PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The unpopular curbside bus stop at Sixth and Market streets in Center City, which has been an inconvenience for passengers and has backed up traffic for months, will be relocated.
The stop will move to Spring Garden Street and Columbus Boulevard on Nov. 16, Philadelphia officials announced on Wednesday. Crews will install signs at Sixth and Market to let Greyhound, Megabus, FlixBus and Peter Pan passengers know about the relocation.
The move had to happen sooner rather than later because the situation had become “untenable,” according to Mike Carroll, deputy managing director of the Office of Transportation, Infrastructure and Sustainability.
“The Kenney administration is concerned in particular about the nearby concentration of important federal entities, their employees, and persons engaged in critical activities,” Carroll said in a statement. “For that reason, the city made a firm commitment to relocate the intercity bus operations off of the 600 block of Market Street this fall. Efforts are underway to find an off-street location but require more time, and an interim change in location is needed urgently.”
City of Philadelphia's relocation plan
The extra volume of buses has led to congestion in the area — so much so that SEPTA buses started to skip the Sixth and Market stop starting in August.
The pick-up and drop-off spot moved from Chinatown to Market Street in late June, as the old Greyhound terminal was on the site of the proposed 76ers arena. The new terminal has limited capacity for customers inside and lacks space for peak bus traffic outside.
Passengers have been left to deal with the elements.
“You have no place to go to the bathroom,” said Regina, who was waiting for a Greyhound bus to New York City Thursday morning. “If it’s raining, you get soaking wet. It’s cold. You see the people standing up there waiting on the bus and it may not even come.”
Two other passengers said their bus to Massachusetts was canceled late Wednesday night. They waited for five hours outside for the next bus to arrive. The storefront location on Market Street, where bus tickets are sold, closed overnight, so they could not seek shelter either.
Officials say there is more space at Spring Garden Street and Columbus Boulevard for buses, and the city will “explore customer service space, including ticketing,” for passengers.
“We don’t know what [the new stop] is gonna be like. Might be just like up here,” Regina said skeptically. “No place to stay.”
The new location will be a temporary fix, city officials said, through the first quarter of 2024.