Philly officials no longer want to talk about an Old City Greyhound station, at least for now.
City officials "reevaluated our engagement process" and canceled scheduled community meetings until it has more information on the proposed bus station.
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration has postponed two scheduled meetings with community groups about a potential Old City Greyhound station, acknowledging in a statement that it had little to say at this point.
“Once we can present more information around the bus station reactivation — including having a better sense of its overall feasibility — we will be engaging all stakeholders, community members, and the press,” the administration said in an unsigned statement sent to one of the community organizations.
Representatives from the city planning and transportation departments had been scheduled to meet with the board of the Old City District on Wednesday to discuss an intercity bus terminal proposed on the first floor of the Auto Park garage on South Second Street.
A meeting was also set with the Society Hill Civic Association for July 31.
“The city reevaluated our engagement process,” the statement said, adding that meetings would be rescheduled “with groups who have been publicly supportive, publicly against, and are seeking more information.” The new meetings could happen later in the summer, the city said.
Transit Forward Philadelphia’s meeting with the city, on the calendar for Thursday since June, was canceled early in the morning, said coalition manager Connor Descheemaker. The group has expressed qualified support for the Old City proposal compared with other temporary locations.
A bus terminal in Old City “is the best option yet presented, and we are eager for traffic studies or other information on how the proposed site would function,” Descheemaker said.
The change in communications came two days after city officials walked way from a scheduled meeting with about 100 parents and community members at the Amigos Spanish Immersion Preschool because a scrum of media members was there to cover it.
A city spokesperson said that the event was not a “public meeting” and that reporters were not welcome. Councilmember Mark Squilla, who was there, ran a session at which people aired concerns about a bus terminal in the congested area. Auto Park is less than 50 feet from the Amigos preschool.
In fact, the city and the National Park Service, which would have to approve the use, have said that there is no actual proposal to consider as yet. A promised feasibility study has not been finished.
But word leaked in April that the city was considering moving the bus terminal to the Old City garage, which has bus loading bays and space for an indoor waiting area, from its current curbside location along Spring Garden Street, which lacks shelter and other amenities.
Business owners and residents in Old City and adjacent neighborhoods said they were blindsided by the possibility, and mistrust built among some with little concrete information from the city and an abundance of rumors.
Philadelphia was thrust into the situation when Greyhound abandoned its longtime Filbert Street station last June, another casualty of the implosion of the industry’s business model. Greyhound, Flixbus, Peter Pan and Megabus then needed a new base. After several months at curbside in the 600 block of Market Street, intercity bus operations moved to Spring Garden Street.