Bus Station Project Planned for Union Station

[WMATAGMOAGH]

From the Washington Business Journal:

Bus station planned for Union Station project                  Washington Business Journal - by Jonathan O'Connell Staff Reporter                adsonar_placementId=1477466;adsonar_pid=1856767;adsonar_ps=-1;adsonar_zw=220;adsonar_zh=180;adsonar_jv='ads.adsonar.com';                              The Union Station Redevelopment Corp. is planning a bus terminal for Union Station that would allow Greyhound Lines Inc. and other bus companies to relocate there, part of a bevy of plans to upgrade the train station.
David Ball, president of the Union Station Redevelopment Corp., told a Congressional subcommittee Wednesday that he has been working on "constructing an inter-model bus station at Union Station, in which Greyhound would be a participant." The project would require new federal funding but could allow other bus companies that carry travelers between D.C., Philadelphia, New York and Boston to pick up and drop off passengers as well. Ball said he has begun a feasibility study that will show whether the parking deck, now largely unused, is capable of handling heavy bus traffic. The terminal would have an entrance out the back of Union Station to H Street NE.
David Leach, CEO of Dallas-based Greyhound, has been trying to sell the company's 1.6-acre depot nearby at 1005 First St. NE for more than a year with plans to move buses into the station. "Greyhound is eager to move its operations to Union Station and is actively engaged in discussions toward making that happen," he said.
Also eager to see the plans move was developer Chip Akridge, chairman of Akridge, which owns development rights to space over the tracks behind the station and plans to build a hotel, offices and new retail. Akridge said the development, called Burnham Place, "will be similar to what Gallery Place is to the Verizon Center."
"We finished over the last year our conceptual plan of what Burnham Place will look like," Akridge said, and improving the station's infrastructure as soon as possible would accelerate the work.
The D.C. Department of Transportation is also planning to rework Columbus Circle outside the station's entrance, but Director Gabe Klein said that the National Park Service had recently reneged on an $800,000 commitment. The city is trying to fill the gap with stimulus funding with plans to start construction by the end of the year.
Despite all the movement, Congressional Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., chair of the subcommittee, told the executives and directors that a master plan for the station and Akridge's property behind it was needed before Congress would be moved to act.
"It's hard enough to get money if there is a grand plan, but it's impossible if there is nothing for Congress to get excited about," she told Ball, adding that, "we're not in a position to even ask for those funds because we don't have a plan."               

[Tritransit Area]

Hmm, that would be nice to have everything in one place.  Plus there would be easier access for the Metrorail.

I was hoping they were considering an upgrade to the bus terminus for Metrobus, Circulator, and the tour people.  That area is really getting congested.  Plus, we need a good place for the taxis and a "kiss and ride".

Upstairs, in the parking area, I keep seeing tour/motorcoaches there.  Is there a bus service that goes there regularly?

[WES]

Back in the day when that garage opened, the X2,4 used to stop in there, I guess weight issues caused that route to get out.

It would be convienent to have Greyhound/Peter Pan, maybe BOLT and Megabus, Metrobus, and the Circulator all together at one bus depot.

[Scrabbleship]

The garage is where the K Street/Georgetown and Navy Yard Circulator routes terminate and lay over. Gray Line's tour routes also start from there as does the Amtrak motorcoach to Charlottesville.