At the very end of Council’s July 19 meeting, City Councilor Heather Hill asked if the city would be playing any role in the plight of Greyhound, which has closed its station on West Main Street but still picks up passengers on the street.
“I just want to acknowledge to the public that we’re hearing the frustrations,” Hill said. “The most recent comment that came today was around the role our own bus station could play as a housing location for those stops.”
City Manager Chip Boyles said he is concerned about the situation.
“A lot of our citizens utilize Greyhound to travel,” Boyles said. “We are very limited in what we can do because it is a private carrier and a private service.”
Boyles said the city has been asked to provide a shelter, but they can’t do so on private property without a landowners’ permission. Still, he is trying to work out a solution.
“We would love to talk with Greyhound,” Boyles said. “I know that they have inquired. The last that we heard was that they were just looking for someone to take over the service.”
For many years, the city helped subsidize Greyhound but stopped the practice beginning with the FY2014 budget.
Two other intercity bus services travel through Charlottesville, though both go north to rather than southeast to Richmond. These are the Piedmont Express run by the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, and Megabus. Both of those services utilize a stop at Arlington Boulevard and Barracks Road.
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