A year later, Greyhound travelers frustrated by temporary West Louisville bus stop

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Nearly a year after announcing its temporary set up in a West Louisville parking lot, Greyhound is still operating in the same location with no clear move in sight.

Greyhound moved its Louisville stop to a strip mall on West Broadway near 12th Street in 2023, after it sold its longtime bus station at 7th Street and Muhammad Ali Blvd. The old building is abandoned and boarded up, but a development is in the works.

The buses take up a large chunk of the shopping center parking lot at the temporary stop. With just a small waiting room, dozens travelers wait in the parking lot or on the sidewalk for buses that some passengers said arrive extremely late or never show up at all.

Krasten Potts is a musician from Indianapolis who often travels to Louisville. He said his most recent trips struck a bad chord.

"I don't know exactly what's going down here with this," Potts said.

One trip was delayed two and a half hours because there was no driver. On another, his bus broke down.

"I'm in a strip mall, and it's not that fun, so I usually hang out on the sidewalk and watch movies until the bus actually shows up. So that's what I've been doing. Just waiting for the bus to show up. It's really weird man," Potts said.

The temporary setup is also problematic for Greyhound's neighbors, like City Gear Clothing Store, which sits right next door. Employees said frustrated passengers become their problem.

"They're not from here, so they don't know what to do, and then they can't sit in our store, so they are getting upset at us if they can't sit in our store.," said Brittney Wales, employee of City Gear.

Greyhound tried to move to a permanent location on Preston Highway near the airport, but zoning issues put the brakes on that move. Now, with no permanent bus station plans in sight, Greyhound passengers wonder what the future looks like.

WDRB learned that Louisville isn't the only city seeing these issues. Greyhound was sold to a European bus network, Flix Mobility, in 2021. Flix has since sold Greyhound bus stations like the one in Louisville for profit. We reached out to Flix for comment but haven’t received a response.

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