When it comes to budget travel, many people are worried about their time on the actual bus. A lot of people ask, “How safe is the Greyhound bus while I am actually on the bus?” However, not as many people worry about the Greyhound bus stations. This is a critical oversight.
Chances are, if you are on a Greyhound bus trip of any length, you are going to spend some time at one or more stations. It is very important to answer the question: Are the Greyhound bus stations safe?
Whether you are looking into low-cost flying options and asking about frontier’s cheap rate, or considering a long-haul bus ride, safety is paramount. Just as you might check a kissandfly review before heading to the airport, you need to know what you are walking into at the bus terminal.
Why The Station Matters
You might be wondering why we are focusing so heavily on the building rather than the bus. It could be your destination station while you’re waiting on a ride. It could be at a station along the way when you have to get off the bus because the bus has to be serviced and maintained. Or, you could have a transfer and you might have a two or three-hour layover at a station.
Because you are stationary in these locations, often in unfamiliar cities, the environment of the terminal becomes your temporary home. Therefore, understanding the dynamics of these locations is key to a safe trip.
Not All Stations Are Created Equal
First off, I want to say that not all Greyhound bus stations are created equal when it comes to safety.
There is a distinct difference between the types of stops you will make. There are a lot of little, small, “rinky-dink” Greyhound stations in a lot of small towns and small cities. Most of these stations are pretty fine. They are in decent parts of towns.
The Small Town Stop
A lot of them are at:
- Truck stops
- Convenience stores
- Really small dedicated stations
These are generally not in a bad area. A lot of these you are going to have no problem there; they are pretty safe. If you are in these locations, the atmosphere is usually relaxed.
The Big City Challenge
However, you will encounter on your trip—if you are on Greyhound for any length of time—you probably will encounter a station that is exactly the opposite. It is probably going to be in a big city in a bad part of town.
All around the station, you will see as you are pulling into it, that it is going to be pretty sketchy. This is the reality of ground transportation hubs in major metropolitan areas. Just as you would be vigilant to avoid a scam when traveling abroad, you must be aware of your surroundings in major domestic hubs.
The Security Factor
The good news is that most of the Greyhound bus stations that are known for the potential for bad things to happen have security.
There will be a security guard on hand who is there to basically call the police. But a lot of times, people respect the fact that there is a security guard there. They are not going to do anything crazy if there is someone in the blue uniform standing there, even if it is a “rent-a-cop” as people like to say.
So, at the stations that are a problem, there is security on hand. They know the local police, and the police usually show up pretty quickly. Into a lot of the worst Greyhound stations, the cops are in and out of there a lot too. They know they are going to be called two or three times a night anyway, so they will just be there. They will just be on their beat, basically. They will be in and out. They are looking for any of the problem people.
Use Security as a Resource
If it seems like something is about to go down, stand by the security door. Go stand by the security guard. You can call it being a “wuss” or whatever, but you have got to get home. You have got to get where you are going, and you don’t need no problems.
If you see someone who you think is going to be a problem—if they start acting crazy, and then really crazy—just go to security. Tell them. Just go up and whisper, “Hey, I think this dude is acting weird,” or “I don’t know about this lady, check on her.” That can greatly diminish the issues you have.
The “Inside vs. Outside” Rule
This is the most critical advice for your safety. If you stay inside the station, like even at the worst stations, you are usually going to be pretty safe.
There are two main reasons for this:
- Security Presence: As mentioned, the guards are inside.
- The Crowd: Inside the station, there is going to be tons of other people there. Especially if it is a really busy station, there is going to be 15 to 100 or 150 other people in there.
The Power of the Crowd
Even though a lot of times, if someone is acting crazy or somebody is acting up, a lot of people don’t want to get involved and just see people walking away. However, if someone gets violent and they try to assault someone, I have seen this happen: other people are going to jump in.
They are going to call for security. They are going to say, “Hey, leave that person alone.” The more vulnerable the person is that the aggressor is coming at, the more likely people are to step in.
- Maybe you are scared of traveling by yourself.
- Maybe you are young.
- Maybe you are female traveling alone and you are a little nervous.
- Maybe you are just a really skinny guy traveling alone and you are nervous.
The more of a threat this person who is bothering you poses to you, the more likely other people are going to be to jump in. So when you are in the station, yeah, even if it is a station that is known to be in a city or area that is pretty rough, you are probably not going to have any trouble if you stay inside the station.
The Danger Zone: Going Outside
It is when you leave the station that you typically run into problems.
If you walk outside the station because:
- You want to go out and smoke.
- You want to go out and try to see what you can score from the local “dope man.”
- You want to go down the road to get something to eat.
This is where people run into trouble.
It is usually the people who aren’t up to any good who go outside the station for reasons that they don’t need to where things happen. Or, it is the naive people who think, “This is McDonald’s two blocks away, I’m just going to walk there,” and it is nighttime. You are in downtown Dallas or something like that. This is where something bad will happen because you don’t have that protective net.
Security doesn’t come outside. If they do, it is right outside the door because they are not trying to leave their safety bubble. There is no one with you when you walk down the street. When you walk outside, maybe there are one or two people, but they are not going to be locals, and trust me, there are enough bad dudes outside to overpower them too.
My number one safety tip is: Don’t leave the station. Stay inside the station.
I know it sucks.
- I know the bathrooms aren’t always the best.
- I know the food, if they have any, is overpriced and super greasy.
- I know there are smelly people in there and you kind of want to get away from them.
- I know just sitting in that station sucks, especially after you have been on the bus for a long amount of time.
But it is safer that way.
Bathroom Safety Strategies
Another thing, and this isn’t really a big one, but even like going in the bathrooms at the Greyhound bus station requires caution.
I sit and watch the bathroom for a while before I go in it.
Pretty much anywhere else in the station, there are people watching. But in some stations, the bathrooms are like around the corner. You go in there and there are stalls way in the back. You don’t know what’s going on in there. You can “get got” in the bathrooms and no one will ever know it.
So just kind of gauge the activity going on in there. If you see a lot of weirdness, or a lot of weird people going into the bathrooms that stay in a while, maybe hold it until they leave. Maybe hold it until the next stop. Just always be careful.
Evaluating Your Surroundings
If it is daytime, and you look around and there are not a lot of people out there, and it looks safe, okay. Or if you are at one of those stations that you can tell you are in a decent part of town and you don’t think anything is going to happen, okay, go outside, walk around.
I have done it before. I have went down the road and got something to eat. I have just walked around. One time I had a really long layover and I took the local bus around for a little bit and came back. I have done it before, but you just have to gauge where you are at.
Digital Reconnaissance
And not naive gauging. Get on Google Maps and look around the surrounding area. Because the block you are on might look cool, then you turn the corner and there is a problem.
So when I am coming in on the bus, I am looking around. Typically, if I know I am going to have a long layover at a station, before I even start the trip, I am on the internet on Google Maps Street View. I looked all around the station. I found some places that I located that I am like, “Oh, I might want to go there,” and looked to see what type of area it was.
Do your research. Be careful.
Summary of Greyhound Station Risks
To help you visualize the safety landscape, here is a breakdown of the different zones you will encounter.
The Station Safety Zones
| Location | Risk Level | The Reality | The Strategy |
| Small Town Station | Low | Usually at truck stops or convenience stores. Decent parts of town. | Generally safe to relax, but always stay aware. |
| Big City Interior | Moderate | High traffic, security guards present, “safety in numbers.” | Stay inside. Stand near security if nervous. |
| Big City Exterior | High | Sketchy surrounding neighborhoods, no security presence. | Do not leave the station. Don’t walk to nearby food spots at night. |
| Restrooms | Moderate/High | Hidden form view, potential for unobserved crime. | Watch who goes in and out before entering. Wait if it looks weird. |
The Final Verdict
The whole bottom line kind of is: even at the worst Greyhound bus stations, the chances of something bad happening to you are pretty slim if you just stay in the station.
Stay around other people. Point out where security is at. I have been through some of the worst stations that you can go to numerous times. There were a couple of times I felt a little intimidated, you know, a little nervous. But I made it through all of them without any bodily harm, and you can too.
So, don’t be afraid of the Greyhound bus or the Greyhound bus stations. Just use common sense. Be aware of your surroundings. Security is your best friend, so talk to them, stand next to them, do what you got to do with them to make sure they do the job, which is to keep you safe.