Greyhound's station away from downtown can be difficult to get to

Monday, November 23, 2009

From an article by George Hesselberg in the Wisconsin State Journal:

Now that the Badger Bus Depot at South Bedford Street and West Washington Avenue has been levelled, the trek to catch a Greyhound bus may be the most trying part of the journey.

At Greyhound's newest and only Madison stop, 2023 S. Stoughton Road, station agent Brian Mastin said last week the bus company and its 20,000 annual passengers will return to Downtown "eventually."

The new station, where the bus company formerly managed its package pickup service, is a small storefront in a strip mall with a tiny sign out front. Inside, there is a spacious and clean, if Spartan, waiting area, recently outfitted with a couple of comfy used sofas.

Getting there, however, can require an investment in time or money or imposition on a friend for a ride.

A trip from UW Hospital, for example, via Metro Transit to the Greyhound station would cost only $2 but would take an hour, include at least one transfer and leave a passenger a half-mile walk. Estimates of the cost of a taxi ride from the hospital to the station range from $16.50 to $30.

Mastin said there are clear "mixed feelings" from passengers about the station placement.

"It's close to the freeway, and people like that," he said.

It's far from Downtown, and people don't like that.

"And for people who use public transportation and travel on the weekends, it is difficult to get here," he said.