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MATTER OF FACT. GREYHOUND BUSSES SERVE AROUND 12 MILLION RIDERS A YEAR. IT’S A CRUCIAL SERVICE, OFTEN PROVIDING A MORE AFFORDABLE MEANS OF TRAVEL TO AREAS WITHOUT MANY OPTIONS. ACCORDING TO FLIX, THE COMPANY THAT BOUGHT GREYHOUND IN 2021, THE U.S. HAS MORE RURAL INTERCITY BUS STOPS THAN URBAN ONES. BUT WHEN FLIX BOUGHT GREYHOUND, MOST OF THE PHYSICAL BUS STATIONS WEREN’T PART OF THE DEAL. GREYHOUND’S PRIOR OWNER INSTEAD SOLD THEM OFF SEPARATELY. WELL, NOW MANY OF THE STOPS ARE CURBSIDE LOCATIONS, AND THAT, COMPOUNDED WITH BUS DELAYS, IS CAUSING ISSUES. WE FOUND DOZENS OF LOCAL NEWS STORIES OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS REPORTING RIDERS FEELING KICKED TO THE CURB TO GET A FIRSTHAND LOOK. OUR CORRESPONDENT DINA DEMETRIUS WAITED WITH RIDERS AT A STOP IN KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE. GREYHOUND BUS RIDERS NEW TO KNOXVILLE ARE OFTEN STUNNED TO BE DROPPED OFF HERE. A PARKING LOT WITH NO SIGN. HERSCHEL BROWN IS HEADED TO ATLANTA. I GOT FIVE HOURS. NO PLACE TO CHARGE MY PHONE WITH JUST A CITY BUS STOP. WHERE KNOXVILLE RESIDENTS ALSO WAIT. BILLY EVERETT WAS JUST RELEASED FROM REHAB WITH A TICKET TO NASHVILLE ON THE 6:50 P.M. BUS, BUT THERE’S NO STATION TO PROVIDE SHELTER. AND IT’S RAINING OUTSIDE. THERE’S ONLY LIMITED SPOTS TO SIT UP UNDER THERE. YOU KNOW, AN UNCLE DROPPED OFF 20 YEAR OLD TYLER ARMS, WHO’S MAKING HIS WAY HOME TO KANSAS CITY WITH CASH FOR A TICKET. BUT THERE’S NO TICKET COUNTER. I’M STRANDED HERE. I HAVE NO WAY HOME. TYLER’S MOTHER EVENTUALLY GOT HIM AN ONLINE TICKET. HE, TOO, IS SCHEDULED FOR NASHVILLE ON THE 6:50 P.M. GREYHOUND. I HAVE FOUGHT WITH THE GREYHOUND BUS BUSINESS, WHO IS, IN ESSENCE, RUNNING A BUSINESS FROM A BUS STOP FOR PUBLIC RIDERS. CYNTHIA FINCH AND KIRA WYATT LEAD NONPROFITS ASSISTING PEOPLE IN NEED AROUND THE CORNER. FROM THAT STOP. FINCH IS ALSO PRESIDENT OF THE AREA’S BURLINGTON BUSINESS DISTRICT ASSOCIATION. WE’VE BEEN BUYING BUS TICKETS FOR INDIVIDUALS THAT GET TO THIS STOP HERE, NOT KNOWING THAT THIS IS NOT THE BUS STATION. SO THEY’RE REALLY FRUSTRATED, SAD. I’VE HAD PEOPLE TO CRY ON US. WOULD YOU SAY YOU’VE SPENT THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS ON BUS TICKETS FOR RIDERS? OH YES, OH YES, OVER THE TWO YEARS. FLIX, THE COMPANY THAT OWNS GREYHOUND, HAS NOW DONATED FUNDS TO HELP COVER SOME OF THOSE TICKETS. BUT RIDERS HAVE WANDERED OVER TO THESE NONPROFITS, ANXIOUS FOR ALL KINDS OF HELP. BUS TICKETS, MEALS, WATER RIDES, TEMPORARY SHELTER. WE’VE SEEN HOMELESS PEOPLE FINALLY GETTING READY TO GO HOME, AND THEIR BUSSES BROKE DOWN AND THEY DON’T HAVE ANY CLOTHES FOR NEARBY BUSINESSES. THE LACK OF A BUS STATION HAS COME AT A COST FOR THEM TOO. AT PETRIE’S FLOWERS, WE FOUND PEOPLE SLEEPING IN OUR VANS. YOU KNOW, WE ACTUALLY HAD A LADY. SHE WAS AROUND 90 YEARS OLD, IN A WHEELCHAIR. IT WAS 90 DEGREES OUTSIDE. WE ACTUALLY TOOK UP MONEY FROM ALL OF US TO GET HER INTO A MOTEL. SO THIS CHURCH ACROSS THE STREET HAS BECOME A SORT OF MAKESHIFT STATION. FLIX PROVIDED A WRITTEN RESPONSE TO OUR QUESTIONS, SAYING BUS DELAYS ARE RARE. AND WHILE HERSCHEL’S ATLANTA BUS CAME ON TIME, THE NASHVILLE RIDERS FOUND OUT IT’S DELAYED UNTIL 9 A.M. THAT’S ALMOST 12 HOURS. IT’S TEN HOURS. IT’S SUPPOSED TO RAIN TONIGHT. YOU’RE OUT HERE WITH YOUR BAGS. I MEAN, I DON’T HAVE MONEY TO GO SPEND ON A HOTEL. IT’S BEEN HORRENDOUS THE WAY PEOPLE HAVE BEEN TREATED HERE. KNOXVILLE COUNCILWOMAN GWEN MCKENZIE REPRESENTS THIS DISTRICT. HOW IMPORTANT IS HAVING GREYHOUND COME THROUGH KNOXVILLE? IT’S VITALLY IMPORTANT BECAUSE FOR MOST PEOPLE, THIS IS THE MOST AFFORDABLE MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION FOR THEM TO BE ABLE TO GET HOME OR TO GET TO SEE RELATIVES. AND THIS IS A THIS IS A STOPPING POINT FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE. AND THEY SEEM TO THEY TEND TO GET STUCK HERE. STUCK AND WEARY. THESE NASHVILLE BOUND RIDERS SPEND THIS NIGHT UP AGAINST THE WALL. GREYHOUND ONCE HAD A LARGE STATION IN DOWNTOWN KNOXVILLE BEFORE FLIX BOUGHT THE BUS LINE. CITY LEADERS ARE PUSHING THE COMPANY TO FIND A BUILDING AGAIN. DAVID BRACE IS THE MAYOR’S CHIEF OF STAFF. SO WE’VE BEEN MEETING, TRYING TO REALLY ASSIST GREYHOUND WITH FINDING A LOCATION THAT ZONED PROPERLY TO DO THIS WORK. AGAIN, ULTIMATELY, THAT’S NOT ON THE CITY. IT’S REALLY ON GREYHOUND TO MAKE THAT DECISION. FLIX RESPONSE TO OUR QUESTIONS READS, IN PART, THAT IT’S NOT POSSIBLE TO BUY OR MAINTAIN LARGE FACILITIES IN DOWNTOWN AREAS WITHOUT SIGNIFICANTLY RAISING PRICES, ADDING THAT LIKE AIRPORTS, INTERCITY BUS STATIONS SHOULD BE PUBLICLY FUNDED. THE CITY HAS GIVEN FLIX UNTIL THE END OF 2025 TO ESTABLISH BASIC SERVICES IN A BUILDING. WE’RE NOT SURE HOW IT’S GOING TO END UP, BUT AT LEAST THERE THEY INVESTED IN COMING BACK HERE TO HAVE THOSE FACE TO FACE CONVERSATIONS. AND WE’RE JUST GOING TO CONTINUE TO STAY ON THEM ABOUT THAT. SOMETIMES I RIDE THE GREYHOUND 2 OR 3 TIMES A WEEK. DOROTHEIA CANNON HAD TO GET TO NASHVILLE TO HELP A SICK AUNT. SHE CAME BACK TO THE STOP AFTER YESTERDAY’S BUS WAS RESCHEDULED, BUT THEN SOMEBODY SAID THEY SAID 1039 SO I DON’T KNOW. HOURS LATER, DOROTHEIA USED OUR VAN TO RECHARGE HER PHONE. GREYHOUND CUSTOMER SERVICE TELLS HER THE BUS IS COMING AT 130. IT’S 4:00. IT’S PAST 130. DO YOU NOT HAVE ANOTHER UPDATE? Y’ALL DON’T HAVE A WAY TO TRACK THIS BUS. CONTACT THE DRIVER. NOTHING TO FIND OUT WHAT’S GOING ON. WEDNESDAY EVENING, THAT NASHVILLE BOUND GREYHOUND FINALLY ARRIVES. 24 HOURS LATE FOR A THREE HOUR RIDE IN KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE. I’M DINA DEMETRIUS, FOR MATTER OF FACT, OTHER INTERCITY BUS SERVICES ALSO USE OUTDOOR STOPS WITHOUT TRADITIONAL STATIONS. GREYHOUND AND FLIXBUS, BOTH OWNED BY FLIX, THOUGH, ARE THE LARGEST COAST TO COAST NETWORK, REACHING MORE THAN 1600 LOCATIONS. FLIX IS CALLING FOR FEDERAL SUPPORT TO HELP CITIES AND STATES DEVELOP AND MAINTAIN SHARED USE TERMINA