Three Sites Vie for New Bus Station
Philadelphia planners showed updated layouts for three finalist sites for a permanent intercity bus station at a public open house Wednesday night, and a city survey shows one site well ahead of the other two.
The City Planning Commission event ran from 6 to 8 PM at the Independence Visitor Center on Market Street, and the material shown will be posted on the project documents page. The three sites are 30th and Arch streets, beside the Amtrak station and Interstate 76, 15th and Vine streets, and 8th and Arch streets.
The 30th and Arch site is a parking lot at 2931 Arch Street, just north of 30th Street Station and next to the Cira Centre office tower. The 15th and Vine site is the Philadelphia Gateway garage and an adjoining parking lot on Vine Street. The 8th and Arch site is a pair of parking lots next to the African American Museum.
A city survey of nearly 1,800 people found 30th and Arch the clear favorite, taking 65 percent of votes. Nearly 89 percent of respondents said they usually reach intercity buses by transit, walking, or cycling. Being close to other transport was the top priority for riders, followed by shopping and dining, while the leading concerns were connections to other services and public safety and security.
The search follows the closure of the Greyhound terminal at 10th and Filbert streets at the end of June 2023. Buses moved to curbside stops on Spring Garden Street that November, and the old building reopened on May 1 as the Philadelphia Parking Authority Transportation Center, staffed around the clock as a temporary fix. Its running costs are covered by a fee on intercity buses that City Council approved 17 to 0 in December 2025, collected with camera monitoring.
Planners narrowed the list from more than 280 possible locations earlier this year, and they have floated building housing above the station or retail space inside it to help meet the cost.
For Northeast residents, the choice matters every time they ride an intercity bus or connect through Center City. Most riders in the city survey said they get to the bus by transit, on foot, or by bike, so a station beside 30th Street Station, with Amtrak, SEPTA, and trolley lines already there, would put the buses where Northeast commuters already transfer.
What happens next is still open. The city materials give no cost, funding plan, or completion date for a permanent station, and no Council bill on the project has yet appeared. Feedback from the open house will shape the next stage of planning and design, and the city has not said when it will recommend one site over the others.
