Many enlightened U.S. cities, such as Milwaukee and Kalamazoo, Michigan, have transit centers where passengers can catch buses and trains in the same place. These are popular with travelers since they allow easy connections between different modes of transit. In Europe, they are ubiquitous.
But Chicago has lousy intermodal connections, a legacy of many different operations: Union Station has no CTA station of that name, for example, and the city is filled with spots where non-automobile travelers have to trek several hundred yards to continue their journeys, maybe with heavy luggage in tow. With the exception of the city’s airports, very few of Chicago’s prime destinations allow for easy connections, as attendees at the Democratic National Convention are finding out this week.
In many European cities, there would be a basement station providing access to an arena like the United Center. In Chicago, it’s a schlepp, even with the new Damen Green Line station coming online. Retrofitting costs a fortune.
So we are perplexed by the lack of hospitality shown by Amtrak to the city’s idea that Greyhound buses board and disgorge close to the city’s massive Union Station. Last week, Amtrak President Roger Harris sent an unpleasant response to the city’s proposal to use the underutilized Union Station Transportation Center on Jackson Boulevard as at least an interim solution to the closure of the current Greyhound Station on West Harrison Street, which potentially will leave Chicago with no bus station.
We like this notion, at least in the short term. We suggested it ourselves. And although that space is perhaps too small in the long term, the bus station could be expanded, if needed, and/or integrated into the long-term Union Station plan. Greyhound has greatly decreased its operations from its peak. These days, only three or four dozen spaced-out buses come through Chicago each day.
And what exactly did Amtrak grouse about in its NIMBY-like letter, suggesting that bus passengers take a hike? “Safety, security and operational concerns,” in a facility it owns and operates “for our own customers.” Harris wants to send the buses to outside the Ogilvie Transportation Center or anywhere, really, that’s away from Amtrak.
We don’t see a terrible overcrowding problem in Union Station’s Great Hall, where bus passengers could wait or patronize the stations restaurants. Union Station has a massive footprint. And on a recent evening visit to the adjacent Union Station Transportation Center, we did not see a single human waiting for a CTA bus. Sure, infrastructure issues would need to be worked out and parking and one-way systems adjusted. And maybe Greyhound should contribute to Amtrak’s coffers in some modest way.
But let’s not forget it’s called Union Station. And Amtrak is subsidized by our tax dollars. Instead of sniffing at conveniently located competition, it should be open to the idea of working to make it easier to hop off a bus and onto an Amtrak train.
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