Latest Greyhound bus station proposal gains support from advocates as Old City neighbors continue to say no

Philadelphia’s temporary Greyhound bus station should move to an Old City parking garage that has facilities for the “humane treatment of riders,” several urbanist organizations and advocates for people with disabilities said Monday in a statement.

They are backing city transportation officials who recently floated a proposal to make the first level of the AutoPark garage on South Second Street near Walnut Street into a terminal for intercity bus carriers.

The possibility sparked outcry from some Old City residents and business owners, who say heavy bus traffic on narrow colonial-era streets would harm the neighborhood.

“In the year since Greyhound closed its Center City terminal, 1 million bus riders have been dumped unceremoniously onto [first] Market Street and [then] Spring Garden Street with no shelter or resources,” the Coalition for an Intercity Bus Terminal said.

Leaders of the group say that Old City site has major advantages over Spring Garden Street, with comfort for passengers. It also would temporarily resolve a city embarrassment.

“This does represent a meaningful, serious improvement,” Micah Fiedler of 5th Square urbanist group, an organizer of the coalition, said in an interview. “We’re even hoping for water fountains.”

Greyhound, Flixbus, Peter Pan, and Megabus — the largest carriers serving the city — have been operating at curbside, with riders queuing on the sidewalks, for the last four months near Spring Garden and Front Streets. Darting rideshares and private vehicles have blocked transit bus and bike lanes there.

The buses first set up at Seventh and Market Streets after Greyhound closed its Filbert Street terminal last June, before moving to Spring Garden in November.

The Old City parking garage was built in the 1970s as a station for tour-bus operators to pick up and drop off visitors to the historic district. There are 13 bus bays that are still occasionally used, and a 3,000-square-foot waiting area, with restrooms. Most recently that space was the now-closed Recess Lounge after-hours nightclub.

The Philadelphia Parking Authority operates the garage, which is owned by the National Park Service. An intercity bus depot conforms with underlying zoning, so the city and carriers could use the garage without needing a variance if the site is chosen, according to several sources familiar with discussions.

But the Park Service would have to approve the use.

Neighbors and business owners, who said they learned about the bus-terminal plan recently after noticing test runs of some Greyhound buses in and out of the garage. A Change.org petition demanding a “full and fair process” with “serious community engagement” had 1,217 signatures as of noon Monday.

Amigos, a Spanish-language immersion preschool is 25 feet away from the potential terminal. Owner Cloe Levin said she and the parents of her students are worried about safety, both when the children are taking walks and during pickup and drop-off times.

“If you’re driving a bus, you can’t see a 1-year-old. It’s unsafe,” Levin said in an interview, noting that SEPTA buses get stuck in traffic on South Second Street daily. She said it seems the city is “slapping a solution on a problem that is not thought out.”

The AutoPark garage is a tenth of a mile from the Second Street Market-Frankford Line station, which is wheelchair accessible, unlike the Spring Garden Station. Food and water would be available, and there are restaurants and retail shops in the area, the coalition statement noted.

“It’s going to be an amazing opportunity for businesses,” Fiedler said, adding that he sympathizes with Amigos preschool. In the statement, the advocacy groups echo neighbors’ call for community engagement.

In addition to 5th Square, the statement was signed by the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, Transit Forward, Liberty Resources, Disabled in Action, the Delaware Valley Association of Rail Passengers and the Sunrise Movement, a climate-change advocacy group.

The city’s Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Services (OTIS) said in a statement April 30 that the garage is one of several new temporary locations under consideration.

“We need to move past the mindset of reserving basic expectations like accessible restrooms for train stations and airports and not for bus riders who are currently coping with a hodgepodge of curbside sidewalk options,” OTIS said.