Everything about Greyhound Lines totally explained
Greyhound Lines is an inter-city
common carrier of passengers by
bus serving over 3,700 destinations in the United States. It was founded in
Hibbing, Minnesota, USA, in 1914 and incorporated as "The Greyhound Corporation" in 1926. Today, it's headquartered in
Dallas, Texas (United States operations) and
Calgary, Alberta (
Canadian operations), and is a subsidiary of the
British bus operator
FirstGroup plc.
History
Carl Wickman was born in
Sweden in 1887. He moved to the United States, and in 1914 began a bus service in
Minnesota where he transported iron ore miners from
Hibbing to
Alice at 15 cents a ride in a 1914 Hupmobile.
In 1915 Wickman joined forces with Ralph Bogan, who was running a similar service from Hibbing to
Duluth. The name of the new organization was the Mesaba Transportation Company, and it made $8,000 in profit in its first year.
By the end of the
First World War Wickman owned 18 buses, and was making an annual profit of $40,000. In 1922 Wickman joined forces with Orville Caesar, the owner of the Superior White Bus Lines. Four years later, Wickman reached an agreement with two West Coast operations, the Pickwick Lines and the Pioneer Yelloway System.
In 1926 Wickman's bus operations became known as the Greyhound Lines. Wickman, who was president of the company, continued to expand it, and by 1927 his buses were making transcontinental trips from California to New York.
Wickman's business suffered during the
Great Depression, and by 1931 was over $1 million in debt. However, with the improvement in the economy, the Greyhound Corporation began to prosper again. In 1935 Wickman was able to announce record profits of $8 million. By the outbreak of the
Second World War the company had 4,750 stations and nearly 10,000 employees.
Wickman retired as president of Greyhound Corporation in 1946, and was replaced by his long-time partner, Orville Caesar. Carl Wickman died at the age of sixty-seven in 1954.
After World War II, and the building of the
Interstate Highway System beginning in 1956, automobile ownership and travel became a preferred mode of travel in the United States. Along with a similar downward trend in public transportation in general, ridership on Greyhound and
Trailways bus routes began a long decline.
But for many young people from Europe, Greyhound was the way they got to know America because of a special unlimited mileage offer - "99 days for $99" or, in other words a dollar a day, anytime, anyplace, anywhere..
Greyhound leadership saw the trend, and used the profitable bus operations to invest in other industries. By the 1970s, Greyhound had moved its headquarters to
Phoenix, Arizona, and was a large and diversified company, with holdings in everything from the
Armour meat-packing company (which in turn owned the popular
Dial deodorant soap brand), acquired in 1970; Traveller's Express money orders,
MCI bus manufacturing company, and even airliner leasing.
Greyhound established the
Premier Cruise Line in 1983. It would last until 2000, and at one time billed itself as the "Official Cruise Line of
Walt Disney World".
In late 1984, Greyhound had bus driver's strike, typified as bitter, with one fatality in
Zanesville, Ohio. By the time contract negotiations were due again, three years later, the bus line had been spun-off from the parent company to new owners. This resulted in Greyhound Lines becoming solely a bus transportation company headed by Fred Currey, a former executive with the largest member of the National Trailways Bus System. Greyhound's corporate headquarters then relocated to
Dallas, Texas. The old parent changed its name to the
Dial Corporation.
Greyhound Lines is spun-off from parent
Under new ownership in 1987, led by Currey, Greyhound Lines acquired Trailways, Inc. in June of that year (formerly Continental Trailways), the largest member of the rival
National Trailways Bus System, effectively consolidating National Bus Service. Greyhound was required by the ICC in their action approving the merger, to maintain coordinated schedules with other scheduled service operators in the U.S.
Three years later there was another costly strike. This, combined with the loss of diversification and strength of the former parent company, and labor-law violations, forced the company to file for bankruptcy, from which it emerged in the early
1990s. At the same time, Greyhound had to contend with the rise of low-cost
airlines like
Southwest Airlines, which reduced further the market for long-distance inter-city bus transportation.
In 1997, Greyhound Lines acquired Carolina Trailways, one of the largest members of the
National Trailways Bus System. Though
as of 2008 Carolina Trailways still operates as a brand name, most of the other independent members of the Trailways System began interlining cooperatively with Greyhound. Some discontinued regular route services, while others diversified into charters and tours or went out of business.
Laidlaw ownership
In
1999,
Burlington, Ontario-based transportation conglomerate
Laidlaw Inc. acquired Greyhound Lines, Inc. (U.S. operations)including Carolina Trailways and other Greyhound affiliates. It had previously acquired
Greyhound Canada .
After incurring heavy losses through its investments in Greyhound Lines and other parts of its diversified business, Laidlaw Inc. filed for protection under both U.S. and Canadian Bankruptcy laws in June 2001 .
Naperville, Illinois-based Laidlaw International, Inc. listed its common shares on the New York Stock Exchange (Ticker: LI), on
February 10, 2003, and emerged from re-organization on
June 23,
2003, as the successor to Laidlaw Inc.
On
February 7,
2007,
FirstGroup plc of
Scotland, agreed to purchase Laidlaw International for US$3.6 billion (£1.9 billion). The deal closed on
September 30 2007. The Greyhound name was retained by FirstGroup.
Greyhound Lines in the 21st century
During 2004, Greyhound Lines announced major schedule reductions in its route system, particularly in the northwest and north-central United States, and elimination of some long-distance routes. Similar changes were taking place during 2005 in other parts of the country. These changes have eliminated some routes, most notably the
Interstate 90 route between Chicago and Seattle, and cut many stops in rural areas. Service to rural towns has been assumed by local transit agencies or independent bus companies, requiring government subsidy in some cases.
Recently, Greyhound has come under criticism for its bus assignment practices. Although bus tickets have times and dates printed on them, seating isn't guaranteed, and is first-come, first-served. Greyhound will add additional "sections" (buses) in periods of high demand, but the threshold required to trigger an additional section varies. Passengers may have to wait for the next bus departure time.
In response to the lack of guaranteed seating, in late 2007 Greyhound began a program where riders could reserve a seat for an additional $5. However, the $5 fee would have to be paid at the terminal, even if the ticket was bought online, and only a limited number of seats could be reserved.
Increasingly, concern has been given to bus security. As a result of the
September 11, 2001 attacks, train and airplane security have been substantially increased, but the same increase hasn't been provided to bus security.
Drug smuggling is increasingly common on buses, as baggage isn't inspected, nor is identification checked. Greyhound says that metal detector wands have been deployed on buses, but they don't appear to be routinely used. Although the majority of bus terminals continue to operate from the downtowns of major cities, some terminals can be found in depressed neighborhoods, while some competitors have terminals in more attractive areas. Competition from discount airlines like
Southwest Airlines, increased reliability of inexpensive automobiles for long trips, and other bus lines attracting an Internet-savvy rider market such as
Chinatown bus lines, represented by
Gotobus, and
Megabus have led to Greyhound's revenue decline.
During the past few years, Greyhound Lines has been expanding its charter and sightseeing services, and is the largest operator of
Gray Line Sightseeing Tours franchises in major markets. Though it no longer owns the firm, Greyhound's fleet is still composed primarily of buses built by
Motor Coach Industries (MCI).
Greyhound also has been taking steps to improve its image, spending $60 million to refurbish many terminals, add new buses, and staff terminals with associates who are able to help those who have questions about the bus system. Greyhound is initiating an advertising campaign aimed at attracting 18-24 year olds and Hispanics. As a result, after the FirstGroup acquisition, Greyhound began advertising as "The New Greyhound".
BoltBus
In
March 2008, Greyhound announced a new service titled
BoltBus
into the
Boston-
NYC-
DC megalopolis, modeled on the
Megabus system, offering fares as low as $1
USD, with lowest fares depending on how far in advance a trip is booked and demand for the trip, with fares increasing for trips booked closer to departure. Ironically, shortly after the announcement was made,
Coach USA announced that it would expand Megabus into the Northeast at the end of May 2008. The service began on
March 272008, with a
New York City-
Washington, D.C. route, with service to
Boston and
Philadelphia following soon after.
Notable accidents/incidents
On
January 2,
2008, a Greyhound bus traveling from
Richmond to
Raleigh hit a tractor trailer on
U.S. Route 1 in
Henderson, NC. The tractor trailer was slowing down to make a turn. The Greyhound bus didn't slow down and rear ended the tractor trailer. At least 50 people were injured.
(External Link)
On
August 28,
2006, at approximately 6:45 p.m. local time, a Greyhound bus traveling from
New York City to
Montreal overturned on the
Adirondack Northway in
Westport, New York after suffering a blown tire, killing five and injuring 48.
(External Link)
On
November 27,
2005, at approximately 7:10 a.m. local time, a Greyhound bus traveling from
Los Angeles to
San Francisco crashed near Santa Maria, killing two people, one of whom was a 7-month-pregnant woman. While the cause remains unknown, at the time of the crash, driver fatigue was suspected. Later, an epileptic seizure was cited as a possible cause.
On
October 3,
2001, at approximately 4:15 a.m. local time, Greyhound passenger
Damir Igric attacked the driver of his bus, slitting his throat. The bus careened off the highway and crashed near
Manchester, Tennessee, killing Igric and five other passengers and injuring 32 others. As the incident occurred weeks after the
September 11 terrorist attacks, Greyhound shut down its entire system as soon as the company learned of the incident for fear that it may have been part of a larger co-ordinated attack. After investigation by the company and the
FBI, it was confirmed that Igric had acted alone, and service resumed later that afternoon. After the incident, Greyhound bus stations increased security, though not nearly to the same level as airports or train stations.
The deadliest accident to befall Greyhound occurred on
May 9,
1980, when a freight ship collided with the
Sunshine Skyway Bridge across
Tampa Bay in
Florida. A Greyhound bus was among several vehicles falling into the bay. A total of 35 people, including all 26 on the bus, died.
A major accident happened at
Bean Station, Tennessee in 1972, when a Greyhound Scenicruiser hit a
tractor trailer head on. Fifteen people on the bus were killed, including the driver.
These incidents, however, should be viewed in light of the volume of customers that Greyhound serves: the bus line serves 19 million passengers per year. Thus, the chance of a fatality in a greyhound bus, roughly one in several million, is many orders of magnitudes lower than by private transportation.
Security
Greyhound announced in a press conference in 2007 that a pilot program to test various security measures would be implemented at select stations and on select coaches starting later in the year. Some of the stations included in this project, are in
Boston,
Cleveland,
Dallas, and
St. Louis. Measures may include:
- Requiring photo ID to be displayed by all adult passengers prior to boarding. Minors, in accordance with Greyhound's policy, must either have to be accompanied by a parent or a legal guardian, or to obtain permission to travel from one (External Link), and when unaccompanied, have restrictions on traveling.
- In the United States, passengers who are not citizens will be screened to determine the legality of their presence within the country's borders. Also, some may be checked for outstanding felony warrants, and boarding may be denied to those who fit into one of these categories .
- Passengers may have their luggage visually searched. Devices similar to those used at airports may be used to check passengers and luggage prior to boarding buses for various banned items, including firearms, explosives, or other hazardous materials.
- On most newer coaches (excluding the MC-12s), operators are shielded from passengers while the coach is in motion. A gate prevents passengers from entering the driver's area. Though the gate doesn't prevent an emergency exit, it'll continue to shield the driver if opened by a passenger while the coach is in motion.
- Installing video surveillance on coaches and at stations.
- Installing GPS tracking devices on select coaches. In addition to providing emergency location of the vehicle, this may also alert supervisors of unsafe driving behavior on part of the operator, including speeding.
- Operators, at their own discretion, now reserve the right to prohibit or limit the use of cell phones while the coach is in motion.
- Greyhound already prohibits taking photographs, videotaping, or audiotaping while on board its own coaches or within its owned stations (External Link).
References in Popular Culture
Song lyrics
Greyhound has been mentioned in the lyrics of many songs, including:
The song, "My Rollercoaster" by Kimya Dawson contains the lyrics, "And before I'd a mini van I rode the Greyhound bus". Dawson also recorded the song "Greyhound Bus" with The Moldy Peaches.
Elton John sings, "And the Greyhound is waiting and the radio's playing some blues for baby and me", in the song "Blues for My Baby and Me" on the album Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player.
The Drifters classic On Broadway, also a hit by several other artists, contains the line I'll catch a Greyhound bus for home they all say.
In Simon and Garfunkel's famous song 'America', the protagonist sings of "boarding a Greyhound in Pittsburgh".
In Billy Joel's song 'New York State of Mind', he mentions that he's taking a Greyhound 'on the Hudson River line'.
The song "Ramblin' Man" by The Allman Brothers Band contains the lines "I was born in the backseat of a Greyhound bus; Rollin’ down Highway 41."
The song "One in a Million" by Guns N' Roses contains the lines "So I thumbed it, Down to sixth and L.A. Maybe your Greyhound, Could be my way".
Brooklyn rock band Bent Outta Shape wrote a song entitled "Greyhound Bus" on their 2005 album "Stray Dog Town."
The song "See America Right" by The Mountain Goats about an ex convict traveling by Greyhound.
"I Wish", by Skee Lo, features the line, "See I go simple, I go easy, I go Greyhound".
The song "Drunk on the Moon" by Tom Waits sings of a "Cleveland-bound Greyhound as it cuts through the night".
Roy Clark wrote "Thank God and Greyhound" with the line "Thank God and Greyhound you're gone."
The Killing of Georgie (Part I and II), by Rod Stewart, contains the lyric, "Leavin' home on a Greyhound bus, cast out by the ones he loves."
Country singer Sara Evans released the single Backseat of a Greyhound Bus from her album Restless.
The Jason Downs single "White Boy With a Feather" begins with the line "Got off the Greyhound at the Port in New York City..."
The song Soul Meets Body by Death Cab for Cutie contains the lyrics "Because in my head there's a Greyhound station, where I send my thoughts to far off destinations..."
The song "One More Red Nightmare" by British progressive rock band King Crimson is about a man who has a dream of a plane crash. He wakes up and finds that he's "really safe and sound, asleep on the Greyhound..."
The Creedence Clearwater Revival song "Lodi" from the Green River album contains the lyrics, "Rode in on the Greyhound/I'll be walkin' out if I go". The lyrics refer to the singer being stuck in Lodi after loosing all of his money.
In Chuck Berry's song "Promised Land," frequently covered by the Grateful Dead, he make several references, including "Straddled that Greyhound, rode him past Raleigh, On across Caroline" and "And that 'hound broke down and left us all stranded In downtown Birmingham."
Other
East High School (Duluth, MN) paid homage to its local heritage by adopting the Greyhound as its school mascot. The mascot's likeness is the same as the company logo.
Greyhound also played a part as the background transportation 'vehicle' (In this case bus number 6072, a 2000 MCI 45-foot coach) for Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie during the third season of The Simple Life in 2005.
Funkmaster Flex has a Greyhound bus that's called the pimpmobile with the Funkmaster Flex logo. He often is seen in advertisements for Greyhound promotions.
Greyhound's ultra-famous slogan is "Go Greyhound, and leave the driving to us!" In the past, the slogan has had a tune attached to it, and has been sung as a radio and television commercial jingle.
Stand-up Comedian James Inman published 'Greyhound Diary' in 2005 about his journeys across the United States. Inman often uses a slide-show in his act, which was revisited by Doug Levitt and broadcast on CNN in 2006 in a segment entitled 'Greyhound Diaries', which was also the name of Levitt's Album of modern protest songs.
Famed motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel successfully jumped 14 Greyhound buses in Kings Island, Ohio on October 25, 1975.
OutKast refers to the bus line in the prologue to their music video Hey Ya!, with Big Boi warning "Greyhound don't float on water." The video features a music group trying to make it big in London, the line ostensibly meaning that'll have to find a cheaper way to get back to the U.S. if they don't succeed.
The poem "Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie" by Bob Dylan contains a reference to Greyhound. "You need a Greyhound bus that don't bar no race/That won't laugh at yer looks/Your voice or your face/And by any number of bets in the book/Will be rollin' long after the bubblegum craze"(External Link)
Fleet
Motor Coach Industries 102D(W)3
Motor Coach Industries 102DL(W)3
Motor Coach Industries MC-12
Motor Coach Industries D4500
Motor Coach Industries G4500
Prevost Car X3-45
Van Hool C2045 (owned by Michigan, used in Michigan only)
Nicknames of Past Coaches
General Motors PD-4501 Scenicruiser
Motor Coach Industries MC 6-Supercruiser
Motor Coach Industries MC 7-Scenicruiser Super 7
Motor Coach Industries MC 8-Americruiser
Motor Coach Industries MC 9-Americruiser II (aka Crusader II)
Later models (MC 96A3, AC 102A3, MC-12) Bore only
the Americruiser name.
Silver Stripe Americruiser
A special award given to veteran drivers with excellent records.
These coaches are noted for the driver's name on the passenger door with the words "Silver Stripe Americruiser" underneath. Also, a silver stripe was present in the paint scheme alongside the ascending blue paint up to the roof. Greyhound quit doing this, which (among other things) has led to slowly declining morale among drivers.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Greyhound Lines'.
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