Michael Paul Williams
Kath Weston, a professor of anthropology at the University of Virginia, spent five years crisscrossing the country on buses before writing her 2008 book, “Traveling Light: On the Road with America’s Poor.”The book, a series of vignettes, is about Weston’s encounters with people seeking to move through poverty, rather than remaining mired in it, in a nation where upward mobility is too often stunted by an inability to access its ladders.
Williams: How Black politicians shaped Richmond, for better and for worseIn an appearance at the Harvard Coop after her book release, Weston noted that when she started writing it, globalization was being heralded as a rising tide that would lift all boats. “But at that time, of course, nobody really raised the question, ‘What if you don’t have a boat?’”
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Or a car? Or the price of airfare, or even Amtrak?Our modes of travel have become so siloed that many folks today have never boarded a Greyhound or FlixBus — a metaphor for the political and economic divides that gave birth to such terms as “flyover country.”You can’t spend so much time on a bus and not retain a level of concern for the people who ride them. This became clear when I reached out to Weston about the planned closing next month of Richmond’s Greyhound bus terminal on Arthur Ashe Boulevard.
In October, the Greyhound bus terminal on North Arthur Ashe Boulevard will close to make way for apartments and retail development.
MIKE KROPF, TIMES-DISPATCH
“At a time when rich and poor countries alike are expanding their mass transit systems, America keeps moving in the opposite direction,” Weston replied via email. “The lack of affordable options for travel by rail and bus affects everyone, but it hits people with fewer economic resources much harder.“Even if you’ve only got a few dollars to your name, there are times when you need to travel more than locally: to attend a family reunion or a parent’s funeral, to follow the harvest, to get to the school that gave you a scholarship, to go where the jobs are, to show your kid something special before you die.”Once upon a time, including my childhood, Richmond had two downtown bus stations for intercity travelers. Greyhound or Trailways? Take your pick.Both stations left downtown in the 1980s — Greyhound for its current location after its Broad Street site was targeted for demolition to build the Convention Center. Several years later, financially struggling Trailways joined Greyhound on the North Boulevard site.Even though bus ridership long ago passed its peak in a car-centric America, the Greyhound terminal has been an important hub for travelers who needed to change buses for destinations in smaller cities and towns. The importance of a warm building for passengers to cool their heels was occasionally driven home when snowy weather paralyzed bus service, stranding riders for hours or even days.
Williams: On Black history, Virginia Union shows its true faceThis station closing is part of a trend in a nation that seldom camouflages its disregard for poor or working-class people when there are profits to be made. An arm of the hedge fund Alden Global Capital has bought nearly three dozen Greyhound bus stations, including in Richmond, where it plans to build two seven-story apartment towers and retail space, according to Richmond BizSense.The bus station is being swallowed whole by the neighboring Raising Cane’s, the Marco’s Pizza and the Starbucks of the new Scott’s Walk, the Arthur Ashe Boulevard apartment boom and plans for the Diamond District neighborhood, whose ballpark anchor CarMax Park had its coming-out party last week.Just when we’re getting a city gateway with panache, we’re kicking bus riders to the curb. Gentrification does more than displace people from their homes; it hits moving targets.But just as expensive apartments are an unsustainable vehicle of upward mobility for struggling young adults, the rugged individualism that defines our preferred modes of transportation will only make our climate more unstable.GRTC is to be lauded for fare-free rides — mass transit, as the name implies, should be available to the masses. And bus riders, in general, deserve to be treated with dignity.
Williams: In Chesterfield, transgender fearmongering is the real threat to students“With more and more intercity bus stations closing, the effects of privatizing what could have been public transportation are hitting home, as usual, in a way that hurts the people who are already hurting the most,” Weston said. “Even in cities where curbside bus pickups continue, think about what message it sends about how you are valued when you are left to stand in the heat and the rain, without toilet facilities or even a shelter, waiting for buses that can be late by hours.”That’s where we appear headed in Richmond if passengers are dropped off in a parking lot across from Main Street Station, with no certain access to the building, which closes at 8 p.m.“Ideally, I would like to see some sort of potential collaboration between what we’re doing with GRTC in the future and maybe something with Greyhound,” Mayor Levar Stoney said Thursday when asked about the closing. “That ideally would be the best scenario for the future of Greyhound. … I would love to see ideally an intracity-intercity bus transfer station that would involve GRTC and Greyhound.”A year ago, GRTC opened its new Downtown Transfer Station in a former parking lot at Eighth and Clay streets, with phone charging stations, public Wi-Fi and shaded shelters, among other amenities.Passengers I interviewed at the Greyhound station on Thursday had heard of the planned closing and expressed sadness.
Williams: Richmond is changing. Is how we vote for mayor now obsolete?“This is my first time riding the bus since I was a child,” said Liyah Hart of Richmond. “I’m not sure how it will affect other people, but I’m sure that it will be somewhat dangerous” being off-loaded in the Shockoe Bottom parking lot, she said. “Just for the people that want to get around safely, I hope that Main Street Station is a good option and a safe option.”Selena Hubbard of Doswell said she travels on the bus at least once a month.“Cost, definitely cost” drives her affinity for bus travel, said Hubbard, 26. “I like that it’s way cheaper than Amtrak and, I guess, the convenience of not driving. I mean, driving is fine, but it is nice not having to pay the tolls and then being tired. I always feel safe on the bus, and I’ve never had any bad incidents.”She’s concerned about what riders might face in the future when dropped off late at night, or in inclement weather, or when facing a long layover with a dwindling cellphone battery, without a bathroom.Air travelers to Richmond arrive to a bright and shiny terminal. Rail travelers disembark to a cramped suburban shed. Bus travelers, in the near future, will be deposited into the elements.Do you detect a pattern?These travelers, regardless of their economic station, deserve a warm, safe and welcoming space.Otherwise, it’s yet another way in which they’re being left behind.
Close
Main Street Station Fire, the next day. Oct. 8, 1983
Supports for the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike (INCORPORATED INTO INTERSTATE 95) rise in front of Main Street Station, forming a contrast between the old and the new. 1957 photo by Ed Booth.
Main Street Station fire, Oct 7, 1983.
Architect Larry Shiftlett, a developer for the Main Street Station project, walked down an old passenger platform in the train shed, June 8, 1981.
A street car passes Main Street Station (note the cobblestone surface for Main Street)
The former shopping area inside the train shed at Main Street Station converted to offices for the city of Richmond (photo from March 1991).
The shopping area inside the train shed at Main Street Station opened Nov. 14, 1985.
The shopping area inside the train shed at Main Street Station opened Nov. 14, 1985.
Mayor Roy A. West spoke at a ceremony on Nov. 14, 1985, welcoming the new shopping area inside the train shed at Main Street Station.
The shopping area inside the train shed at Main Street Station opened Nov. 14, 1985.
Main Street Station fire, the next day. Oct. 8, 1983
Main Street Station Fire the next day. Oct. 8, 1983.
In May 1948, a Seaboard Air Line Railroad diesel-powered passenger train left Main Street Station to head south. The Seaboard’s main line at that time ran from Richmond all the way to Miami. A merger in 1967 renamed the company as the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, and in 1971, Amtrak took over its passenger operations.
A March 1952 image of the Seaboard Air Line Railroada¢,Ǩ,Ñ¢s South Richmond station at Sixth and Hull streets. Before air travel grew, a number of railroads used a¢,Ǩaìair linea¢,Ǩ¬ù in their names to emphasize the directness of their routes. This building now houses the Hull Street Sod Station. __ITS CLOSING SOUGHT–The State Corporation Commission has taken under advisement the petition of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad to close its South Richmond station at Sixth and Hull Streets. The railroad said it now uses only one room in the building and would save more than $5,000 a year by transferring South Richmond operations to Main Street Station. ORG XMIT: RIC1211061652182133
In August 1969, the reflection of Main Street Station in downtown Richmond sparkled in the floodwaters left by Hurricane Camille. The James River peaked at 28.6 feet in the storm.
Floodwaters from Hurricane Agnes engulfed Main Street Station downtown on June 22, 1972.
Historic Main Street Station photos
Main Street Station Fire, the next day. Oct. 8, 1983
Supports for the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike (INCORPORATED INTO INTERSTATE 95) rise in front of Main Street Station, forming a contrast between the old and the new. 1957 photo by Ed Booth.
Main Street Station fire, Oct 7, 1983.
Architect Larry Shiftlett, a developer for the Main Street Station project, walked down an old passenger platform in the train shed, June 8, 1981.
A street car passes Main Street Station (note the cobblestone surface for Main Street)
The former shopping area inside the train shed at Main Street Station converted to offices for the city of Richmond (photo from March 1991).
The shopping area inside the train shed at Main Street Station opened Nov. 14, 1985.
The shopping area inside the train shed at Main Street Station opened Nov. 14, 1985.
Mayor Roy A. West spoke at a ceremony on Nov. 14, 1985, welcoming the new shopping area inside the train shed at Main Street Station.
The shopping area inside the train shed at Main Street Station opened Nov. 14, 1985.
Main Street Station fire, the next day. Oct. 8, 1983
Main Street Station Fire the next day. Oct. 8, 1983.
In May 1948, a Seaboard Air Line Railroad diesel-powered passenger train left Main Street Station to head south. The Seaboard’s main line at that time ran from Richmond all the way to Miami. A merger in 1967 renamed the company as the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, and in 1971, Amtrak took over its passenger operations.
A March 1952 image of the Seaboard Air Line Railroada¢,Ǩ,Ñ¢s South Richmond station at Sixth and Hull streets. Before air travel grew, a number of railroads used a¢,Ǩaìair linea¢,Ǩ¬ù in their names to emphasize the directness of their routes. This building now houses the Hull Street Sod Station. __ITS CLOSING SOUGHT–The State Corporation Commission has taken under advisement the petition of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad to close its South Richmond station at Sixth and Hull Streets. The railroad said it now uses only one room in the building and would save more than $5,000 a year by transferring South Richmond operations to Main Street Station. ORG XMIT: RIC1211061652182133
In August 1969, the reflection of Main Street Station in downtown Richmond sparkled in the floodwaters left by Hurricane Camille. The James River peaked at 28.6 feet in the storm.
Floodwaters from Hurricane Agnes engulfed Main Street Station downtown on June 22, 1972.
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