The Greyhound Bus Station In Atlanta Need to Close (buses, safety)

[jero23]

Originally Posted by samiwas1

We passed by an old (now closed) Greyhound station a few weeks ago, I think in Birmingham. It looked like a post-apocalyptic movie set.

The reason is the Greyhound station moved into the Birmingham Intermodal Terminal about 4 months ago. It's housed in the same facility as its Amtrak, and mass transit system.

[brownhornet]

Originally Posted by Clayton white guy

My Amtrack trips (Once to New Orleans and once to Washington, D.C.) actually are wonderful memories! Both were school trips overnight (think berths and staying up with your friends and eating in the dining car like the old Glen Miller song!)

The low point of the trip was boarding here in Atlanta. Brookwood Station (once an outpost for the old Southern Railroad) became our passenger station when Terminal and Union Stations (once proudly standing Downtown in the "Gulch") were torn down in the 1970's. The stations in Washington and New Orleans (both "Union" stations if I remember) were huge happening places (the Washington Union Station even had a shopping mall over the tracks!) In comparison, Brookwood Station felt like you were departing/ arriving in Hooterville (from the old Green Acres T.V. show, NOT the restaurant chain ;0) )

Yes, I know it was 20 plus years ago, but Amtrack was FUN!

Sucked for me. Only reason I even took it was because it was after 9/11 and I couldn't fly. Old hard seats, packed to the walls with screaming and sneezing/coughing kids, stopping every 10 minutes to let people on and off.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by Clayton white guy

My Amtrack trips (Once to New Orleans and once to Washington, D.C.) actually are wonderful memories! Both were school trips overnight (think berths and staying up with your friends and eating in the dining car like the old Glen Miller song!)

The low point of the trip was boarding here in Atlanta. Brookwood Station (once an outpost for the old Southern Railroad) became our passenger station when Terminal and Union Stations (once proudly standing Downtown in the "Gulch") were torn down in the 1970's. The stations in Washington and New Orleans (both "Union" stations if I remember) were huge happening places (the Washington Union Station even had a shopping mall over the tracks!) In comparison, Brookwood Station felt like you were departing/ arriving in Hooterville (from the old Green Acres T.V. show, NOT the restaurant chain ;0) )

Yes, I know it was 20 plus years ago, but Amtrack was FUN!

Our school safety patrols went to Washington, D.C. on the Crescent, which still boarded downtown in my day. Those were indeed good times.

[brownhornet]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Our school safety patrols went to Washington, D.C. on the Crescent, which still boarded downtown in my day. Those were indeed good times.

That's the exact route I was on except in the other direction and I hated every minute of it. Didn't help that the train was like 2 hours behind.

[testa50]

Yes, the Greyhound station here is a pile of crap without compare.

Literally every bus station I've been to in Mexico is far, far nicer. Which is fitting, I suppose, since any of the long distance buses in Mexico are far nicer than Greyhound as well.

America sucks at both public transit and design of public spaces, and this station is sort of a really extreme example of where those Venn diagrams meet.

[Atlanta Scientist]

Originally Posted by testa50

Yes, the Greyhound station here is a pile of crap without compare.

Literally every bus station I've been to in Mexico is far, far nicer. Which is fitting, I suppose, since any of the long distance buses in Mexico are far nicer than Greyhound as well.

America sucks at both public transit and design of public spaces, and this station is sort of a really extreme example of where those Venn diagrams meet.

Greyhound is a private company.

[testa50]

Originally Posted by Atlanta Scientist

Greyhound is a private company.

The term public transit doesn't mean publicly owned; in many parts of the world private ownership is the norm (again, Mexico, and more broadly much of Asia).

[Atlanta Scientist]

Originally Posted by testa50

The term public transit doesn't mean publicly owned; in many parts of the world private ownership is the norm (again, Mexico, and more broadly much of Asia).

In the case of the United States, I think public transit refers to transit funded by public. Either way, Greyhound is not public transit in any sense.

[AtlJan]

Originally Posted by Atlanta Scientist

In the case of the United States, I think public transit refers to transit funded by public. Either way, Greyhound is not public transit in any sense.

I agree. Here in the states public transit generally refers to publicly-owned. In, say, Buenos Aires, public transit includes their local busses which are all privately-owned, heavily-utilized, competitively-priced, highly-efficient. . . .hmm there could be a correlation, but I digress...

[jsvh]

"Public Transit" does not refer to the ownership structure. Things like privately traded subway systems and companies like Greyhound and airlines are public transit.

Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, or mass transit) is transport of passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public, typically managed on a schedule, operated on established routes, and that charge a posted fee for each trip. Examples of public transport include city buses, trolleybuses, trams (or light rail) and passenger trains, rapid transit (metro/subway/underground, etc.) and ferries. Public transport between cities is dominated by airlines, coaches, and intercity rail. High-speed rail networks are being developed in many parts of the world.

...

Urban public transit differs distinctly among Asia, North America, and Europe. In Asia, profit-driven, privately-owned and publicly traded mass transit and real estate conglomerates predominantly operate public transit systems. In North America, municipal transit authorities most commonly run mass transit operations. In Europe, both state-owned and private companies predominantly operate mass transit systems, Public transport services can be profit-driven by use of pay-by-the-distance fares or funded by government subsidies in which flat rate fares are charged to each passenger. Services can be fully profitable through high usership numbers and high farebox recovery ratios, or can be regulated and possibly subsidised from local or national tax revenue. Fully subsidised, free of charge services operate in some towns and cities.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_transport