BearX220

Thank you!

shuckit

You made that ride sound down right enjoyable. Thanks for sharing.

Gnopps

Thanks for the report, it was a very nice read.

psa188

As for bus travel for shorter trips, like Philly-NY, I suspect a renaissance is coming. From what I hear, it's already starting back east, first with the "Chinatown" buses (some of which had marginal reputations) to Megabus and Boltbus which seem to be well-regarded. See:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/06/business/06BUS.html
http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/09/26...pagewanted=all

With TSA hassles and nickel-and-dime airline fees, I predict that short to medium distance bus travel gets more popular.

That said, Megabus dropped its California service, so it's not all rosy on the bus front.

Part of the problem is getting around at the destination. If you're going to NYC, especially Manhattan, you really don't want or need a car but if you're going to LA, you'll probably want one when you get there. So in the California case, people would be more motivated to drive so they can have a car when they get there.

mapleg

Your trip report reminded me of the last time I rode Greyhound, which was in 1980. I was a student at the time with very limited funds, and Greyhound came out with a "Thank you Canada" pass (relating to the Tehran hostage crisis) which allowed any Canadian to buy a one month pass Canada-US for $99--and I made full use of the pass.

I still remember my itinerary--Niagara Falls-Buffalo-Tampa-New Orleans-Phoenix-Las Vegas-Salt Lake City-Seattle-Portland-San Francisco-Reno-LA and the finale-a trip LA to Buffalo. I did all that in 3 weeks. To save hotel costs I took overnight bus trips roughly 2 out of 3 nights of the trip

Needless to say, that cured me once and for all of the desire to ever ride a long distance bus again and I have never been one one since. That last LAX-Buffalo trip was beyond reason and makes a trans pacific economy flight look like a piece of cake.

Circumknowitall

Interesting, well written TR. Thanks for posting OP.

NYBanker

Nice TR.

Are there any loyalty or points schemes available to Greyhound pax?

GogoSF

I've never taken a Greyhound bus, but having read this I wouldn't rule it out.

You're a terrific writer, OP. I particularly enjoyed your memories of bus trips taken as a child. Felt like I was there!

CX828

Nice TR, I recently did a Greyhound from Toronto to Ottawa return. Was 6 hours on the way 5.5 on the way back. On the way we had the same bus you did, the newer version. Ride was pleasant as a bus ride can be. On the way back we had an old bus, which kept stalling! I was very nervous we would breakdown in the middle of the Canadian wilderness!

firequall

If you think the 401 or highway 7 is Canadian wilderness, you haven't seen anything yet. And unless you did the milk run along most of highway 7, I'm wondering how you managed to make the trip last six hours- most expresses are 4-5hrs in length via highway 7-37-401.


I don't quite get the stigma attached to Greyhound. I've heard things south of the border are a little different but I've ridden it countless times in Canada without any serious problems. Between bouncing around Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal (and cities in between) so many times I've lost count, as well as doing a whirlwind Edmonton-Calgary-Vancouver-Edmonton-Winnipeg routing last spring, the only issues I had were some of the sketchy patrons around the Edmonton terminal.

CX828

It was highway 7. Unfortunately not on the express. We kept stopping. I remember the halfway point at a small store, if you have done the route you are bound to have stopped there.

SirJman

I took my first and only US greyhound trip earlier this year. The staff at the terminals at both ends (Fort Myers-Miami), were rude & aggressive. The bus, and the ride itself was decent enough. The bus was scheduled to depart Fort Myers at ~8:30pm or so, and they locked the front terminal doors at around 8pm 'for safety', and any passenger arriving later than that, had to walk down the street to go around the building to get to the rear of the building to access the busses. The 20 year old agent working the desk wouldn't even open the doors for an elderly couple with large luggage, and just yelled at them through the glass.

I was also shocked that greyhound was charging for checked luggage (my Inter-Ontario trips I never had to pay for bags)

DTS

Greyhound last fall BHM-ATL-BHM. Once and never again.

VolFanDave

Enjoyed the TR-I, too, have a one-and-done Greyhound experience. Took the Dog from Nashville to Evansville, IN in the early 90's. One of the stops was in a little Kentucky town that had pay toilets. Another stop we almost left an elderly man who didn't come out of the restrooms until the bus started moving-he was stuffing his shirt in his pants as he was running. Fortunately enough of us saw him and called out to the driver to stop.

HIDDY

I like these "non-traditional" type of reports.

The posting of sea,rail or road reports in this forum should be encouraged in my opinion. So thanks for this one. ^