New signage, a few plasma televisions, refurbished buses, cellphone charger stations and coloring books await customers at the recently upgraded Greyhound Lines bus depot on Haines Street in Baltimore.
While the improvements don?t scream at customers, the terminal is much more welcoming to patrons. There is even a greeter in a red vest.
The upgrades are part of Greyhound?s nationwide Elevate Everything campaign, and the Baltimore bus depot celebrated its new look Nov. 15.
“We even have laptop charger stations,” said Ray Robinson, the district manager for Greyhound responsible for the Baltimore depot.
“We wanted to improve everything the customer touched,” Robinson said.
Baltimore is the 10th busiest Greyhound station in the country. In 2005, the most recent statistics available, 672,308 out-bound passengers used the terminal compared to 627,722 in-bound passengers.
In June 2005, Greyhound launched a test program in the Chicago-Milwaukee-Minneapolis corridor.
“Customer response in these markets was quite positive, leading Greyhound to expand the program across the country over the next 12 months,” said Steve Gorman, president and chief executive officer for Greyhound.
The refurbished buses feature new colors and the familiar running dog logo outside. More comfortable seats are inside, with movable armrests, automatic footrests and magazine straps. About 75 percent of the fleet already is refurbished and on the road. Drivers and terminal employees received new uniforms.
And Baltimore is one of the few stations in the nation allowing E-ticketing, where customers can go online anywhere, purchase a ticket, print it out and board the bus.
Baltimore also has the Traveling Kid?s Club, allowing children to get activity books with puzzles and drawings.
“We want to make the customer?s travel experience more enjoyable, and the way to that is improving everything the customer touches,” said Dustin Clark, a Greyhound spokesman.
Greyhound is the nation?s largest bus line providing intercity bus transportation. It serves 2,400 destinations with 16,000 daily departures across the country.
And Greyhound officials said customers need not worry about travel over the busy Thanksgiving holiday. The company will add more buses on the spot to accommodate booking, officials said.
