After years of uncertainty over Chicago’s intercity bus station, the city’s plan to buy and renovate it is good news. Advocates have called for a publicly owned station for years. We have public facilities for people who travel by air and rail. People who travel by bus deserve that same dignity.
Chicago’s station is a major hub for Midwestern bus travel and a transfer point between planes, trains and automobiles. Greyhound is just one of several intercity companies here, running a peak of 82 buses daily, carrying more than 500,000 passengers annually. That’s more than many publicly owned airports in Illinois, such as Bloomington-Normal, Champaign or Rockford.
But some bus companies had to use the nearby curbs, because they weren’t affiliated with Greyhound. A publicly owned station can centralize all bus service into one convenient hub, supporting travelers while reducing local impacts.
Intercity bus service is a lifeline for many travelers. People with disabilities, students getting to school, women seeking reproductive health care, LGBTQ residents fleeing persecution and domestic violence survivors are just a few of the thousands who depend on this station now. Two-thirds of intercity bus riders have incomes below $40,000, and one-third have incomes below $20,000. More than a quarter of them have no other viable travel option.
After Greyhound split into two parts — bus company and real estate — the latter began shedding downtown terminals nationwide. Boston, Los Angeles and Atlanta expanded public facilities, while closures elsewhere left travelers waiting on street corners. Losing our station would make Chicago the largest city in the northern hemisphere without one.
Taking the bus is one of the most environmentally friendly ways to travel. Every bus rider who gets pushed to fly or drive increases the carbon emissions of their trip by four to five times. We cannot afford to add more cars to our roads or emissions to our air.
Downtown land is valuable, so buying a whole block and renovating it for $50 million is a bargain. It’s also just a fraction of what we regularly spend on major transit, airport and highway improvements while generating a significant return for the city and region.
As we head into the busy holiday travel season, and the cost of living is rising, we need affordable and accessible bus service now more than ever to maintain our social fabric. A publicly owned intercity bus station is a win for Chicago and the Midwest.
Derrick James, senior policy advocate, Environmental Law &Policy Center
Kyle Lucas, executive director, Better Streets Chicago
Creating, then punishing homelessness is cruel
Over the past several weeks, the Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness and our partners have received credible reports of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents harassing residents at eight shelters and six street-based locations, detaining at least 29 people.
For years, the Trump administration and its allies have attempted to vilify people experiencing homelessness. From the U.S. Supreme Court’s Grant’s Pass v. Johnson decision to President Donald Trump’s recent executive order on homelessness, our national leaders are framing homelessness as a personal failure rather than the result of deliberate policy choices.
The truth is that homelessness is a choice we made as a country by systematically excluding people, especially Black and Brown communities, from housing, jobs, education and the ability to build generational wealth.
What is happening now in Chicago and in Washington, D.C., is carefully calculated racism and classism used as a tool to sow fear and division and define who “belongs” and who does not.
Meanwhile, the administration is slashing health care, food assistance and housing, even as rents in Chicago rise three times as fast as wages. In Illinois alone, more than 500,000 people could lose health care coverage, and over 400,000 may lose food assistance.
Just a few days back, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced drastic shifts in its funding priorities away from proven solutions like permanent supportive housing. This change could push 170,000 households nationwide out of their homes. Yet this same administration dares to punish people for the homelessness they are actively creating.
In South Shore, federal agents indiscriminately smashed through doors, leaving those already living in substandard housing with nowhere to return to. There is something uniquely cruel about criminalizing homelessness while simultaneously fueling it.
Each new raid and policy intended to strip someone of dignity or safety is another test of who we are as a country. We must reject the false narratives that blame our neighbors for the homelessness they were pushed into. We must demand our local leaders invest in real, proven solutions because everyone needs a safe place to call home.
Contact your members of Congress and ask them to stop HUD’s changes, and check out our website, chicagohomeless.org, to see what else you can do to support our neighbors experiencing homelessness in this moment.
Doug Schenkelberg, executive director, Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness
City’s youth deserve priority
With the Chicago City Council’s Finance Committee’s rejection of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s 2026 proposed budget comes, hopefully, a collective gut check on our key priorities for next year.
A sustainable revenue source for our youth programs — which the mayor has been right to fight for —should be among them.
The city’s youth programs serve over 108,000 young Chicagoans annually. Our One Summer Chicago youth employment program alone saw over 50,000 applications in 2025. Thanks to our partners and the mayor’s support, we hired 31,122 youth. We should be proud of this, and we should also be proud of our young people, who are hungry for opportunities to succeed.
Several studies prove our youth programs are changing lives and reducing violence. A 2023 policy brief from the U.S. Joint Economic Committee found that participants in Chicago’s youth employment programs were 43% less likely to be victims of violent crime and 79% less likely to be arrested for a shooting or homicide, compared to a control group. These findings are part of a national pattern linking employment and opportunity to violence reduction.
The Community Safety Fund, as outlined in the rejected budget, would have funded 19,580 annual paid youth employment opportunities. It also would have funded violence reduction programming, including intensive case management and wraparound supports for youth at highest risk of violence involvement, as well as an enhanced peacekeeping program that empowers youth as leaders in community stabilization and safety efforts.
Further, the fund would have sustained the Youth Intervention Pathways program, which provides trauma-informed interventions for youth ages 10 to 17 who’ve been arrested for low-risk offenses and determined not to need further system involvement. This program has been projected to serve up to 800 youth in 2026. Among 2025 participants, 95% report working on goals for their future.
Finally, the fund would have supported the My Chi. My Future. Safe Spaces program, which provides youth-led events — approximately 125 in 2025 — and employs 225 youth who plan free, safe activities for young people. These events have engaged 15,000 youth in 2025 and are expected to reach 18,000 youth in 2026.
Whatever shape the 2026 budget takes, let us agree it is critical to sustain our youth programs.
Let’s show our young people the city still has their backs.
Angela Green, commissioner, Chicago Department of Family and Support Services
CTA attack, lack of bystander intervention horrifying
I was appalled looking at the photo and article in Thursday’s Sun-Times about the Blue Line attack. How can a person, who has been arrested at least 40 times — including for arson — be out on the streets?
What’s worse is the two passengers sitting there — one with her face buried in her cellphones — instead of helping this poor victim. What has become of this world? Is there any compassion? Those commuters should be charged with reckless “uninvolvement.” Sick. Sick. Sick. Where’s the accountability?
Christopher Berbeka, Palatine
Hostile over hemp
I don’t have strong feelings about a federal prohibition on hemp-derived products. I don’t use them. To me, it’s an issue of fairness.
When will the government put limits on alcohol and tobacco? Yes, I know there are laws that govern sales to youth and what happens when those substances cause harm.
But a ban on hemp products goes further. It can easily be said that alcohol and tobacco have been proven to cause enormous harm, both in medical terms and damage to others. Ah, but some wish to argue that, used in moderation, they don’t do harm? That can also be said for hemp products, too.
Doesn’t the acceptance of certain intoxicants have more to do with tradition and business and political connections than it does with medical needs? I’m not arguing for a nation of stoned dopers, as some would claim. I’m only arguing to end the hypocrisy.
Laurence Siegel, Manteno
Safety is key reason most cops use weapons
There are multiply instances when officers, through instinct or experience, find that to maintain their safety and the safety of others, they have to draw their guns and point them. All one has to do is look at the number of shootings in the city in the last 10 years.
It’s naive to think armed shooters will not fire at the police if they are pursued. Working police officers, whether in uniform or civilian dress, come upon confrontations multiply times while on duty. At times, it’s obvious a suspect is armed. But there are also instances when it’s unknown, and for safety sake, the old saying “better safe than sorry” is a realistic approach, not an act of brutality. To take that instinct away from law enforcement officers, in my opinion, is putting the police and maybe others in grave danger.
Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling is right to look at the data of use-of-force incidents, including so-called “firearm pointing incidents.” But the safety of Chicago’s cops should be taken into account. In most cases, weapons carried by Chicago police officers are not for show or for harassing innocent individuals.
Bob Angone, retired Chicago Police lieutenant, Austin, Texas
Bass and some sass
I was reading the well-written and well-deserved letter to the editor by Nancy Alexander recognizing former Sun-Times columnist Dale Bowman’s contributions to improving our understanding of outdoor sports and nature preserves.
The one line about learning the difference between small and big mouth bass brought back a memory that made me chuckle. Years ago, my wife and I had come in from fishing at my brother’s cottage on Cable Lake in Sister Lakes, Michigan.
As we approached the deck, my family called out, “Did you catch anything?” Marilyn responded, “Boo (referring to me) caught a big mouth bass,” and my family was sent into gales of laughter. When I explained that it’s called a largemouth bass, my South Side Italian wife sniffed in her inimitable way, “Same thing!”
Al Chaps, Beverly
Border Patrol: Worse than the Grinch
I’m glad the Bovine (My name for U.S. Border Patrol’s Gregory Bovino) herd is out of here. They went off to terrorize another town. Last I heard, they are leaving Charlotte, North Carolina, too in order to target others. So sad.
Well, at least we will be able to enjoy a Christmas parade without tear gas. Wait a second. Maybe the herd keeps running from city to city, so they can dodge Santa, and he won’t see the terrible things they are doing.
Jackie Tinker, Des Plaines
Bratty bully in chief
Did I really see the man running our country spouting out to a reporter, “Quiet. Quiet, piggy”?
This man is a toddler, throwing tantrums and name-calling. He is not fit to be leading our country. Send him back to grade school to learn manners.
Sandra Minor, McHenry