Greyhound is staying put.

The Michigan Department of Transportation is abandoning its effort to move the bus line to the Detroit Amtrak Station in New Center. Instead, the push to transfer bus operations from the MDOT-owned Greyhound Station on Howard Street near the Lodge will apparently wait until a new multimodal facility can be built, possibly in a few years.

The decision followed a meeting MDOT held with officials from Greyhound, Amtrak and Indian Trails, a Michigan-based bus line, at the Amtrak Station on West Baltimore. As feared by transit advocates, the Amtrak Station turned out to be inadequate for adding intercity buses.

"On Monday, we conducted multiple tests with a typical intercity motor coach. The Amtrak facility is too narrow for these buses to safely pull out into traffic. We did not want to disrupt the flow of traffic on Baltimore Avenue nor cause any safety risks for arriving and departing passengers. The only possible solution would have impacted ADA parking spots, so we did not feel that was an acceptable solution," according to Michael Frezell, an MDOT spokesman, referencing the Americans with Disabilities Act.

MDOT said it had received unsolicited bids from a developer on the Howard Street property and moved to terminate Greyhound's lease, giving the Dallas-based bus line until next month to relocate. Greyhound sought to delay the move — even asking Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to intervene — until at least the end of the year, but had raised concerns about the feasibility of bringing 50 buses per day into the Amtrak site.

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MDOT insisted it gave Greyhound ample notice, with discussions beginning in June, to agree to move.

"While MDOT gave Greyhound plenty of notice, out of an abundance of goodwill and a commitment to intercity bus service, based on the feedback we received, we are pulling back and will continue to work with them until a new multimodal facility can be ready," according to an email from Frezell.

A message seeking comment was sent to a Greyhound spokeswoman.

Transit advocates were concerned that Greyhound would need more time to make a move to a new location and they, along with the bus line, warned that the Amtrak site would be too small and not offer adequate amenities.

Joel Batterman, co-chair of the advocacy group Motor City Freedom Riders, launched a change.org petition — "Don't Roll Over Detroit Greyhound Riders" — opposing MDOT's plans following Free Press reporting on the matter last week. It had garnered 218 signatures as of Wednesday.

MDOT’s Rob Pearson, who oversees intercity bus services in the state, previously told the Free Press that the station, built to serve Greyhound and its riders three decades ago, would likely be demolished to make way for new development, such as apartments, a restaurant, a market, possibly even a parking structure.

A sale of the property is now on hold indefinitely, although Frezell noted that "the City of Detroit may still have interest in it and we are still in discussions."

The specifics on the possible multimodal facility, which would serve buses and trains, could become clearer if a request for proposals is issued this year. MDOT's New Center property is 3 acres.

Marc Magliari, a spokesman for Amtrak, said Amtrak supports multimodal facilities.

“The more modes come together, the more all modes gain from it,” he said, noting that Amtrak has worked with MDOT on facilities across the state. "You want to make it as easy as possible to get from mode to mode."

Magliari said the John D. Dingell Transit Center in Dearborn, which opened in 2014, is the busiest train station in metro Detroit. The station serves Amtrak's Wolverine line to Chicago, Pontiac and Detroit as well as the suburban Detroit-area SMART bus system. The station is notably larger and more updated than Detroit's station, with more parking.

Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com or 313-223-4272. Follow him on Twitter: @_ericdlawrence.