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December 23, 2014
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December 23, 2014
Local, state and federal officials are working on a plan to bring Greyhound bus service back to the bayou region, with a proposal for a leg of the interstate carrier slated to run between New Orleans, Houma and Baton Rouge.
An application with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development for the proposed route is on file. The project’s approval will mark the first time since 2006 that interstate busses will have picked up passengers in Houma.
“I think it would be a great idea,” said Terrebonne Parish Council Chairman Red Hornsby who, like other council members, has not yet seen a plan for the project or been officially notified. “There are people here who go to New Orleans and Baton Rouge every day. I see on Facebook all the time people who say ‘I am going to Baton Rouge. Is anyone going in that direction?’”
A timeline for bus service has not yet been announced.
Greyhound spokeswoman Lanesha Gipson said bus service to Houma – busses used to stop at the Shop-n-Bag on West Park Avenue at Lafayette Street – halted in 2006 because of low ridership.
“However, within the last eight months we have seen a very large increase in demand for service between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. This new service will offer many more daily options for travel between these points,” Gipson said. “We have data that shows there is a demand for both commuter purposes as well as customers who will opt to connect to our larger network from Baton Rouge or New Orleans.”
The route, she said, is part of a larger effort by the company to increase service to rural areas. The proposed route will include stops in Gonzalez and LaPlace as well as Houma, New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
Rather than using subsidiaries, she said, the route will use busses directly operated by Greyhound.
During a 30-day public comment period no comments at all were received, Gipson said. Notices requesting comment were printed in a local newspaper.
An official at DOTD confirmed Monday that Greyhound has an active route application on file but did not have further information.
The Houma-Terrebonne Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Technical Advisory Committee has officially signed on to support the plan. Officials in Lafourche and other parishes that would be affected are part of the dialogue.
“We are very excited, and we are interested in promoting this as much as possible,” said MPO chairman Leo Moretta.
The South Central Planning and Development Commission, under whose auspices the MPO operates, was notified in an Oct. 6 letter from Greyhound of the company’s plans.
Randy Isaacs, Greyhound’s state governmental affairs representative, wrote to inform the agency that a grant was being pursued in order for the route to become a reality.
Founded in 1914, Greyhound is the nation’s largest provider of intercity bus transportation, serving more than 3,800 destinations across North America and serving 18 million passengers per year in the U.S. and Canada.
While Greyhound is well known for its regularly scheduled pass
Greyhound is owned by FirstGroup plc, which says it is “the leading transport operator in the United Kingdom and North America.”
Worldwide, FirstGroup says it transports 2.5 billion passengers per year.
Plan to bring Greyhound bus service back to bayou region in the works. An application with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development for the proposed route is on file. If approved, this will be the first time since 2006 that interstate busses will have picked up passengers in Houma.
