Columbus has seen intercity bus transit since 1929, when a union station opened on Town Street.

The current bus station was built from 1968 to 1969 in a modern style, and featured numerous traveler amenities.

Efforts to keep the station safe were successful early on, though the Greyhound Corporation proposed its sale by 1988.

In 2021, following a shooting incident and reports of frequent police visits, the property was declared a public nuisance.

Agreements were made to increase security, and the local mass transit agency, COTA, agreed to purchase and redevelop the site.

[2] The property includes the 32,000 sq ft (3,000 m2) station, two smaller buildings, and a parking area for the intercity buses.

[8] The Greyhound site is considered an important property to city officials, given the scale of development taking place around it, as well as its location by Columbus Commons and the busy 3rd and 4th streets.

The Union Bus Station was to have a 110-seat waiting room, restaurant, restrooms, soda fountains, news stands, tobacco shops, a barber, and a tailor.

[10] On April 23, 1932, a new Greyhound bus terminal opened at 45 W. State Street (some reports gave its address as 40 or 43 W.

Its opening included a series of events and celebrations, including a parade showing the evolution of road travel, reportedly including a Native American on a horse, an ox-cart pulled by oxen, a stagecoach, pony express, a tally-ho, Victorian phaeton, covered wagon, buck-board, horse and buggy, tandem bicycle, early automobiles and buses, a twin coach, and a then-modern Greyhound overnight coach.

[18] Post House, a Greyhound restaurant subsidiary, operated a cafeteria, cocktail lounge, snack bar, gift shop, and game room in the new station.

Greyhound planned to move elsewhere in the city, preferably downtown, if the station building was sold.

[23] Throughout the early 21st century, the station has not been well maintained, and has attracted crime, including stabbings, gun-related complaints, drug overdoses, and assaults.

[25] A few months later, in July, the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) purchased the property for $9.4 million.

[9] The transit agency plans to demolish the bus station and create a multi-use development, including a transit center on-site, to serve regular buses in addition to planned east-west and northwest BRT routes.

[8][1] Intercity bus service was set to move to COTA's South Transit Terminal in fall 2021.

The act halted service between Columbus and most local and major cities, though not on the Lake Shore Line, operated by an independent company.