Greyhound scampers out of Santa Monica service
DOWNTOWN — After decades of faithful service, Greyhound bus lines will no longer be stopping in Santa Monica.
For the last 30 years Greyhound bus service has been available in Santa Monica — most recently, at a Big Blue Bus stop on Fifth Street and Broadway. But because of a broad company restructuring plan, Greyhound will no longer drop off or pick up riders in Santa Monica, said Kim Plaskett, a company spokesperson. From now on, Santa Monicans looking to use Greyhound services can go to the nearest location at 1715 N. Cahuenga Blvd., in Hollywood, Plaskett said.
“We are changing our servicing options one region at a time,” — tomer demand and were not profitable,” Plaskett said. Plaskett said
“We eliminated some locations and routes that did not have enough of a cus- Plaskett said the company’s servicing overhaul started in August of 2004 in its Northwest region, between Seattle and Chicago. Changes to servicing in the company’s Southwest region, from the California coast to the Mississippi River, began this year. Overall, 150 Greyhound locations are expected to be eliminated, including 64 in California.
Greyhound operated nearly 8 billion passenger miles last year, and carried nearly 22 million people. According to its filings with the Securities Exchange Commission, revenue for Greyhound in 2003 was $975.5 million. Joe Stitcher, assistant director of Santa Monica’s transit services department, said there has been no noticeable impact this past month on the lack of Greyhound’s bus service to Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus transit system.
Mark Panitz, a west side resident and public transportation user, said he is sorry to see Greyhound go.
“I used it all the time to get to LAX when I was a kid,” Panitz said. “Greyhound is dumb to assume they are going to be losing people in Santa Monica. I see tourists there all the time.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 25, 2005. Read the original PDF.