Sorry for what happened to your friend - it's not unknown, and one of the safety pieces of Mexican "busology" is they are big, and the drivers are expert. And you are right about being at the station with some companies - their websites, when they work, don't usually give you much to work on. (Others, I have successfully purchased in advance, as reliably as SNCF / French railroads.)
Google maps is OK for the US, but not so much for some other locations.
Good luck with the rest of your trip!
Originally Posted by
dixonge
...
Another couple of lessons learned: 1 - Google Maps travel time estimates may or may not be accurate for cars, but way off for buses. (4.5 hours vs. 8.5 hours). 2 - Planning a Mexican bus trip via bus line web pages is almost a complete waste of time. Until you are at the bus terminal and talking to an agent you can't accurately plan anything...