Greyhound Bus Building

[DetroitGuy423]

Interesting article in the Freep today. Wonder who is interested in it.

https://www.freep.com/story/news/loc...nt/2288216001/

[JonWylie]

The Amtrak site actually probably makes more sense for the Greyhound Station. Closer to Wayne, connected to the train, QLine, and major DDOT and SMART bus lines.

[401don]

700 per month for a 31,000 sq. ft. building? Sounds fair. No wonder they're in no hurry to move.

[hybridy]

700 per month for a 31,000 sq. ft. building? Sounds fair. No wonder they're in no hurry to move.

That is shockingly low and I can't understand why the Amtrak or Rosa Parks stations weren't built for multi-modal use. Why does Detroit have all these underutilized and redundant stations peppered throughout greater downtown? Amtrak, People Mover, M-1, Greyhound, SMART, DDOT etc should all terminate/connect into 1 place and include rider amenities and bicycling/car parking and connection to DTW. Like a proper city.

[Tig3rzhark]

That is shockingly low and I can't understand why the Amtrak or Rosa Parks stations weren't built for multi-modal use. Why does Detroit have all these underutilized and redundant stations peppered throughout greater downtown? Amtrak, People Mover, M-1, Greyhound, SMART, DDOT etc should all terminate/connect into 1 place and include rider amenities and bicycling/car parking and connection to DTW. Like a proper city.

Because Rosa Park Transit Center is made for DDOT buses.

Because SMART put its "Transit Center" inside the Buhl Building

Because someone was stupid enough to move Amtrak into Midtown instead of fixing the Michigan Central Train Station.

Because The People Mover has a station at Rosa Parks Transit Center.

Because the Q-Line [[M-1) doesn't go nearby a transit center.

I would rather see the majority of these services be moved to the Rosa Parks Transit Center. However, that would require Federal, State, and City funding.

When you can find a city planner that can prove that to all three [[Federal, State, and City transit authorities), please contact them.

[1953]

I wonder if its Quicken/Rock. They have a lot of parking around that Greyhound Station, and are probably hankering for some more.

[hybridy]

When you can find a city planner that can prove that to all three [[Federal, State, and City transit authorities), please contact them.

Typical backward Detroit thinking. 'If we haven't figured it out by now, we can't do it.' Maybe look beyond your own backyard.

Milwaukee consolidated all of these transit modes recently. Milwaukee Intermodal has several daily trains to the Airport and has a station for the Hop streetcar. Daily/longterm parking and even office space was built as a part of station! Imagine that?!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milwau...rmodal_Station
https://wisconsindot.gov/Pages/travel/rail/mis.aspx

More than 1.3 million passengers per year use the facility to make connections to Amtrak's Hiawatha Service and Empire Builder, as well as to Greyhound and other local and regional bus services.
The facility offers a variety of amenities, including food service through the All Aboard Café and vending machines, as well as an ATM, free Wi-Fi for waiting passengers, bicycle racks, and a convenient passenger drop-off lane in the front of the building.

It works so well, there's even a growing homeless tent city right across the street. I suppose Detroit does have a fancy Port Authority building to host boat cruises/ferrier...errr I mean wedding banquets. Thanks Senator Levin!

[Tig3rzhark]

Typical backward Detroit thinking. 'If we haven't figured it out by now, we can't do it.' Maybe look beyond your own backyard.

Milwaukee consolidated all of these transit modes recently. Milwaukee Intermodal has several daily trains to the Airport and has a station for the Hop streetcar. Daily/longterm parking and even office space was built as a part of station! Imagine that?!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milwau...rmodal_Station
https://wisconsindot.gov/Pages/travel/rail/mis.aspx


It works so well, there's even a growing homeless tent city right across the street. I suppose Detroit does have a fancy Port Authority building to host boat cruises/ferrier...errr I mean wedding banquets. Thanks Senator Levin!

It would be good if the bus agencies in metro Detroit could share the Rosa Parks Transit Center. There's plenty of room for it.

For some reason, that area isn't being used more than it should be.

As for the Q-Line, it only runs along Woodward. None of the installed track goes to Cass and Michigan, where RPTC [[Rosa Parks Transit Center) is located.

Amtrak should've stayed at the Michigan Central Depot.

The Greyhound buses could move to the Rosa Parks Transit Center. To move it to Midtown though, I think is just stupid.

The transit center isn't even using its second floor right now. There's enough space to fit DDOT, SMART, Greyhound into that area.

Amtrak should just go back to Michigan Central Depot, even if it means renting space from Ford.

I've seen other cities with much better public transit, and so far when I look at Detroit, they are falling far behind.

If we can fit most of those things into the Rosa Parks Transit Center, that would be great.

[Jason]

Rosa Parks would be ideal for Greyhound. If you're taking transit to your Greyhound bus, being able to transfer to an Amtrak train isn't useful, but being able to transfer to a city bus is.


Also, I don't like how buses are handled downtown. First, I think that ALL routes should go to RPTC. If you're transferring between buses it should only be a matter of getting off your bus, walking over to the appropriate bay, and waiting for your next one. There shouldn't be any question of whether or not the bus goes directly into RPTC or just goes on a street nearby it, or anything like that. Everything should go there.

Second, I don't like how they run all the buses through Larned Congress and Jefferson. It's way too chaotic and there's none of the infrastructure in place for that kind of usage. If they really want to use that area for that many bus routes, then they need to clear the sidewalks near the curb, and create labeled bays for the bus routes. I get that that area is many people's destination, but it's still not suitable for how they're using it.

I also think they really need to cut down on the number of bus stops within downtown. You shouldn't have a stop every other block in downtown. And they're so poorly marked.


An interesting way of doing things would be to have each bus route terminate at a People Mover station [[again, with labeled bays, and good shelters). And then all of the People Mover signage and maps would list the bus routes. So for example:

Bricktown Station, serving:
DDOT: 5 Lafayette, 52 Chene, 67 Cadillac/Harper.
SMART: 610 Kercheval/Harper, 620 Charlevoix, 635 Jefferson.

And then with really clear labeling, the People Mover would be one giant bus terminal. You'd get off the bus and hop onto the People Mover, either to your destination or to your transfer. There could even be lines painted on the ground directly guiding people from the People Mover station's doors to each bus bay along the nearby sidewalk, so that there would be zero confusion.

And then the RPTC could be used for Greyhound, express routes, DTW shuttle, taxis/rideshare, employee shuttles, event shuttles, etc.

Again this is an unconventional way of doing it, but I think it would be more legible and user friendly than what they're doing now.

[M. Brown]

I wonder if whoever wants this greyhound station also wants the Executive Plaza building across the street. Is this building listed anymore?

[Gistok]

I wonder if whoever wants this greyhound station also wants the Executive Plaza building across the street. Is this building listed anymore?

Good point!!

The 5 block Executive Plaza complex [[mostly parking lots) plus the Greyhound station would make for a great 6 block residential community, hopefully keeping the 2 tall buildings...

https://www.google.com/maps/place/12...!4d-83.0590609

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3277...7i16384!8i8192

[bartocktoo]

I wonder if its Quicken/Rock. They have a lot of parking around that Greyhound Station, and are probably hankering for some more.

I don't know...if it isn't some other investor this smells like Illitch to me. This isn't far from the casino, and on that side of the freeway.

[Jason]

I don't know, it's too far away for Motor City parking. It's not by their entertainment area either. They like to control land either for parking, or to block other businesses from mixing with their entertainment district.

I would figure Bedrock has their hands full at the moment.

It's hard to imagine it being unrelated to Executive Plaza though.

[Dexlin]

I feel like some of you don't know how these stations work and didn't read the article. There are barely enough bus stands at the Rose Parks Transit Center as it is; there is certainly not enough for 45 additional buses a day. And the Amtrak station is an even tinier site that doesn't allow feasible turnarounds.

Greyhound Lines Chief Operating Officer Bill Blankenship said in a letter to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer dated July 24 that the current bus station serves a 49-bus schedule and an average of 1,000 passengers per day and neither the Amtrak Station nor Rosa Parks would be suitable replacements.


“Neither option is feasible because of physical constraints for mixed mode operations, bus turning radii, on or off street bus slots for safe transfers between multiple intercity bus schedules at the same time, a lack of secure ticketing, package and baggage handling capability and insufficient customer service conveniences such as canopies over boarding areas, interior wait room capacity and access to other customer amenities,” the letter said.

There is a multi-modal stations in the planning process across the tracks from the existing trainst station, but that's not going to help Greyhound by October.

Anyway, I really wonder what the rush is that they have to get them out of there right now?

[Gistok]

Speaking of that 6 block area [[Greyhound/Executive Plaza)... one person I would like to see take it over for developing is Peter Cummings [[Max Fisher's son-in-law), who is a developer and philanthropist. He's the guy who was responsible for Orchestra Place, Whole Foods, owns the Fisher Building [[with partners) and that new apartment building nearby on the south side of W. Grand Blvd.

But that's just a thought....

[preserve]

Does Greyhound still own that building on Lafayette, behind the Comerica Bank across the street from Green Dot Stables? Couldn't that be made usable again?

[southen]

Speaking of that 6 block area [[Greyhound/Executive Plaza)... one person I would like to see take it over for developing is Peter Cummings [[Max Fisher's son-in-law), who is a developer and philanthropist. He's the guy who was responsible for Orchestra Place, Whole Foods, owns the Fisher Building [[with partners) and that new apartment building nearby on the south side of W. Grand Blvd.

But that's just a thought....

The Platform has had to slow down and scale back their ambitions already. They have the site by Belle Isle, the Gratiot site near Eastern Market, the site near Joe Louis and several partially started projects in New Center and Milwaukee Junction. They were cruising along procuring land and announcing things but had to slow down. I like their vision but I don't think they have the funds to be juggling everything they've announced.

[Seven&wyo]

I don't know about some other projects, but I know the one on Cass and York had to be scaled back due to the rising building costs. I think they just wanted to buy as much land as possible for future development [[that I think will take place). But their project on E Grand is taking place.

[southen]

Cass and York was cancelled. Baltimore Station 2 is just a platform for a structure. I am sure they will continue to develop, it just seems like they were a bit too ambitious, so I doubt they will want to buy more property right now just to wait years.

[Seven&wyo]

They definitely don't want to buy more for sure, but the property they did buy are in very key areas in the city and that's probably why they went on a buying frenzy.

[Hypestyles]

I hope something is found at least on a temporary level- city and county government need to collaborate here.

[masterblaster]

Cass and York was cancelled. Baltimore Station 2 is just a platform for a structure. I am sure they will continue to develop, it just seems like they were a bit too ambitious, so I doubt they will want to buy more property right now just to wait years.

Baltimore Station 2 is not planned to be a platform, but a 4-story residential-retail structure.

https://www.theplatform.city/baltimo...tion-phase-ii/

However, I was disheartened to jog by the site today and see that the site has been basically abandoned - partially flooded with weeds growing everywhere around 1st floor metal framing.

[hybridy]

MDOT dropping effort to move Greyhound to Detroit Amtrak Station

My favorite quote here. This guy is a genius!

Marc Magliari, a spokesman for Amtrak, said Amtrak supports multimodal facilities.
“The more modes come together, the more all modes gain from it,” he said, noting that Amtrak has worked with MDOT on facilities across the state. "You want to make it as easy as possible to get from mode to mode."

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2019/09/19/greyhound-detroit-not-moving-amtrak/2366932001/

[Gistok]

Maybe the Ilitches have a nearby empty lot they are willing to sell that the potential developer could use instead? [[When hell freezes over! )