Greyhound business decision leaves Albany riders out in the heat

ALBANY — The question, posed by concerned callers was a legitimate one: If the city of Albany just spent $11 million-plus on a transportation center, why are bus riders waiting out in the hot sun for buses to arrive?

The answer is a lesson in the current state of business.

Albany Transportation Director David Hamilton explained that, although the Greyhound bus line continues to make regular stops at the transportation center in Albany, the company does not — as planned — have personnel working to accommodate its riders in the city and other locations in Georgia.

“We hadn’t heard from the folks at Greyhound in quite a while — I made several calls — when we were actually under construction with the center,” Hamilton said when asked about the riders waiting outside in the heat. “ I finally got through to them and found out that they had been bought by a new company that did not intend to locate personnel at our center as planned.

“We actually had to stop construction and redesign our transportation center, cut out the space for Greyhound and reallocate it for additional offices and security. This was all Greyhound; they decided to do away with all such conveniences in city’s like Albany.”

Now, Hamilton said, bus riders in Albany must buy their tickets online or call the company to purchase tickets.

“We tried to work our schedule around the new reality with Greyhound, but they still have routes that come into Albany after our business hours at the transportation center, one after our regular hours and two or three on Sundays when we’re closed,” he said. “The city of Albany cannot afford to hire — nor would our taxpayers want us to — personnel to do work for Greyhound, so, unfortunately, some riders have to wait outside for the bus.”

“It’s a little bit of a nightmare for some folks, but I suppose (the new Greyhound owners) wanted to cut costs where they could. It’s left us in circumstances where Greyhound riders end up waiting outside. It’s not a great situation when we just spent $11.8 million on this facility.”

Staff Photo: Alan MauldinAlanMauldin[email protected]
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