Davis, EMTA strike deal to temporarily reopen Erie's Greyhound bus ticket office
Erie County Executive Brenton Davis and the Erie Metropolitan Authority announced an agreement Thursday to reopen the Greyhound bus ticket office at the Intermodal Transportation Center on East Bayfront Parkway.
Greyhound passengers arriving, departing or stopping in Erie have had no access to the building since May, when Greyhound's rented space in the Intermodal Center was converted to an e-ticket location. As part of that change, the building was locked, eliminating access to restrooms and a climate-controlled waiting room.
Starting Friday, customers will be able to enter the ticket office from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., seven days a week.
Why is the Greyhound station closed?:At Erie's Greyhound station, riders wait outside and use the restroom at the library
EMTA CEO Jeremy Peterson said the temporary solution involves the county lending its contracted security service from the Blasco Memorial Library to patrol and help secure the ticket office during regular business hours. This will provide safety and security to the unmanned Greyhound office and its customers.
"With the conversations that we've had over the past week, and with the upcoming storm that we have coming this weekend, it made sense that we stepped up and did something together," Peterson said Thursday morning at a news conference.
Davis said the solution will not cost taxpayers additional dollars, making it a good example of "reasonable government entities working together."
"We wanted to make sure that the message that we're sending to our community and to these riders — and to the rest of the world, essentially — is this is a warm and welcoming place," Davis said. "It's not very welcoming when you shut folks outside."
More on Greyhound ticket office:Greyhound bus ticket office closed in Erie; buses are still running
Davis added that the county and EMTA will continue to work with Greyhound to try to find a more permanent solution to keep the doors open.
Greyhound has not indicated any inclination to permanently staff the office with a ticket agent.
"As an industry standard, bus operators conduct service from a unique mix of locations including owned stations, transit centers, gas stations, convenience stores, restaurants, community landmarks and more" Greyhound spokeswoman Lourdes Brown said in a recent statement. "This is true as well for Greyhound locations across our network, including Erie where we continue to service as an e-Stop."
Julie Minich, interim executive director of All Aboard Erie, a nonprofit advocate for the development of high-speed rail and improvements to public transportation, told the Erie Times-News on Thursday she was pleased with the county's temporary solution but indicated more work needs to be done for a permanent fix.
"I would personally like to thank EMTA and the county executive for working together and I hope they can work together in the future because I don't think the battle is over," she said.
A.J. Rao can be reached at arao@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNRao.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie's Greyhound ticket office to temporarily reopen after agreement
