Philadelphia Greyhound Terminal

The Philadelphia Greyhound Terminal was the primary intercity bus station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The station's function relocated to 618 Market Street between Sixth and Seventh Streets in Center City Philadelphia. Prior to relocating to its current Market Street location on June 27, 2023, the terminal was located at 1001 Filbert Street in Center City Philadelphia.

In 2013 the terminal was the third-busiest Greyhound bus station in the U.S.

The station contained seating areas, a full service ticket counters, a snack bar, food and beverage vending machines, televisions, video games, pay telephones, and restrooms.

History

The site of the Philadelphia Greyhound Terminal was originally the location of the Harrison Stores building, which burned down in 1984 while under renovation. In 1985, the building was demolished and replaced with the bus station. Prior to this, the Greyhound bus station was at the current site of the BNY Mellon Center at 1735 Market Street.

On August 2, 2022, it was announced that the Philadelphia 76ers planned to buy the site of the Philadelphia Greyhound Terminal in order to construct the 76 Place at Market East arena that is planned to open in 2031. As a result, the Greyhound terminal would have to relocate, with possible locations including the former Philadelphia Police Department headquarters at 750 Race Street and the area of 30th Street Station.

On June 27, 2023, Greyhound moved their bus terminal from 10th and Filbert streets to a storefront along Market Street between 6th and 7th streets. The move was made as part of Greyhound shifting from a model with terminal bus stops to curbside bus stops. The bus terminal along Market Street, which serves Greyhound, Peter Pan, and Flixbus, consists of a building with ticket machines and an office staffed by agents, with the buses stopping along the curb. The terminal does not have restrooms or a shelter to protect riders waiting for buses from the elements. The relocation of the bus terminal has drawn criticism from riders.

Former services

National provider

• Greyhound Lines, the primary intercity bus carrier in the United States, Greyhound provided direct, one seat ride service between the bus terminal and a number of cities and towns both within and outside of Pennsylvania. Some of those cities and large towns include:
  • In Pennsylvania, Allentown, Doylestown, Easton, Harrisburg, Norristown, Pittsburgh, Scranton, Stroudsburg
  • Outside of Pennsylvania, Albuquerque, Atlantic City, Baltimore, Boston, Columbus, Dayton, Denver, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Newark, New York, Norfolk, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Richmond, St. Louis, Washington, Wilmington

Greyhound also provided connecting service to other in-state and out-of-state destinations via transfers.

Interregional providers

Various interregional bus companies also provided direct service to and from the Philadelphia bus terminal. The companies and some of the key locations they served included:

• Fullington Trailways - Allentown, Bloomsburg, Clearfield, Danville, DuBois, Hazleton, Harrisburg, Jim Thorpe, King of Prussia, Lewisburg, Lewistown, Lehighton, Lock Haven, Philipsburg, Quakertown, State College, Williamsport
• Martz Trailways - Allentown, Quakertown, Scranton, White Haven, Wilkes-Barre
• Peter Pan Bus Lines - Baltimore, New York City, Washington, D.C. (pooled service with Greyhound ended 27 September 2017)

Like Greyhound, the Trailways providers' services connect with other bus routes in the Greyhound/Trailways system to allow trips to other regional and national destinations.

Connections

The Philadelphia Greyhound Terminal offered connections to SEPTA Regional Rail at Jefferson Station and the Market–Frankford Line at 11th Street station. Several SEPTA bus routes (17, 23, 33, 38, 44, 47m, 48, and 61) stop one block away from the terminal on Market Street. In addition. several NJ Transit bus routes (400, 401, 402, 404, 406, 410, 412, 414, 417, 551, and 555) stop in Center City Philadelphia as close as one block from the Greyhound Bus Terminal on Market Street. NJ Transit formerly provided regional bus service to the Philadelphia Greyhound Terminal via routes 313, 315, 316, 317, 408, 409, and 551. NJ Transit service to Philadelphia Greyhound Terminal ended on February 28, 2022 due to the reconfiguration of the bus station. The 551 bus was changed to start at 10th and Market streets while the remaining buses were changed to start at the Walter Rand Transportation Center in Camden, New Jersey, with free transfers to buses operating into Philadelphia.

References