Including a Commerical Bus Depot at Union Station

The redevelopment of Denver’s Union Station as a multi-modal transportation hub as part of the overall FasTracks effort is one of the most exciting development projects in Denver (and the United States as a whole). A primary benefit of this project is that it will create convenient linkages between different modes of transportation—light rail, commuter rail, Amtrak, the Ski Train, local and regional mass transit buses, commercial buses, private van services, taxis, the 16th Street Shuttle and Downtown Circulator, bicycle and pedestrian access and others. Each new transit service which interconnects at the junction increases the value of all the other transport modes, creating a positive “network effort” or externality. To maximize the social benefits of the transit system as a whole, as many modes as possible should be co-located at Union Station.




The master plan for Union Station includes the idea of locating Denver’s main commercial bus terminal, serving carriers like Greyhound, at the Union Station site ( http://www.denvergov.org/Portals/514/documents/structuring1.pdf). This terminal would likely be above grade (i.e. elevated above street level).

Greyhound’s current Denver bus terminal is a low rise building located at 1055 19th St., taking up the whole city block defined by 19th, 20th, Curtis and Arapahoe streets at a location ripe for redevelopment to a higher and better use. According to press accounts, Greyhound has been approached by the developer of Ritz-Carlton which is located across 19th street from the bus depot. (http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2006/06/12/story1.html?jst=s_cn_hl)

Based on some of the publicly available status updates on the Union Station project, it appears that Greyhound, the primary commercial bus carrier in Denver, and the public agencies involved in the Union Station project have not yet been able to come up with a plan to ensure that Greyhound moves from its current location to Union Station due to the high cost of constructing a new commercial bus terminal at Union Station.

According to the Denver Union Station Redevelopment Project Update – July 24, 2007, posted on the Friends of Union Station Web Site (http://www.friendsofunionstation.org/DUSUpdate072307.pdf ):

“On June 21, 2007, Cal Marsella on behalf of the EOC sent a letter to Greyhound
to determine their level of interest in participating on a financial basis at
DUS. On July 9, 2007, Greyhound returned the correspondence stating that
they would prefer a location on or near the site that is at-grade, and that the
cost of the facility at $40M to $50M would be too high for them to provide their
portion of a local match. They also suggested that the partner agencies
apply for additional federal funds (5309 FTA funds) for the intercity bus
portion of the project. RTD has already applied for a Federal 5308 grant
funds for the RTD regional bus facility. Greyhound stated that while they
are comfortable in their current facility, they would be happy to work with the
Partner Agencies to be a part of the DUS project.

At this point in time there is not an acceptable at-grade location on the 19.5 acre DUS site for a commercial bus facility. The commercial bus providers will not be able to provide sufficient funding to develop a private facility for their uses on site at or above grade. To the extent an adjacent site is found and developed by Greyhound, the project will work with them to connect it to the facility. The Partner Agencies will also continue to work with Greyhound and the other commercial bus providers to provide access at DUS….if they are interested.”

I do not know for sure if this information from the past summer represents the current status of the negotiations between Greyhound and regional public transit officials but I think it is very important for Greyhound and the transit authorities to work out a way for Greyhound to be located on site at Union Station. Even if Greyhound can not be moved to the Union Station location when the transit hub is first launched it must be part of the long term plan. Because Greyhound and the public at large (including the public transit agencies) will be better off if Greyhound is co-located with other carriers at the site, both parties should be prepared to make appropriate financial contributions to the costs of including a commercial bus depot at Union Station and other necessary compromises.

I strongly encourage both Greyhound and the public authorities to work together to find a “win-win” solution to fulfill the promise of making Union Station the true multi-modal transit hub in the Denver Metro Area by maximizing the number of transit modes operating at the station, providing additional passengers for Greyhound and advancing the public good.

Note, the photo of Union Station in this blog entry was taken from the Wikepedia entry for “Union Station (Denver)”