Bus Travel

[Sad Eyed Lady]

I was reading the thread started by Oceanic on train travel and felt so envious because I love the idea of being able to get on a train, relax and reach my destination without doing the actual driving myself. I have flown many times in the past and have basically had good experiences, but it is not quite what it used to be with all the delays and regulations and so on. There is no train service near me, so another mode of public transportation to explore - the bus. Probably Greyhound. I would like to know anyone's experiences traveling in the U.S. by bus, both good and bad. I have been on a Greyhound a couple of times in my life and that was several, several years ago, so have no current knowledge of what it is like, especially for longer distances. For some reason it seems to be frowned on, or looked down on by some - and I really don't understand why. Enlightenment sought.

[CatsNK]

I took a bus from Brownsville, TX to Albany, NY. It took about 3 days. Complete brutality. I didn't sleep the entire time. We were only off the bus for very short intervals - like 45 minutes in Atlanta and Houston, IIRC. Not enough time to do anything - you can barely stretch your legs.

Bus seats aren't all that comfortable - you have about 1/3 the room as you do on Amtrak. Bus stations in the USA tend to be dirty and ugly. Schedules can be inconvenient. They can also be very crowded. And the treatment of the riders is generally not good.

Services like Megabus, otoh, can be fantastic. We have a megabus service from here to NYC. Riders save at least 50% over the train - and the pick up and drop off points are EXACTLY THE SAME for both - but would you believe many people won't take it? Ugh. Snobs! They think it's "better" to ride the train. OK, throw away $40 because you can't board a bus.

Anyway. Greyhound has its drawbacks. I wouldn't take it again for such a long trip if there was any way at all around it. Short trips - like less than a day - no problem. Longer than that, no thanks.

[Gina]

I've had wonderful train experiences and would do that again. But the bus? Not really. I've done a bit of traveling that way but not much. The longest was from Calif to Arizona and it was nowhere near as pleasant as the train. Less space, and you really can't get up and walk around very much - one of the benefits of train travel if you need to move. The restrooms are bare minimum too. The ride much more lurchy - unlike that on the rails. And much more turning of the vehicles (train tracks are generally straight)

Worst of all is the scenery - you only see what's along crowded freeways or even cars in adjacent lanes and traffic fumes. Train right-of-ways are often old, much narrower, and that allows you a much more close contact with the area you are going through.

I have nothing against buses per se, and if I had to go somewhere and it saved money, I'd do it. But for a pleasure excursion? Maybe if that was all there was. Just make sure you get a seat on the right so you'll have a chance to see more than traffic in the other lanes.

[Heidi]

We never took a bus in the US. In Europe there are many bus tours, lasting several days, including hotels and some meals. We took a three day bus tour from Munich to The Netherlands to enjoy the tulips and other springflowers. I remember Keukenhof outside of Amsterdam as the msot spectacular place to see tulips.
I think a similar bus line is the Green Tortoise here in the states. They advertise adventure travels on a student's budget. We talked to some travellers at Mono Lake, California, where their bus stopped and the tourists could explore the lake. I think these adventure tours are more for young people, as you sleep on the bus.

[Float On]

I know my dad had to take the bus home from visiting my brother in Portland, OR when the towers fell. Took him 4 days to get to Columbia, MO.
I use to take the grayhound with my grandma but that was just an hour and a half trip - she never drove.
I don't think I'd be interested in taking a long trip on it.

[Bootsie]

I mentioned in the other thread that I love train trips, but I do NOT like bus trips. I took Greyhound in my college days because it was the only transportation I could afford. Even then, when my standards were lower and my stamina higher, I thought that mode of transportation was lousy. The bus terminals in cities are usually yucky and in small towns, they might just be a gas station (not even a pit stop). The fellow passengers were less than pleasant and the service was bad.

As mentioned above, there are some short-distance bus services that aren't bad and the prices is usually great. But for long distance Greyhound, no thanks.

[IshbelRobertson]

I use our local bus service - it's fairly fast, runs to time and the buses are clean! I wouldn't use a long-distance coach service (as we call it in the UK) say, between my home city and London or Newcastle or Birmingham, for instance. Whilst it's much cheaper than the rail service, at least one can move around on the train, go to the buffet car or the restaurant for a 'posher' meal!

[Miss Cellane]

I've done my share of bus riding. When I didn't have a car, I would take the bus from Boston to Portsmouth, NH to visit relatives. For short trips like that, it was fine.

Then I moved to Connecticut. There were no direct buses to Portsmouth. I had to take a local bus to the bus "station" which was a diner. Then I had to go to either Providence or Boston and transfer. What was a 3 hour car drive took 7 to 8 hours on the bus, what with the waiting for the second bus. That made it difficult to take the bus home for the weekend. I'd have to take either Friday or Monday off, in order to get a decent span of time with my hosts.

I'm back in Boston. I have a brother who lives in Rochester, NY. It's a 7 hour car drive at a cost, for gas and tolls, of around $65. The train is 9-12 hours at a cost of about $125. It's 12 hours on the bus, with stops and transfers and lay-overs and the cost is about $75. But on the train I can get up and move around; I'm not stuck in a seat for hours and hours with no chance of moving around. I took the bus once--it got in during rush hour, which made it difficult for my brother to pick me up. My other choice was to arrive at 2:45 am, which I'm not doing to a guy with three little kids at home. The bus station was in a creepy looking part of town; I wouldn't want to be there alone at night. That same trip from Connecticut was 24 hours--for a trip that would take 6.5 hours in a car.

My take is that Greyhound is okay for non-stop trips under 5 hours. For a lengthy trip, I'd want the train, just for the ability to get up and move around a little. Another factor is if I'll need a car when I get to my destination. Sometimes it's cheaper to drive there than to rent a car once I'm where I want to be.

[JaneV2.0]

I waited at the Seattle terminal for an hour some years ago when a friend's bus was overdue. Worse than any dive bar, it was an ill-lit, run down, dirty place. I've seen Greyhound stops described as "full of pimps and pervs," and that might not be far off the mark. That experience alone was enough to turn me off bus travel. I'll happily pay extra to ride the train.

[iris lily]

My college friend was raiped in the Kansas City bus station. They are bad news.

In my youth I took a bus plenty of times, but not now.

[Sad Eyed Lady]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I guess I had kind of romanticized the idea of public transportation (long distance). Sounds like my reliable old Toyota is my best bet. Seriously it is the IDEA more than the actual doing - there is just something in me that likes the notion of hopping on a train/plane/bus and just settling back in the seat and going.

[Miss Cellane]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I guess I had kind of romanticized the idea of public transportation (long distance). Sounds like my reliable old Toyota is my best bet. Seriously it is the IDEA more than the actual doing - there is just something in me that likes the notion of hopping on a train/plane/bus and just settling back in the seat and going.

I think you should try a train trip before writing off all methods of public transport. There's a world of difference between buses and trains, and bus and train stations.

I take public transportation whenever I can, because I don't like to drive. What stops me from using public transportation more are inconvenient departure and arrival times, and the lack of connecting public transportation when you get where you're going. But when the pieces fall into place, it's wonderful. I'd much rather take a train trip that's a few hours longer than driving there direct, because I can do other things than just drive for several hours--I can read, or sleep, or crochet, or do crossword puzzles. Driving, I'm trapped behind the wheel and all I can do is drive.

[madgeylou]

i travel back and forth between pittsburgh and new york a lot so have driven, taken the train, flown, and taken the bus.

the train is great, except it takes all day, literally, to travel 400 miles. it's like an 11 or 12 hour journey typically (driving is 6-7). it's very comfy, though, and a nice ride through the PA countryside.

last time i took the bus, all we needed was a few dozen chickens to complete the experience. crowded, smelly, loud, uncomfortable. never again!

last summer i took a long train journey spread out over a week from denver through salt lake city on over to san francisco. that was great -- absolutely beautiful ride through the mountains and desert. one downside: the train leaves salt lake city at like 1 am, and the train station is in a very unsavory part of town. but that was a small hurdle to get over. the trip was great overall, i got a lot of reading and gazing out the window while thinking done. :)

[Sad Eyed Lady]

Oh no, it's not that I have decided against train travel Miss Cellane, but the reason I started this thread about bus travel is because I don't HAVE a train station probably within 100 miles of me! I would love to try a trip by train, but would have a drive even to get to a station.

[ApatheticNoMore]

I'd take the bus that is part of the Amtrak trips (thruway buses they call them), in fact I have (from Salinas to Monterey - because who wants to vacation in Salinas :)). But Greyhound all by itself, haven't done it, doesn't sound very appealing, although for a trip that could be gotten there in a day it might be ok.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Oh no, it's not that I have decided against train travel Miss Cellane, but the reason I started this thread about bus travel is because I don't HAVE a train station probably within 100 miles of me! I would love to try a trip by train, but would have a drive even to get to a station.

No thruway buses go from where you are to the train station? Go to the Amtrak website, put in where you are starting from and where you want to go, see what it says (you may be able to take a bus to the train station). Of course driving might still be easier than all that (for a trip of any distance I think it still beats driving), but worth checking out.