Why does anyone take Greyhound Buses long distance anymore?
By ParaTed2k
@ParaTed2k (22940)
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
January 16, 2011 8:12pm CST
I admit, I have great memories of long distance bus trips. Yeah, they are long, boring and often cramped, but I used to make my own fun on them. I used to bring my guitar, drum pad and sticks, harmonica and other implements of musical musings, and organize little jam sessions in bus stations during the stop overs.
At times I even got a little rebellious, breaking out the ol' six string on the bus while we were between stops. You just haven't lived until you have heard (or better yet, taken part in) half a bus singing Hotel California at the top of their lungs. I guess it would have gone over better in the eyes of the bus driver if it wasn't 12:30am. ;~D
I can even honestly say that I've played La Grange (ZZ Top) riding through La Grange, TX. I played Vegas... the Las Vegas Greyhound station.
I've met some pretty wild folks along the highways. Fellow musicians and vets, homeless people who scored tickets from small town mayors inviting them to "move along", drifters, and even a side show fire eater.
But that was when a cross country ticket cost about $100. I looked it up today, a trip from Sheboygan, WI to Salt Lake City, UT costs almost $400. The price for a cheap airline flight would be $300 for the same time frame.
Yeah, I can make it fun, but I can't justify spending $100 more for the ticket, and taking 3 or 4 days when I could be there the same day.
Greyhound can charge anything they want, but when it costs more to ride a bus than to fly... that's just highway robbery.
Why would anyone take a bus at those prices?
6 responses
@commonground (367)
• United States
17 Jan 11
I recently rode the bus from Texas to Idaho. A very long and miserable 3 day trip for the very grand price of 300 and something dollars. I rode the bus because I do not fly. It was my first bus trip in over 15 years. I'm getting too old for such things. I can say with some certainty that it was my last trip.
I did meet some interesting people. Those of us going in the same general direction formed a loose group, helping each other to make our transfers and getting on and off the bus on time at each stop. Of course I was the one traveling the greatest distance so I ended up on my own for the last stretch of the journey.
When I was young a bus trip was a great adventure. Now it's just a means to get to my destination as cheaply and semi safely as possible. I don't believe I will be traveling by bus ever again. Swollen legs and feet, muscle cramps, a three day headache and some of the worst food I've ever eaten. It would probably have been okay if I were about 30 years younger.
1 person likes this
@xfahctor (14113)
• Lancaster, New Hampshire
17 Jan 11
I've done some time on buses. Never anything as adventurous as you described but you do meet some interesting people on a bus. I too remember it being the cheep way to travel. I think the combination of unstable fuel prices and more people opting not to fly have driven the prices up the last year or so.
My daughter too a bus from central NH to Baltimore and I think it ran her a little over 200 a year and a half ago. My girlfriend by contrast just looked up a bus ticket from western Maine to Eastern Nebraska and it was over 400 bucks too. But Logan airport sucks and it's hard to get a cheap flight out of Manchester so who knows what ends up happening.
1 person likes this
@cripfemme (7698)
• United States
17 Jan 11
I will never take greyhound a long distance, it is cheaper to fly. Not to mention fast and more comfortable. Greyhound did not save me that much money as opposed to Amtrak. I prefer Amtrak because i can go to the bathroom. being in a wheelchair going to the bathroom on the bus bothers me. It is imposssible, so i usaully go with Amtrak, even if it costs a little more money.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
17 Jan 11
Oh yeah, I can only imagine how rough the bus would be for you.. even with "wheelchair access".
@dragon54u (31633)
• United States
17 Jan 11
I used to take the bus, too, when I wanted to travel but it's no longer economical. It just makes no sense.
I wish I had ridden the bus with you!! I was usually seated next to someone mumbling about aliens or a letch I had to fight off. I once broke a guy's nose when I awoke to find his hand under my shirt. Back then people didn't sue, they took their lumps and hoped for easier prey. 
@Hatley (163772)
• Garden Grove, California
25 Jan 11
M hi grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrjust lost a whole long response should have copied it.why does this happen? anyway I used to go greyhound back
and forth from A rizona to Rapid City South Dakota til I found out it was cheaper to fly.Also I could get home in five hours instead of two and ahalf days. I went back to warn my dad I was married. I was 32 and
there was no need to do it but resp ect for him and nothing but fights ensued.so I went back sooner than I planned. this was one trip I would never foreget. I learned to enjoy the flights. but I never did enjoy the fights, lol lol sad when an old father cannot let go his 32 year old daughter.well anyway flying sure beat the long bus trip.
@millertime (1394)
• United States
18 Jan 11
I started checking into alternatives to flying and I was pretty surprised by what I found. I first checked Amtrak for long trips and it was absolutely ridiculous. To take a train across several states, it was outrageously expensive and would take 2 or 3 days with several long layovers. Same for the bus. Unless you are going from a major city to a major city, you have to catch connections and the trip would take twice or three times as long as it would take to drive it myself in a car. From what I saw checking it out online, neither one would an option I would ever consider. I don't understand how they get any business at all. I guess, if someone doesn't have a car or a driver's license and absolutely didn't want to fly, they would have to opt for the train or bus. Well for me, I guess I'll be driving for any trips I take in N. America.
