The closed Greyhound bus stop at the corner of West Main and Ridge Street.

Image credit: Mike Kropf/Tomorrow's Charlottesville

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Sometime in late spring or early summer this year, the local Greyhound station quietly closed, kicking customers to the side of the road—literally.

The old station is located in a building at the intersection of West Main St., Ridge St. and McIntire Rd., and provides shelter, seats, toilets, and full-service ticket counters for people entering and leaving the town.

Right now, it is just an uncovered stop on the sidewalk at 105 Ridge St. It seems Greyhound has no plans to change this.

Last week, while chatting with the Greyhound support liaison through the bus line website, Charlottesville Tomorrow asked if there were any plans to change the location of the station or build some kind of bus shelter there.

"I'm sorry to inform you that Charlottesville, Virginia is just a bus stop. We don't have a bus stop or terminal agent there," the contact person said.

This answer is not much different from the answer that Charlottesville Tomorrow received from the Greyhound Media Relations spokesperson at the end of June. Charlottesville Tomorrow also contacted Greyhound's media relations team on Monday, but did not receive an immediate response.

In addition, the building that shares the address of 105 Ridge St. with the station currently owned and used by the Music Resource Center, as well as the building with the Greyhound station (owned by a Greyhound subsidiary), has been on the market for several months.

This is a disturbing decision by the company, which has suffered huge economic losses during the pandemic (buses are not a good place for social distancing) and has converted many stations into stops. stand. 

This is a decision that has a disproportionate impact on low-income people: bus travel is generally cheaper and more convenient than air and train travel. Greyhound claims to serve more than 2,000 different locations throughout North America, while Amtrak serves approximately 500 locations. Airports that provide commercial passenger services also serve approximately 500 locations.

Immediately, the passengers were excluded from the hot summer sun. Except for some trees bent on the fence of the nearby parking lot, there was no other shelter and no immediate access to water, food or toilets.

They arrived at the listed address, 310 W. Main St., originally thought it was a station, but found a stop. The station could not find out whether their bus was delayed or cancelled through the ticket counter, and there was no electricity supply to provide it. Electronic equipment charging for electronic tickets, timetables, arrival and departure times. This is confusing, disorienting, and frustrating for some people.

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