Thomas Mitchell
Audio By Carbonatix
According to RTD, an old dog can learn new tricks.
Greyhound’s contract for space at Union Station’s bus concourse was supposed to expire when a five-year contract ended August 31, 2025. We know this because RTD said as much as last year, telling news outlets that it had informed Greyhound in September 2024 that the nationwide bus service was getting the boot from the underground bus concourse after “multiple” instances of abandoned vehicles and riders.
According to RTD at the time, the underground concourse, which was shared between Greyhound and RTD, had become increasingly clogged and unsafe. In a statement to CBS News, RTD claimed that “on multiple occasions, Greyhound has abandoned buses and its customers in the bus concourse overnight. Greyhound’s operations also necessitate long waits for transferring passengers, which causes crowding and loitering around Greyhound gates in the concourse.”
RTD went on to say that issues caused by hosting Greyhound “negatively contributed to RTD’s operations and made it more difficult for Transit Police and contracted security personnel to effectively patrol and secure the facility.”
Greyhound’s parent company, Flix North America, said RTD’s timeline was “not enough” notice to find a new location, however, and that relocating in a major city like Denver often requires “several years to consult with local communities, obtain necessary planning and zoning approvals, secure conditional or special use permits, conduct traffic studies, environmental reviews, and complete construction-related activities.”
The Union Station underground bus concourse is shared by RTD, Greyhound and other bus services, like Bustang.
Thomas Mitchell
As August 31 of this year came and went, Greyhound was still operating out of Union Station. According to RTD, that’s because the bus service’s contract has actually been extended, not terminated. The extension, good for eighteen months, was granted after Greyhound addressed RTD’s previous concerns, RTD chief communications officer Stuart Summers says. The bus company is still searching for a new location for after the contract expires in February 2027, he adds.
“RTD recognizes and appreciates Greyhound’s good faith efforts to address and mitigate the agency’s previous concerns. The eighteen-month extension outlines several additional conditions, including requirements that Greyhound provide prompt and thorough communications to RTD, adhere to RTD’s Customer Code of Conduct, attend monthly meetings, and provide liquidated damages that may incur with certain activities,” Summer says in a statement.
Liquidated damages for Greyhound, or a pre-agreed sum of money for infractions, at Union Station include buses parked in the HOV lane, leaving unattended buses parked at gates, taking too long to resolve passenger conduct, and damage to concourse infrastructure or fixtures.
