Greyhound Lines facts for kids
 |
|
|---|---|
.jpg)
A Prevost X3-45 operated by Greyhound in New York City, August 2009
|
|
| Parent | FlixBus |
| Founded | 1914 by Carl Wickman in Hibbing, Minnesota, United States |
| Headquarters | 350 North Saint Paul Street Dallas, Texas, United States |
| Service area | United States, Mexico |
| Service type | Intercity bus service |
| Routes | 123 routes (includes Greyhound Express routes) |
| Stations | 230 (company operated) |
| Fleet | 1,700 motorcoaches mostly Motor Coach Industries 102DL3, G4500, D4505, and Prevost Car X3-45 |
| Fuel type | Diesel |
| Chief executive | David Leach (President and CEO) |
Greyhound Lines, Inc. (often just called Greyhound) is a company that runs the biggest intercity bus service in North America. This means their buses travel between many cities. Greyhound also offers charter bus services and works with Amtrak Thruway for train connections.
Greyhound uses about 1,700 buses, mostly made by Motor Coach Industries and Prevost. They serve 230 stations and travel to 1,700 places. The company's first bus route started in Hibbing, Minnesota in 1914. The name Greyhound was adopted in 1929. Today, Greyhound is owned by Flix North America, Inc., which is part of FlixBus. Its main office is in Downtown Dallas.
Contents
History
Early Years (1914–1930)
.jpg)
In 1914, Eric Wickman, a 27-year-old immigrant from Sweden, lost his job at a mine. He became a car salesman in Hibbing, Minnesota. When he couldn't sell a seven-passenger Hupmobile car, he decided to use it to drive iron ore miners. He and his friends, Andy "Bus Andy" Anderson and C. A. A. "Arvid" Heed, drove miners two miles from Hibbing to Alice for 15 cents per ride. Wickman earned $2.25 on his first trip.
Wickman almost quit after the first winter because driving in Minnesota was very hard. But he kept going by having others drive more. In 1915, he added a 15-mile route to Nashwauk, Minnesota. In December 1915, Wickman joined his company with Ralph Bogan's. Bogan, who was 19, ran a similar service from Hibbing to Duluth, Minnesota. Together, they formed the Mesaba Transportation Company. By 1918, their company had 18 vehicles and made $40,000 a year.
In 1922, Wickman and Heed sold their shares to Bogan and Anderson. Wickman and Heed then moved to Duluth and bought White Bus Lines. In 1924, Wickman started Northland. This company bought Superior-White Company, whose founder, Orville S. Caesar, later became the president of Greyhound. In 1925, Northland bought eight more bus lines in Minnesota for $2.5 million. In 1928, Anderson and Bogan sold most of Mesaba Transportation Company's routes to Northland.
The company kept growing. By 1928, it made $6 million and offered trips across the United States. In 1929, it bought the Yelloway-Pioneer System, which had made the first bus trip across the country in 1928. It also bought The Pickwick Corporation.
In 1929, the company bought parts of Gray Line Worldwide and Colonial Motor Coach Company. These became Eastern Greyhound Lines. It also bought part of Northland Transportation Company and renamed it Northland Greyhound Lines.
Growth and the "Greyhound" Name (1930–1945)
_Front_View.jpg)
By 1930, over 100 bus lines had joined the main company, then called Motor Transit Corporation. The partners wanted a name that was easier to remember. They changed the name to The Greyhound Corporation. The story is that a driver named Ed Stone thought a passing bus looked like a greyhound dog.
Also in 1930, the company moved its main office from Duluth, Minnesota to Chicago, Illinois.
The company faced tough times during the Great Depression, a period when the economy was very bad. By 1931, Greyhound owed over $1 million. But as the 1930s went on and the economy got better, Greyhound started to do well again.
In 1934, bus lines like Greyhound carried about 400 million passengers. This was almost as many as the major railroads. The movie It Happened One Night (1934), which showed an heiress traveling by Greyhound bus, is said to have made bus travel more popular across the country.
In 1935, bus travel grew a lot, with 651,999,000 passengers. This was the first time buses carried more passengers than railroads. In 1935, Wickman reported record profits of $8 million. In 1936, Greyhound, already the biggest bus company, started getting 306 new buses.
In 1941, the company bought Greyhound Canada.
Between 1937 and 1945, Greyhound built many new stations and bought new buses. These buildings and buses had a modern, sleek design called Streamline Moderne. Famous examples include the Blytheville Greyhound Bus Station and the Columbia, South Carolina Greyhound Bus Station.
Greyhound worked with the Yellow Coach Manufacturing Company to create its streamlined "Super Coach" buses. They bought 1,256 of these buses between 1937 and 1939.
By the start of World War II, Greyhound had 4,750 stations and nearly 10,000 employees.
Expansion and Changes (1945–1983)
Wickman retired as president in 1946, and Orville S. Caesar took over. Wickman passed away in 1954.
.jpg)
Greyhound worked with designer Raymond Loewy and General Motors to create unique bus designs. One famous design was the "Silversides" bus, first made in 1940-1941. In 1954, Greyhound introduced its famous hump-backed buses, like the PD-4501 Scenicruiser.
After World War II, more people started traveling by car, especially with the new Interstate Highway System built from 1956. Air travel also became cheaper. These changes meant fewer people rode buses, and Greyhound's business slowed down.
In 1955, a court ruled that bus companies like Greyhound could not separate passengers by race. This meant everyone had to be treated equally. In 1960, the U.S. Supreme Court said it was wrong to arrest an African American person for being in a "whites only" area of a bus station. In May 1961, Civil Rights Movement activists organized "Freedom Rides." They rode buses together to show that segregation was still happening. On May 14, a group attacked a Greyhound bus near Anniston, Alabama, breaking windows and setting it on fire. The people inside were able to escape. Other Freedom Riders were attacked at the Greyhound Station in Montgomery, Alabama.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 made sure that hotels, restaurants, and other public places, not just buses, could not discriminate against people based on race.
Later in the 1960s, fewer people rode Greyhound buses. So, Greyhound used its profits to invest in other businesses. In 1970, the company bought Armour and Company, a meat-packing company that owned the Dial soap brand.
In 1971, Greyhound moved its headquarters to Phoenix, Arizona. The company also bought other businesses, like money order services and bus manufacturing companies.
In the late 1970s, Greyhound started hiring African American and female drivers for the first time.
In 1972, Greyhound started offering the Ameripass, which allowed unlimited travel for a set price. It was very popular for people traveling across the U.S. on a budget. The pass was later called the Discovery Pass but was stopped in 2012.
Challenges and Changes (1983–2001)
Strikes and Ownership Changes
In 1983, Greyhound had 3,800 buses and carried about 60% of all bus travelers in the U.S.
On November 2, 1983, Greyhound faced a big strike by its drivers. A new agreement was reached on December 19, 1983, and drivers returned to work.
In 1987, an investor group led by Fred Currey bought the bus line. Currey became the CEO and moved the headquarters to Dallas, Texas.
In June 1987, Greyhound Lines bought Trailways, Inc., which was its biggest competitor. This made Greyhound almost the only national bus service.
In early 1990, another strike by Greyhound drivers began. This strike was also very difficult. Greyhound had to stop many of its buses and cancel most of its routes. At the same time, new, cheaper airlines like Southwest Airlines were taking away long-distance bus passengers. Because of the strike and lower income, Greyhound had to file for bankruptcy in June 1990. The strike finally ended in May 1993.
Legal Issues and New Services
In August 1991, Greyhound came out of bankruptcy. It had fewer employees and buses than before.
In 1992, Greyhound changed its rules for other bus companies using its stations. This led to a lawsuit from the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division in 1995. The government said Greyhound's rules were unfair and hurt competition. In 1996, the government won, and Greyhound had to change its rules.
In September 1998, Greyhound promised to make its buses more accessible for passengers with disabilities, including adding wheelchair lifts to most buses.
In the late 1990s, Greyhound bought two more bus companies: Carolina Trailways in 1997 and Southeastern Trailways in 1998.
In October 1998, Laidlaw, a transportation company from Canada, announced it would buy Greyhound's U.S. operations for about $470 million. The deal was completed in March 1999.
In June 2001, Laidlaw faced big financial problems because of its investments, including Greyhound. It had to file for bankruptcy.
New Ownership and Modernization (2002–2021)
Laidlaw International, Inc. came out of bankruptcy in June 2003.
By 2003, Greyhound faced strong competition from "Chinatown bus lines" in the northeast U.S. These buses offered much cheaper tickets, taking away many of Greyhound's customers.
In 2004, Greyhound stopped serving less popular rural stops. It focused more on busy routes between big cities. In some rural areas, local companies took over the old stops, often with government help.
On February 7, 2007, a British transport company called FirstGroup bought Laidlaw International for $3.6 billion. This deal included Greyhound.
After buying Greyhound, FirstGroup worked to make the company better. They fixed up many stations, bought new buses, updated old ones, and trained customer service staff. Greyhound also started new ads to attract younger people.
In 2008, Greyhound combined its three smaller regional bus companies into Greyhound Lines.
On March 27, 2008, Greyhound launched a new service called BoltBus. These buses started running between Boston, New York City, and Washington, D.C.. BoltBus later expanded to the West Coast.
Starting in 2009, all new buses bought by Greyhound had three-point seat belts.
In 2010, to compete with other bus lines, Greyhound launched "Greyhound Express." These buses were newer and made fewer stops.
In 2014, Greyhound updated its logo and painted its buses in new navy blue and dark gray colors. Buses were also updated with Wi-Fi, power outlets, and leather seats with more legroom.
Before 2014, Greyhound sometimes sold more tickets than there were seats, which meant some passengers had to wait for the next bus. In 2014, Greyhound started using a new computer system to better manage ticket sales. This helped reduce overbooking, but Greyhound still doesn't always guarantee a seat for every ticket (except on Greyhound Express routes).
In 2014, Greyhound made a profit of $73 million. The company said its success came from changes in city populations and focusing on busier, more profitable routes.
From 2013 to 2015, Greyhound expanded its Greyhound Connect service. These routes take passengers from smaller towns to bigger cities.
In July 2015, the company announced it would open stations in Monterrey and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. It started service between these cities and Texas, becoming the first American bus company to run a route completely within Mexico.
Greyhound's Lucky Streak brand offers routes to cities with casinos. These tickets are for round-trips, and passengers can return whenever they want. Casinos often give special bonuses to Lucky Streak passengers.
In February 2020, Greyhound announced it would no longer allow searches on its buses or in ticketed areas of its stations without a warrant. This was to protect passenger privacy.
In December 2020, the company sold its bus stations in Los Angeles, Denver, Colorado, and Ottawa, Canada, for a total of $137 million.
In May 2021, Greyhound Canada stopped all its bus routes in Canada. Greyhound Lines still runs four routes that cross the border from the U.S. to Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.
In July 2021, BoltBus stopped running, and Greyhound took over all its routes.
In September 2021, the company agreed to pay $2.2 million to settle a lawsuit. The lawsuit was about allowing U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents to search its buses in Washington State without warrants.
New Ownership (2021–present)
On October 21, 2021, Munich-based FlixBus bought Greyhound for $78 million.
In 2022, FirstGroup sold almost all its remaining Greyhound properties to another company. This company started closing these properties in 2023. This meant Greyhound passengers sometimes had to wait outside without shelter or other services at stations.
See also
In Spanish: Greyhound Lines para niños
- List of Greyhound Bus stations
- Former operating subsidiaries
- Atlantic Greyhound Lines
- Capitol Greyhound Lines
- Dixie Greyhound Lines
- Florida Greyhound Lines
- Great Lakes Greyhound Lines
- Greyhound Canada
- Southeastern Greyhound Lines
- Teche Greyhound Lines
- Museums and Preserved Stations
- Freedom Rides Museum (Montgomery, Alabama)
- Greyhound Bus Museum (Hibbing, Minnesota)
- Old Greyhound Bus Station (Jackson, Mississippi) (private office)
- Old Greyhound Terminal (Washington, D.C.) (incorporated into building built on site)
