\u201cWhile basic amenities (seating areas, toilets, and food and drink vending) are essential, they are not all that is required to create a successful terminal,\u201d the DAG steering committee wrote in a blog post<\/a> last week. \u201cA fresh coat of paint, new ceiling tiles, and a sign that says \u2018BUS\u2019 won\u2019t cut it when it comes to bringing the 1984 Greyhound terminal back to life.\u201d<\/p>\n The PPA, which plans to lease the building and operate the station on the city\u2019s behalf, has said it intends to spend more than $1 million to refurbish the facility, which has been a boarded-up, graffiti-scrawled shell since Greyhound abandoned it in June 2023.<\/p>\n The work will include new outdoor lighting and greenery and a Philly-themed mural, PPA executive director Rich Lazer said last month. The agency will also install an automated camera system to track vehicles that use its bus bays, so the carriers can be charged usage fees, he said.<\/p>\n However, Lazer said this week that PPA does \u201cnot envision major structural changes\u201d to the building, and a city planning official said it wouldn\u2019t make sense to make more substantial investments as part of the station reopening.\u00a0<\/p>\n That\u2019s in part because the city intends to create a new, permanent intercity bus terminal elsewhere within 10 years, and because bus companies will not agree to pay fees for more than the station\u2019s operating costs.<\/p>\n \u201cTo the extent that there\u2019s things that happen in the vicinity, PPA is really going to focus on the property,\u201d said John Mondlak, deputy chief of staff in the city\u2019s Department of Planning and Development. \u201cThey really shouldn\u2019t be spending the bus fee money outside of the property, because then that becomes a problem with our fee structure.\u201d<\/p>\n Wishing for a wall of windows<\/p>\n In addition to making basic repairs inside the station, DAG argues the PPA should do more to beautify the structure and \u201ccreate an environment that is hospitable to visitors and helps Philadelphians rethink their rightfully negative memories of the bus station on Filbert Street,\u201d DAG chair Eli Storch said.\u00a0<\/p>\n To really make the place attractive, the agency should cut windows into the 250-foot-long, solid brick wall on the Filbert Street side, to brighten the interior and \u201cprovide connection to the improved streetscape,\u201d the group wrote. Rather than repairing the existing, \u201ceasily damaged\u201d acoustic tile ceiling, PPA should consider removing it and \u201copening the full height of the limited space.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOur deserved reputation as a city of history and public art should be tapped in refurbishing the bus terminal, helping to signal clearly that you have arrived here in Philadelphia,\u201d the DAG members said. \u201cThe station could host rotating art and historic exhibits, highlighting events related to our nation\u2019s 250th anniversary and featuring the work of recent graduates of our art programs and prominent Philadelphia artists.\u201d<\/p>\n Outside, \u201crelatively low-cost interventions\u201d could include replanting empty tree pits, installing benches and other street furniture, and adding ample wayfinding or signage, to help people who have arrived by bus get to attractions and destinations, the group said. To prevent taxis and ridesharing cars from clogging up Filbert, the city should designate some parking spots as loading spaces.<\/p>\n The DAG committee bemoaned conditions on the block as a whole, saying it was \u201cforgotten\u201d and \u201ccurrently resembles a zombie movie set.\u201d The \u201cawful conditions\u201d outside the building contribute to negative opinions of the station, they said.<\/p>\n \u201cStepping out onto Filbert Street, as it exists, is no way to welcome visitors to Philadelphia,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n They called for \u201ccreativity\u201d in reimagining the \u201cfeatureless facing wall of the Fashion District \u2014 with the sad hole that is the door of the Jefferson SEPTA station. This upgraded streetscape should extend beyond the block in all directions, to connect with the energy generated nearby by the Reading Terminal Market and Chinatown \u2014 and to help to bring life to Market Street.\u201d<\/p>\n Suggestions appreciated but unlikely<\/p>\n The siting and design of a new intercity bus station has been a major focus for infrastructure-minded residents.\u00a0<\/p>\n Some of the DAG members calling for improvements on Filbert Street were part of a group that recently proposed turning the Roundhouse<\/a>, the architecturally distinctive former police headquarters on Race Street, into a multi-use development with a bus terminal, housing, and other features.<\/p>\n Mondlak, who is helping run the city\u2019s search for a permanent new station<\/a>, said he was pleased to see their new set of recommendations.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen anybody, like a DAG or anybody else, brings forward a whole bunch of ideas, I can\u2019t tell you how grateful we are as a government,\u201d he said. \u201cWe sit here and we think of things and they all sound great \u2026 but you don\u2019t know what you\u2019re missing. When folks take the time to do this, it\u2019s really, really helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNow, whether or not we could achieve all these things is a whole other question,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Lazer said he also welcomed the feedback. He said he\u2019s focused on short-term goals of securing and cleaning up the site, getting it running by next May, and making \u201cthe exterior and cityscape around the terminal as beautiful and appealing as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOur immediate priority is to transform the terminal into a visually appealing, clean, safe and welcoming transportation hub that enhances the surrounding neighborhoods and helps generate added local economic activity,\u201d he said in an email. After that, \u201cwe will focus on fine-tuning some interior and exterior design components.\u201d<\/p>\n Adding greenery and boosting trash cleanup outside the station are high priorities, given Mayor Cherelle Parker\u2019s agenda to make Philadelphia the \u201csafest, cleanest, greenest city\u201d in the country, Mondlak said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mike Carroll, who heads the Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems, has said the city will work to make sure the site doesn\u2019t attract nuisance activity, and will direct bus drivers to come and go via Market Street rather than driving through Chinatown\u2019s smaller streets.<\/p>\n However, the improvements are not likely to include pricier projects like windows or a higher ceiling, Mondlak said. Bus operators are willing to pay fees to fund facility operations, but they will push back against efforts to have them cover the cost of additional work, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re having lots of meetings with them now to work through what we think is a number that they can pay that still keeps the lights on and keeps it operating,\u201d he said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t have to be fancy, necessarily. It doesn\u2019t have to be the best one in the country. But if it\u2019s not nice and it\u2019s not clean and it\u2019s not desirable to be in, then none of us really want to be involved in that.\u201d<\/p>\n A \u201chuge bump\u201d in ridership is coming<\/p>\n A heated debate over how to handle intercity buses has smoldered since Greyhound canceled its Filbert Street lease 2\u00bd years ago as part of an industry-wide trend of liquidating real estate obligations to cut costs.\u00a0<\/p>\n Since then carriers like Megabus and FlixBus have been picking up passengers curbside, most recently from Spring Garden Street in Northern Liberties. That has led to a host of complaints<\/a> from neighbors, from riders who don\u2019t like the relatively remote location, and from bus companies that saw significant drops in ridership, Mondlak said.<\/p>\n The question has become more urgent now, because \u201ca huge bump\u201d in intercity ridership to Philly is expected during next year\u2019s FIFA World Cup games, which will draw a crowd of urbanites and international soccer fans who will want to travel by bus, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n After considering options for a quick, temporary fix, planners concluded that reopening the old station made the most sense.<\/p>\n The city has hired Guillermo Leiva, a former assistant commissioner at the New York City Department of Transportation, to be on site and help run the reopened Filbert Street station, along with PPA staff, Mondlak said. The Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems has also asked City Council to pass a bill<\/a> allowing the city, via the PPA, to charge bus companies set fees to pick up and drop off customers anywhere in the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe have not been charging them, at different times in the past. There were either permit fees or small agreements, but it really amounted to almost nothing,\u201d Mondlak said. Officials are pushing for the legislation to \u201cmake it clear that we can and will charge fees, and not just in this station, but also on the curb.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/cmhwg6hjj2r831tqf607sxtvh-20251112-180010235-ios.max_.jpg\")
A view of Filbert Street near the once-and-future intercity bus station. (Courtesy of DAG)<\/p>\n