Greyhound Lines

Greyhound Lines is the largest inter-city common carrier of passengers by bus in North America, serving 2,200 destinations in the United States. It was founded in Hibbing, Minnesota in 1914 and incorporated as "The Greyhound Corporation" in 1926. Today it is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Its famous name and its logo are based on the Greyhound, the fastest breed of dog used in dog racing.

Early history, growth

Today's Greyhound is the result of nearly a century of expansion and acquisition. The company has been headquartered in Hibbing, Duluth, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, Chicago, Illinois, Phoenix, Arizona, and now Dallas, Texas. Greyhound Lines grew so quickly in the 1920s and 1930s that the Interstate Commerce Commission encouraged smaller independent operators to form the National Trailways Bus System (NTBS) to provide competitive markets. Unlike Greyhound which centralized ownership, Trailways member companies became a formidable competitor while staying an association of almost 100 separate companies.

Making Greyhound

Carl Wickman was born in Sweden in 1887. He moved to the United States, and in 1914 began a bus service in Minnesota where he transported iron ore miners from Hibbing to Alice at 15 cents a ride.

In 1915 Wickman joined forces with Ralph Bogan, who was running a similar service from Hibbing to Duluth. The name of the new organization was the Mesaba Transportation Company, and it made $8,000 in profit in its first year.

By the end of the First World War Wickman owned 18 buses, and was making an annual profit of $40,000. In 1922 Wickman joined forces with Orville Caesar, the owner of the Superior White Bus Lines. Four years later, Wickman reached agreement with two West Coast operations, the Pickwick Lines and the Pioneer Yelloway System.

In 1926 Wickman's bus operations became known as the Greyhound Lines. Wickman, who was president of the company, continued to expand, and by 1927 his buses were making transcontinental trips from California to New York.

Wickman's business suffered during the Great Depression, and by 1931 was over $1 million in debt. However, with the improvement in the economy, the Greyhound Corporation began to prosper again. In 1935 Wickman was able to announce record profits of $8 million. By the outbreak of the Second World War the company had 4,750 stations and nearly 10,000 employees.

After World War II, and the building of the Interstate Highway System beginning in 1956, automobile ownership and travel became a preferred mode of travel in the United States. Along with a similar downward trend in public transportation in general, ridership on Greyhound and Trailways bus routes began a long decline.

Greyhound leadership saw the trend, and used the profitable bus operations to invest in other industries. By the 1970s, Greyhound was a large and diversified company, with holdings in everything from the Armour & Co. meat-packing company to the Dial soap company, Traveller's Express money orders, MCI bus manufacturing company, and even airliner leasing.

In late 1984, Greyhound had a very bitter bus driver's strike, with one fatality in Zanesville, Ohio. By the time contract negotiations were due again three years later, the bus line had been spun-off from the parent company to new owners, which resulted in Greyhound Lines becoming solely a bus transportation company headed by Fred Currey, a former executive with the largest member of the National Trailways Bus System. The old parent changed its name to Dial, Inc.

Greyhound Lines is spun-off from parent

Under the new ownership in 1987, led by Currey, Greyhound Lines shortly thereafter acquired the former Continental Trailways company, the largest member of the rival National Trailways Bus System, effectively eliminating a large portion of the bus competition. Although Greyhound negotiated cooperative schedules with Carolina Coach Company and Southeastern Trailways, two of the larger members of the Trailways system, many smaller Trailways carriers were effectively forced out of business.

Three years later there was another costly strike. This, combined with the loss of diversification and strength of the former parent company, and labor-law violations, forced the company to file for bankruptcy, from which it emerged in the early 1990s. At the same time, Greyhound had to contend with the rise of low-cost airlines like Southwest Airlines, which reduced further the market for long-distance inter-city bus transportation.

In 1997, Greyhound Lines acquired Carolina Trailways, one of the largest members of the National Trailways Bus System. Though today Carolina Trailways still operates as a brand name, most of the other independent members of the Trailways System fell into line and began interlining cooperatively with Greyhound. Some discontinued regular route services, diversified into charters and tours, or went out of business.

Laidlaw ownership

In 1998, Hamilton, Ontario-based transportation conglomerate Laidlaw Inc. acquired a majority interest in Greyhound Lines, Inc. (U.S. operations) and Greyhound Lines of Canada, including Carolina Trailways and other Greyhound affiliates.

After incurring heavy losses through its investments in Greyhound Lines and other parts of its diversified business, Laidlaw Inc. filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in June 2001.

Naperville, Illinois-based Laidlaw International, Inc. listed its common shares on the New York Stock Exchange (Ticker: LI), on February 10, 2003, and emerged from re-organization on June 23, 2003 as the successor to Laidlaw Inc.

Greyhound Lines in the 21st century

During 2004, Greyhound Lines announced major schedule reductions in its route system, particularly in the northwest and north central United States, and elimination of some long-distance routes. Similar changes were taking place during 2005 in other parts of the country. These changes have eliminated some routes, most notably the Interstate 90 route between Chicago and Seattle, and cut many stops in rural areas. Service to rural towns has been assumed by local transit agencies or independent bus companies, requiring government subsidy in some cases. [http://www.forbes.com/business/forbes/2005/0131/094.html

Recently, Greyhound has come under criticism for its bus assignment practices. Although bus tickets have times and dates printed on them, seating is not guaranteed, and is first come first served. Greyhound will add additional "sections" (buses) in periods of high demand, but the threshold required to trigger an additional section varies. Passengers may have to wait several hours to take the next bus. ^*

Increasingly, concern has been given to bus security. As a result of the September 11, 2001 attacks, train and airplane security have been substantially increased, but the same increase has not been provided to bus security. Drug smuggling is increasingly common on buses, as baggage is not inspected, nor is identification checked. Greyhound says that metal detector wands have been deployed on buses, but they do not appear to be routinely used. In addition, the types of demographics of riders have gradually shifted downward. Greyhound bus terminals are often located in poor neighborhoods. Specifically, the terminal in Los Angeles, one of the busiest terminals in the country, is located adjacent to Skid Row. Competition from discount airlines like Southwest Airlines, increased reliability of inexpensive automobiles for long trips, and other bus lines attracting an Internet-savvy rider market such as Chinese bus lines and Megabus have led to Greyhound's revenue decline. Prisoners are often transported on Greyhound buses, some unescorted. The inmates, mostly offenders deemed a low flight risk, sign contracts to show up, but some flee anyway. [http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/boise/archive.asp?postID=2252

During the past few years, Greyhound Lines has been expanding its charter and sightseeing services, and is the largest operator of Gray Line Sightseeing Tours franchises in major markets. Though it no longer owns the firm, Greyhound's fleet is still composed primarily of buses built by Motor Coach Industries (MCI).

Notable accidents/incidents

A major accident happened at Bean Station, Tennessee in 1972 when a Greyhound Scenicruiser hit a tractor trailer head on. Fifteen people on the bus were killed including the driver.

On October 3, 2001, at approximately 4:15AM local time, Greyhound passenger Damir Igric attacked the driver of his bus, slitting his throat. The bus careened off the highway and crashed near Manchester, Tennessee, killing Igric and five other passengers and injuring 32 others. As the incident occurred only weeks after the September 11th terrorist attacks, Greyhound shut down their entire system as soon as they learned of the incident for fear that it may have been part of a larger coordinated attack. After investigation by the company and the FBI, it was confirmed that Igric had acted alone, and service resumed later that afternoon.^* Since the incident, Greyhound bus stations increased security, though not nearly to the same level as airports or train stations.

On November 27, 2005, at approximately 7:10AM local time, a Greyhound bus travelling from Los Angeles to San Francisco crashed near Santa Maria, killing two people, one of whom was a 7-month pregnant woman. At the time, driver fatigue was blamed as the primary cause of the crash, though this may not now be the case.^*

Greyhound in Australia

In Australia, the primary long-distance bus carrier is Greyhound Australia, a company not related to the North American Greyhound bus operations.

Fleet

External links

Greyhound Lines home page
Greyhound Canada
Official website of Laidlaw International, Inc
Greyound bus museum in Hibbing, Minnesota
Greyhound & Trailways Bus GIFs

Transportation companies of the United States | Bus companies | Dallas-Fort Worth Texas based companies | Mass transit in California | 1914 establishments

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