Five Minutes With … Lynn Hoogerhyde
Lynn Hoogerhyde, Team Lead Sales and Agency Management, Flix North America, Inc., got their start in travel by managing bus terminal operations under an independent contractor and loved the environment and challenge. From there, they took an area manager role with Greyhound before migrating to a Flix team after they acquired the company in 2021.
Groups Today caught up with Hoogerhyde to get their perspective on where the industry is headed and more.
What are the most interesting industry changes you’ve experienced?
The industry began to develop online low-cost operators in the early 2000s with businesses like Spirit Airlines and Megabus becoming very popular. This created competitiveness and drive to run a lean business model that had us on our toes. Customers had many options to travel on a budget across the nation, and even into Canada and Mexico. A lot of this came crashing down with COVID-19 halting cross-border travel and caused people to be leery of public transportation—even after restrictions had been lifted. Many jobs were lost, and some travel companies went out of business, but there were positive outcomes, too.
The rise of online services was accelerated, allowing for e-ticketing, check-in and real time travel updates all to your phone. It took years for ridership to return to pre-pandemic levels, but the ripple effects of this time can still be felt. Flix is another extension of the rise in technology centered travel, allowing customers the flexibility to change their ticket dates or check the status of their bus right in the app.
What opportunities do you see for the industry?
Bus travel has come a long way, now offering things like on-board Wi-Fi and management of your own travel in the app. Services have become more reliable, and the network continues to expand. I believe the opportunity for bus travel is both in the consumer's image of what bus travel looks like and in local governments embracing connectivity for their constituency. The problem with transit advocacy is it tends to be left to the 20% of the population that actually utilizes the services, even though it helps everyone. Utilizing mass transit keeps the roads less congested with single vehicles and saves parking spaces. Mass transit has a lower carbon footprint and helps keep city air cleaner for everyone. The industry has so much room to grow, if the American population will embrace its benefit for all.
What are some of your proudest moments in your career thus far?
My proudest moments in my career all come from traveler sentiment. When people hear what I do, they tend to tell me their story of traveling on the bus. So many people have had amazing experiences or deep-rooted connections to Greyhound. I’ve talked with friends about their experiences as young people traveling to and from college; I’ve met ticket agents who are second and third generation working in the bus industry; I’ve interviewed a reseller whose late dad was a bus driver and she still carried a picture of him in his uniform. The bus has touched so many people’s lives, and it always touches my heart to hear these stories.
Edited by Sarah Suydam, Managing Editor for Groups Today.
This article originally appeared in the Nov/Dec ’25 issue of Groups Today.
Photo courtesy of Lynn Hoogerhyde.
