Day 1 at the new Greyhound bus station went smoothly, but winter is coming

Greyhounds docked at the curb on Spring Garden Street on Thursday morning as confused passengers milled around on the sidewalk trying to find the right bus.

They had questions. The driver of the scheduled 8:15 a.m. Greyhound to New York patiently answered as many as he could, giving directions and apologizing.

“I’m sorry about the mayhem,” the man said to a knot of people waiting at Spring Garden and North Front Streets.

But on the first day for Philadelphia’s second temporary intercity bus station, the scene in the several blocks around Spring Garden Street and North Columbus Boulevard evoked controlled chaos, perhaps reflecting lessons learned from the mess at the previous curbside station, on the 600 block of Market Street.

» READ MORE: Greyhound moved its pickup and drop-off location again. Here’s where you’ll find it and how to get there.

Fred Koehler of Frankfurt, Germany, found out at the Independence Visitors Center on Wednesday that the bus stop had moved and also got a text from Greyhound advising him of the change. He was headed for New York and then home after two weeks touring the United States by bus, beginning in Cleveland.

“Here there is nothing at all,” said Koehler, a journalist at the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung national daily newspaper. Last week he took Greyhound from Cleveland to Pittsburgh and then transferred to a Philadelphia-bound bus. He said he had been surprised to be dropped off on Market Street, where passengers waited on narrow sidewalks with no restrooms, food or shelter from the elements.

“In the Pittsburgh station, there were places to sit, a restaurant where you could buy coffee,” Koehler said. “I thought that a big city like this would have something like that.” He walked briskly from his hotel on Ninth Street to the new bus station, pulling his roller bag and marveling that so few people were on the sidewalks and most were in cars.

The Greyhound driver, who identified himself as Jake J. because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said that the sudden location switch was a challenge but that he was making the best of it. The bus companies had representatives helping people, and staff from the city’s transportation department passed out maps to passersby.

The Market Street station snarled traffic, caused SEPTA to skip stops on three bus lines, angered nearby businesses, and became an embarrassment for the city.

The city had to scramble to find a replacement when Greyhound abruptly closed its station in leased space on Filbert Street station in late June, a cost-cutting move that has become common in the industry.

Greyhound, Flixbus, Peter Pan and Coach USA, which operates Megabus, have divvied up boarding areas in the Spring Garden area for use as a city base through March, while the city and the carriers work on finding a permanent place. A ticket office was open and running Thursday at 520 N. Columbus Blvd. with 16 bench seats for passengers.

Jen Moore of Altoona, who was traveling after visiting family for a week, was dropped off near the Spring Garden Market-Frankford Line station, west of the Greyhound boarding area. She went into the El stop, riding the escalator up while juggling four small bags.

“I asked three people — they were all very kind — and I got here,” said Moore, 42, unperturbed by the adventure and eager to see her 13-year-old daughter. “I’ve missed her.”

Some who hadn’t heard of the change showed up at the Market Street location looking to catch a bus only to find a sign on locked doors announcing the change. Peter Pan ran shuttle buses to the new spot for its customers as well as those holding tickets on Greyhound, a rival line.

“We want as smooth a transition as possible for all Philadelphia travelers,” said Leonard Ellis, regional manager for Peter Pan Bus. The carriers are cooperating to get temporary restrooms, he said, adding, “I expect it will be a matter of days rather than weeks.”

City officials had posted signs designated boarding zones and two employees of the Office of Transportation, Infrastructure and Sustainability handed out a color-coded map to people looking to find their way.

Matt Cassidy, spokesperson for the city’s office of transportation and infrastructure, said that “there were plenty of growing pains” Thursday but nothing insurmountable. “It could be labeled as smooth for how quickly everyone had to move,” he said.

But it was a clear, sunny day, and a test looms next week with the approach of Thanksgiving, the busiest travel period of the year.

And winter is coming.