Philadelphia Greyhound Terminal

The Philadelphia Greyhound Terminal is the primary intercity bus station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is located at 1001 Filbert Street in Center City Philadelphia, immediately north of The Gallery at Market East shopping mall and the SEPTA Market East Station, a few hundred feet east of the Pennsylvania Convention Center and Reading Terminal Market, a few hundred feet south of the Trocadero Theatre and the south edge of Philadelphia's Chinatown district, and within 1/2 mile of Independence Mall, the U.S. Mint, and City Hall. The station building, which underwent an interior remodeling in early 2007, is relatively small and nondescript, belying its importance as one of the busiest, long distance, bus-only terminals in the United States. The terminal was the 2nd busiest Greyhound bus station in the U.S. in 2007. [cite web|url=http://www.greyhound.com/home/en/About/FactsAndFigures.aspx|title=Top Ten Busiest Terminals Based on Passenger Volume in 2007|publisher=Greyhound Lines, Inc.]

The station contains a variety of amenities for waiting passengers. These include a snack bar, food and beverage vending machines, televisions, video games, pay telephones, and restrooms. Like other significant transportation facilities, it also contains full service ticket counters and seating areas.

Bus Companies Serving the Terminal

National Provider

*Greyhound Lines - the primary intercity bus carrier in the United States, Greyhound provides direct, one seat ride service between the bus terminal and a number of cities and towns both within and outside of Pennsylvania. Some of those cities and large towns include:
**In Pennsylvania - Altoona, Doylestown, Easton, Harrisburg, Johnstown, Pittsburgh, Scranton, State College, Stroudsburg
**Outside of Pennsylvania - Atlanta, Atlantic City, Baltimore, Charlotte, Columbus, Dayton, Indianapolis, Newark, New York, Raleigh, Richmond, St. Louis, Washington, Wilmington

Greyhound also provides connecting service to other in-state and out-of-state destinations via transfers.

Interregional Providers

Various interregional bus companies also provide direct service to and from the Philadelphia bus terminal. The companies and some of the key locations they serve include:
*Bieber Tourways - Allentown, Bethlehem, Kutztown, Quakertown
*Capitol Trailways - Kutztown, Pottstown, Pottsville, Reading
*Martz Trailways - Scranton, Wilkes-Barre
*Peter Pan Bus Lines - New York (pooled service with Greyhound)
*Susquehanna Trailways - Allentown, Berwick, Bloomsburg, Doylestown, Hazleton, Lehighton, Lock Haven, Quakertown, Shamokin, Shenandoah, Sunbury, Tamaqua, Williamsport

Like Greyhound, the Trailways providers' services connect with other bus routes in the Greyhound/Trailways system to allow trips to other regional and national destinations.

Regional Providers

*New Jersey Transit - the statewide transit provider in New Jersey, New Jersey Transit (or NJT) operates a number of long-distance routes between points within the state and the Philadelphia bus terminal. Those routes and key cities and towns along the routes include:
**313 - Camden, Glassboro, Vineland, Millville, Cape May
**315 - Camden, Mays Landing, Cape May
**317 - Camden, Mount Holly, Lakewood, Asbury Park
**551 - Camden, Sicklerville, Atlantic City

Two other routes, Route 316 - Philadelphia/Cape May express and Route 318 - Philadelphia/Great Adventure, have limited, seasonal service.

In addition to NJT bus routes listed above, various, shorter-distance NJT bus routes (numbered 400-419) stop in Center City Philadelphia as close as one block from the Greyhound Bus Terminal. A few SEPTA bus routes (Routes 17, 23, 33, 38, 44, 47m, 48, 61, and 121) also stop one block away from the terminal.

Other Philadelphia Intercity Bus Stations

Besides the Philadelphia Greyhound Terminal, there are two other much smaller and less busy intercity bus stations in the city of Philadelphia. Sigler Travel is located at 5608 North Broad Street in the Olney section of North Philadelphia, slightly north of SEPTA's Broad Street Line station at the Olney Transportation Center. The intercity bus station is served by Greyhound Lines and offers one-seat service on two different routes, to and from destinations along Greyhound's Philadelphia-Easton-Scranton route and also to and from Atlantic City. The other station, Fairfax Bus and Bagel, is located at 2100 South Broad Street in South Philadelphia, next to SEPTA's Broad Street Line Snyder station. Unlike the Philadelphia Greyhound Terminal and Sigler Travel stations, Fairfax Bus and Bagel is not a dedicated transportation facility; it is a small, commercial retail store that sells food, beverages, lottery tickets, and other similar items in addition to bus tickets. The only one-seat service provided at Fairfax Bus and Bagel is operated by Greyhound between the station and Atlantic City.

References

External links

* [http://www.greyhound.com/ Greyhound Lines official site]
* [http://www.biebertourways.com/ Carl R. Bieber Tourways official site]
* [http://www.capitoltrailways.com/default.html Capitol Trailways official site]
* [http://www.martztrailways.com/ Martz Trailways official site]
* [http://www.peterpanbus.com/index.php Peter Pan Bus Lines official site]
* [http://www.susquehannabus.com/ Susquehanna Trailways official site]
* [http://www.njtransit.com/ New Jersey Transit official site]