlaw's school bus service is now "First Student".

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