DALLAS - Reverberations from the looming restructuring of Greyhound Line's sprawling north central and western region, which becomes effective in two weeks, continue across the U.S.
· Residents of rural areas in 17 states are scrambling to locate alternative transportation, sometimes finding it thanks to smaller intercity carriers willing to take over soon-to-be abandoned Greyhound routes. Many more communities apparently are coming up empty, however.
· Greyhound employees, especially drivers, are bracing for a much shrunken system.
· Greyhound is being accused of being the "old" Greyhound, the bull elephant of the bus industry.
· And the company is busy wrapping up the details of pulling out of 260 communities, eliminating 150 jobs, relocating drivers and closing their hubs, and reducing the fleet by 100 buses -- even as it begins moving toward the next round of cuts.
Greyhound announced at the end of June it was discontinuing service to dozens of small towns between Chicago and Seattle in an effort to cut costs and focus on its most profitable routes.
From Oregon, to Colorado, to North Dakota, to Wisconsin, communities by the score are preparing for life after Greyhound, with local officials, civic organizations and residents scouring the countryside for bus companies, shuttle services and van operators to fill the void that will be created by Greyhound on Aug. 18
Porter Stage Lines of North Bend, Ore., is likely to fill some of the gaps when Greyhound eliminates nine stops on U.S. Highway 101 along the west coast of Oregon.
Two small bus services are looking at the soon-to-be abandoned 672-stretch between Omaha, Neb., and Denver. Communities like Sterling, Colo., are worried both about the daily impact of no Greyhound service and the long-term consequences -- on growth and development - of a town without daily bus service.
No operator has been found to take over the route between Winona, Minn., and La Crosse, Wis.
However, Jefferson Lines of Minneapolis has been signed up to take over service along two greater Minnesota routes being eliminated by Greyhound. Jefferson is getting a $153,000 federal grant through the Minnesota Department of Transportation to operate and market the routes through the end of this year.
"Without this support, these routes would not be economically viable," said Bonnie Buchanan, Jefferson Line's vice president for marketing.
The service includes a 289-mile route between Minneapolis and Sioux Falls, S.D., which serves about 200 riders each week in communities such as Litchfield, Willmar, Granite Falls, Marshall, Pipestone and Luverne.
The second route is a 383-mile run between Minneapolis and Grand Forks, N.D., which serves more than 300 riders weekly in communities like Little Falls, Pine River, Cass Lake, Brainerd, Bemidji and Crookston.
In Montana, Tom Forseth, owner of Rimrock Trailways of Billings, is trying to figure out how he can fill some of the holes left when Greyhound abandons its run between Fargo, N.D., and Billings.
Forseth was among a group of regional operators who met in Minnesota the middle of last month to discuss Greyhound's departure from their region and how they might plug the service holes. Shortages of buses, drivers and other personnel, plus scheduling issues and a tight time frame are some of the issues the operators are attempting to cope with.
The abruptness of the shutdowns, and the attendant scheduling difficulties have not endeared Greyhound to the regional operators.
As part of its restructuring, Greyhound is closing four driver locations - Des Moines, Iowa; Cheyenne, Wyo.; Billings, Mont., and Eugene, Ore.
Greyhound's union is telling its members that the next areas on the chopping block are California, the southwestern U.S., and Texas.