Greyhound move reflects the trends of transportation

This editorial appears in the Feb. 17, 2012, Yakima Herald-Republic.

Downtown Yakima's Greyhound bus station now is closed, a development that has less to do with Yakima and more to do with changing travel patterns and how the company responds to them.

Dallas-based Greyhound has retrenched in the past decade. After carrying more than 25 million people nationwide in 2000, ridership dropped below 20 million in mid-decade before rebounding a bit. In response to competition from the private automobile, smaller bus lines and -- between some markets-- low-cost airlines, the company has emphasized connecting larger cities at the expense of smaller towns.

The Seattle-to-Pasco bus once stopped in Bellevue, Issaquah, North Bend, Snoqualmie Pass, Cle Elum, Ellensburg, Yakima, Wapato, Toppenish, Sunnyside, Grandview and Prosser. Now the only stops are Ellensburg, Yakima and Sunnyside. This speeds the trip but adds an inconvenience factor in to getting to the bus itself. Greyhound dropped service to the Lower Valley towns, along with its Yakima-to-California run through Goldendale, as part of a restructuring in 2004.

And locally, there are other options. The Bellair Airporter Shuttle offers smaller buses but more frequent service to Seattle. Fronteras del Norte heads north to Wenatchee and beyond, and south down U.S. Highway 97 to Oregon, California and Mexico.

With fewer passengers and less need for its own buildings, Greyhound vacated many longtime bus stations in favor of mini-marts near freeway interchanges, and that trend finally has caught up to Yakima. Greyhound now stops at the Arco ampm at 3922 Fruitvale Blvd.

Leaving the building at Yakima Avenue and Sixth Street and laying off the one employee will result in savings, but the extra distance to 40th Avenue from Interstate 82 probably will add a few minutes to the trip. The new bus stop -- it's no longer a station -- is also less centrally located and has less access to Yakima Transit than the downtown Yakima site for passengers making their way to and from home.

And now Yakima has a large, empty, prominent building on the main drag leading into downtown. The building does have a large open area, a restaurant space and a covered loading area that accommodates large vehicles. Here's hoping that somebody finds creative ideas to get things rolling again at what recently has become the old Greyhound building.

* Members of the Yakima Herald-Republic editorial board are Sharon J. Prill, Bob Crider, Frank Purdy and Karen Troianello.