Saturday, April 5, 2008
Arthur Frommer Online, Riding Our Coattails to DC
Arthur Frommer Online: I just have to return to the news about the additional $1-a-ride (but usually $15) cut-rate bus lines
Are you challenging us, Arthur Frommer?
We write about cheap bus travel. Stick to your travel guides, sir.
[Ed. note - We will keep track of A.F keeping tracking of cheap bus travel]
Arthur Frommer Online: I just have to return to the news about the additional $1-a-ride (but usually $15) cut-rate bus lines
I just have to return to the news about the additional $1-a-ride (but usually $15) cut-rate bus lines
Just as Southwest Airlines, Skybus, Spirit Airlines, and other upstarts have revolutionized the pricing of air transportation in America (as Ryanair and easyJet did in Britain and Europe), we are now witnessing a similar upheaval in ground transportation within the U.S. Although I dealt with this subject yesterday, it's important enough to warrant further discussion today.
First, I neglected to mention yesterday that the new Megabus (www.megabus.com) service from New York will also go to Atlantic City, the difference being that the casino-bound buses will leave from the Port Authority Terminal on 42nd Street rather than from the northwest street corner of West 31st Street and Eighth Avenue (to Buffalo, Toronto, Boston, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Baltimore). And I should also have emphasized, more than I did, that from its hub in Chicago, Megabus also services every Midwest city of note. Added to its service from Los Angeles, Megabus will (as of May 30, the start-up of its New York service) deal with a large percentage of the American population in their routine transportation needs.
In doing so, Megabus joins DC2NY, a hip bus service on which free mineral water and wi-fi service are featured; it joins Bolt Bus (the Greyhound subsidiary that services only New York-to-Boston presently, but will obviously expand to many, many more cities in the coming months); and it joins the several "Chinatown" services (so-called because they drive from one Chinatown to another) like Fung Wah and others.
So here's an excellent alternative to the overly-expensive airplanes and trains to which we've been relegated in the past. Shuttle flights from New York to Boston or Washington, D.C., already cost more than $150 each way, and the cheaper Amtrak services between the same cities will almost always cost as much as $89 each way. (The speedier "Acela" trains charge as much as a shuttle flight.)
So will Americans flock to the new cut-rate buses? It's a matter of psychology. We've been trained to regard inter-city buses as something for the poor; and indeed, if you scan the people in an average bus station, you rarely see lawyers-with-briefcases or graduate students-with-laptops. But that's about to change. The fact that the new cut-rate buses will offer such amenities as power outlets at each seat is a powerful new improvement in transportation and will win many persons over from the higher-priced planes and trains.
Let me also stress that if you make your bookings right away on the new Megabus services, you stand a good chance of snaring a $1 ticket. Yesterday, an associate of mine booked a 50¢ round-trip on Megabus between New York and Philadelphia (for post-May 30 dates). And $1-and-up tickets are presently available on Megabus and Bolt Bus on all the other services they either presently operate or are about to commence.
All you cost-conscious travelers: this is a Mega development! Go to the websites of the bus lines I've named above and begin following the story over the weeks to come. We are on the brink of something big in travel.
Are you challenging us, Arthur Frommer?
We write about cheap bus travel. Stick to your travel guides, sir.
[Ed. note - We will keep track of A.F keeping tracking of cheap bus travel]
Arthur Frommer Online: I just have to return to the news about the additional $1-a-ride (but usually $15) cut-rate bus lines
I just have to return to the news about the additional $1-a-ride (but usually $15) cut-rate bus lines
Just as Southwest Airlines, Skybus, Spirit Airlines, and other upstarts have revolutionized the pricing of air transportation in America (as Ryanair and easyJet did in Britain and Europe), we are now witnessing a similar upheaval in ground transportation within the U.S. Although I dealt with this subject yesterday, it's important enough to warrant further discussion today.
First, I neglected to mention yesterday that the new Megabus (www.megabus.com) service from New York will also go to Atlantic City, the difference being that the casino-bound buses will leave from the Port Authority Terminal on 42nd Street rather than from the northwest street corner of West 31st Street and Eighth Avenue (to Buffalo, Toronto, Boston, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Baltimore). And I should also have emphasized, more than I did, that from its hub in Chicago, Megabus also services every Midwest city of note. Added to its service from Los Angeles, Megabus will (as of May 30, the start-up of its New York service) deal with a large percentage of the American population in their routine transportation needs.
In doing so, Megabus joins DC2NY, a hip bus service on which free mineral water and wi-fi service are featured; it joins Bolt Bus (the Greyhound subsidiary that services only New York-to-Boston presently, but will obviously expand to many, many more cities in the coming months); and it joins the several "Chinatown" services (so-called because they drive from one Chinatown to another) like Fung Wah and others.
So here's an excellent alternative to the overly-expensive airplanes and trains to which we've been relegated in the past. Shuttle flights from New York to Boston or Washington, D.C., already cost more than $150 each way, and the cheaper Amtrak services between the same cities will almost always cost as much as $89 each way. (The speedier "Acela" trains charge as much as a shuttle flight.)
So will Americans flock to the new cut-rate buses? It's a matter of psychology. We've been trained to regard inter-city buses as something for the poor; and indeed, if you scan the people in an average bus station, you rarely see lawyers-with-briefcases or graduate students-with-laptops. But that's about to change. The fact that the new cut-rate buses will offer such amenities as power outlets at each seat is a powerful new improvement in transportation and will win many persons over from the higher-priced planes and trains.
Let me also stress that if you make your bookings right away on the new Megabus services, you stand a good chance of snaring a $1 ticket. Yesterday, an associate of mine booked a 50¢ round-trip on Megabus between New York and Philadelphia (for post-May 30 dates). And $1-and-up tickets are presently available on Megabus and Bolt Bus on all the other services they either presently operate or are about to commence.
All you cost-conscious travelers: this is a Mega development! Go to the websites of the bus lines I've named above and begin following the story over the weeks to come. We are on the brink of something big in travel.
Maiden Voyage
First time on the Bolt bus, and I am a nervous about the possibility of the Bolt Bus not actually existing, and this $1 fare was a way to get my credit card number. I worry that I won't find the bus on 33rd and 7th. I even tried to plan to dry run a few weekends back, so I could find the street and remember key landmarks. M thought that was unnecessary. As I get off the train, I see it. The Bolt Bus. Snazzier than the Greyhound. Bright orange and shiny.
I talk to the bus driver, and he offers to put my bag in the bus. He moves the bus because he can't keep it parked there. I worry that I won't find the bus at the 5:30 boarding time.
I have some time to waste. I notice that on the street is a deli, a peep show, a Sbarro's, and nestled in between -- Fantasma. A magical toy store. Advertising Continuos Live Magic Shows. I take a cell-phone photo and immediately send it to M and P, challenging them to guess what the stores actually sells.
I figure that I have the time, so I walk up the many flights of stairs to the store. I expect a peep show, I expect a bizarre mix of magic tricks and nudity. I plan to walk in the door -- heavy and grey with the words Stage Door 1 painted on it -- and peek in, see what I see, and text M and P that I found a magic-themed peep show.
I open the door. Magic Shop. I saw a card trick. I bought fake poop. I went on my way.
Disappointed. A magic store is not funny enough to text about. I do anyway. Also, I write about it.
I talk to someone else who is waiting. She has never been to DC before, never been on a bus. I give some tips, and share my excitement about the new bus line.
The bus arrives, and I am one of the first on. The driver checks our print-out tickets. The bus was mostly empty. I chose a seat, but then two women sat behind me. I moved my seat, because I don't want to listen to their conversation for 4 hours. Never had the Greyhound offered me such an opportunity.
I move to a seat closer to the back, left side of the bus. My seat has an electrical outlet. I plug in my portable DVD player, even though it was fully charged.
The seats were comfortable, very clean -- not leather as advertised. So much leg room, I even took a picture. No one sat next to me. I watched my Netflix, I read, I texted. No smells, no babies, no complaints, no rest stops.
I used the bathroom. Clean! And it was not a big hole with everything sloshing around visibly underneath. It was air-plane style. And had real toliet paper. No hand sanitizer though, but I carry my own.
The ride was quiet and quick, comparatively.
Walk off the bus at 11th and G. No train ride after that. No cab. I meet M and walk home.
Sunday:
1:00 Bolt Bus. Walked to the bus. Bought coffee. A big crowd is gathered. Some people have tickets for a later time but try to get on this bus. They succeed.
Crowded bus this trip, but I manage to sit alone. I plan to charge my phone, but I left it at M's. I plug in my DVD player.
People are loud this trip. I read a magazine. I smell stinky food, it's always someone. It's the person two seats in front of me. I now hate her.
A man sitting across from me keeps pounding on his chest, loudly. I stare. His companion reaches over, and also pounds on his chest. He just doesn't stop. He pounds on and off for the whole ride.
Bathroom has hand sanitizer this time.
Due to traffic, we detoured into NJ. It added some time to the trip and I got antsy. Almost at 33rd and 7th, and a moving truck is blocking the street. The movers try to convince the driver to squeeze through. He refuses. After minutes of arguing, the driver says, "That's why you drive a truck, and I drive a $450,000 bus. A safe driver, which is not always guaranteed on some forms of DC-NY travel. I approve. Other riders complain about the long ride. I do, but I know that I'll be back.
Better than regular Greyhound in all areas.
Photos to be posted soon.
I talk to the bus driver, and he offers to put my bag in the bus. He moves the bus because he can't keep it parked there. I worry that I won't find the bus at the 5:30 boarding time.
I have some time to waste. I notice that on the street is a deli, a peep show, a Sbarro's, and nestled in between -- Fantasma. A magical toy store. Advertising Continuos Live Magic Shows. I take a cell-phone photo and immediately send it to M and P, challenging them to guess what the stores actually sells.
I figure that I have the time, so I walk up the many flights of stairs to the store. I expect a peep show, I expect a bizarre mix of magic tricks and nudity. I plan to walk in the door -- heavy and grey with the words Stage Door 1 painted on it -- and peek in, see what I see, and text M and P that I found a magic-themed peep show.
I open the door. Magic Shop. I saw a card trick. I bought fake poop. I went on my way.
Disappointed. A magic store is not funny enough to text about. I do anyway. Also, I write about it.
I talk to someone else who is waiting. She has never been to DC before, never been on a bus. I give some tips, and share my excitement about the new bus line.
The bus arrives, and I am one of the first on. The driver checks our print-out tickets. The bus was mostly empty. I chose a seat, but then two women sat behind me. I moved my seat, because I don't want to listen to their conversation for 4 hours. Never had the Greyhound offered me such an opportunity.
I move to a seat closer to the back, left side of the bus. My seat has an electrical outlet. I plug in my portable DVD player, even though it was fully charged.
The seats were comfortable, very clean -- not leather as advertised. So much leg room, I even took a picture. No one sat next to me. I watched my Netflix, I read, I texted. No smells, no babies, no complaints, no rest stops.
I used the bathroom. Clean! And it was not a big hole with everything sloshing around visibly underneath. It was air-plane style. And had real toliet paper. No hand sanitizer though, but I carry my own.
The ride was quiet and quick, comparatively.
Walk off the bus at 11th and G. No train ride after that. No cab. I meet M and walk home.
Sunday:
1:00 Bolt Bus. Walked to the bus. Bought coffee. A big crowd is gathered. Some people have tickets for a later time but try to get on this bus. They succeed.
Crowded bus this trip, but I manage to sit alone. I plan to charge my phone, but I left it at M's. I plug in my DVD player.
People are loud this trip. I read a magazine. I smell stinky food, it's always someone. It's the person two seats in front of me. I now hate her.
A man sitting across from me keeps pounding on his chest, loudly. I stare. His companion reaches over, and also pounds on his chest. He just doesn't stop. He pounds on and off for the whole ride.
Bathroom has hand sanitizer this time.
Due to traffic, we detoured into NJ. It added some time to the trip and I got antsy. Almost at 33rd and 7th, and a moving truck is blocking the street. The movers try to convince the driver to squeeze through. He refuses. After minutes of arguing, the driver says, "That's why you drive a truck, and I drive a $450,000 bus. A safe driver, which is not always guaranteed on some forms of DC-NY travel. I approve. Other riders complain about the long ride. I do, but I know that I'll be back.
Better than regular Greyhound in all areas.
Photos to be posted soon.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
competence, etc.
You should know that while writing this, I have high hopes of this being one of the last greyhound trips I have to take. And if it’s not actually my last, which is probably more accurate, I cherish the thought of a shift from habitual to sporadic.
I am not the kind of rider that people strike up conversations with. I am not interested, frankly. This should not be deemed as superiority nor general unfriendliness. When I board the bus, I have a mission in mind; a schedule of things I’ve liked to have read, written or watched by the time I leave. Casual conversation just does not fit. Although I did see a man who matched the description of a leprechaun pirate (long red beard, pirate-like doo rag, luminous pot/cauldron) on the queue to Philadelphia. Him, I would have talked to. Anything short of this kind of fantastical hybrid and I’m not interested.
I am consistently shocked to see how foreign of a concept this is for other travelers, however. Take the gentleman behind me, who because of his boisterous demeanor, I have discovered recently came to the US from Pakistan. If I had to guess his hobbies, they would include talking loudly on a cell phone and interrupting other people’s train of thought. He is seated next to a rather disinterested woman content to both close her eyes when the conversation drifts and stare out the window longingly. Our astute conversationalist seizes the opportunity to talk to someone who is not on his cell phone and begins a dialogue that can only be described as “chatting her up.” It is one of those conversations that swirl widely and I gradually become impressed at his ability to get so much out of her. My assigned text eventually gets cast aside and I soon begin to snoop, an activity that L is known famously for, even at the detriment of creating interesting discussions of our own. The woman is going to New York to see her “ex-flame” whose birthday happens to be today. She is feeling conflicted about making such a visit but there’s “something in her heart that tells her to go to him.” I envy her impetuousness and wonder where our male friend will take the conversation from here. Considering the current circumstances, retrieving a number seems unlikely if not impossible. His tactic of questioning her love is predictable and met with a decent amount of resistance and is an amateur move since this declaration of sentiment requires involving herself in a 5 hour bus ride. Our man is persistent but the immediacy of the exchange is now long gone and I am left listening to the come on’s of man who is clearly out of his league. He has done his best. There is always the way back home to consider.
The trip to Washington provided another similar conversation in that it was loud enough for even those not meticulously collecting anecdotes to blog about later might take notice. Two riders had somehow discovered they were both British and just like that an ex-pat bond was formed. This led to an exchange filled with reminiscing that is a consistently unpleasant and exclusionary activity that rears its ugly head at least once in any given large social interaction. (“You grew up in Chattanooga too!? Did you go to East Ridge High-School? Did you know…”) Although I never quite mustered up the energy to take notice of the nuts and bolts, lots of flirty giggling ensued. I then decided that next to a wailing toddler that this might be the most aggravating noise imaginable on a Coach bus. This is no place for mating. Just ask the guy in the back.
-m
I am not the kind of rider that people strike up conversations with. I am not interested, frankly. This should not be deemed as superiority nor general unfriendliness. When I board the bus, I have a mission in mind; a schedule of things I’ve liked to have read, written or watched by the time I leave. Casual conversation just does not fit. Although I did see a man who matched the description of a leprechaun pirate (long red beard, pirate-like doo rag, luminous pot/cauldron) on the queue to Philadelphia. Him, I would have talked to. Anything short of this kind of fantastical hybrid and I’m not interested.
I am consistently shocked to see how foreign of a concept this is for other travelers, however. Take the gentleman behind me, who because of his boisterous demeanor, I have discovered recently came to the US from Pakistan. If I had to guess his hobbies, they would include talking loudly on a cell phone and interrupting other people’s train of thought. He is seated next to a rather disinterested woman content to both close her eyes when the conversation drifts and stare out the window longingly. Our astute conversationalist seizes the opportunity to talk to someone who is not on his cell phone and begins a dialogue that can only be described as “chatting her up.” It is one of those conversations that swirl widely and I gradually become impressed at his ability to get so much out of her. My assigned text eventually gets cast aside and I soon begin to snoop, an activity that L is known famously for, even at the detriment of creating interesting discussions of our own. The woman is going to New York to see her “ex-flame” whose birthday happens to be today. She is feeling conflicted about making such a visit but there’s “something in her heart that tells her to go to him.” I envy her impetuousness and wonder where our male friend will take the conversation from here. Considering the current circumstances, retrieving a number seems unlikely if not impossible. His tactic of questioning her love is predictable and met with a decent amount of resistance and is an amateur move since this declaration of sentiment requires involving herself in a 5 hour bus ride. Our man is persistent but the immediacy of the exchange is now long gone and I am left listening to the come on’s of man who is clearly out of his league. He has done his best. There is always the way back home to consider.
The trip to Washington provided another similar conversation in that it was loud enough for even those not meticulously collecting anecdotes to blog about later might take notice. Two riders had somehow discovered they were both British and just like that an ex-pat bond was formed. This led to an exchange filled with reminiscing that is a consistently unpleasant and exclusionary activity that rears its ugly head at least once in any given large social interaction. (“You grew up in Chattanooga too!? Did you go to East Ridge High-School? Did you know…”) Although I never quite mustered up the energy to take notice of the nuts and bolts, lots of flirty giggling ensued. I then decided that next to a wailing toddler that this might be the most aggravating noise imaginable on a Coach bus. This is no place for mating. Just ask the guy in the back.
-m
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
The cat is out of the bag (Today's NY TIMES)
New York to Boston for $1? Yes, for Some Who Call Early
By KEN BELSON
Published: March 25, 2008
For travelers who want to get from New York to Boston for less than it would cost for a cup of coffee at Starbucks, two emerging bus lines may have the answer.
Megabus.com plans to announce on Tuesday that it will begin service between New York and seven other East Coast cities starting on May 30.
Two-year-old Megabus.com, a subsidiary of Coach USA, is based in Paramus, N.J., and is structured much like Southwest and other low-cost airlines. Tickets are sold on the Internet and by telephone, with the best deals for those who buy tickets the earliest. The first seats on the runs between New York and Boston sell for as little as $1, for one-way fares, with prices rising to as high as $14 as the departure date approaches.
Megabus.com’s announcement comes three weeks after a news came from another bus company, BoltBus, a division of Greyhound, that it would introduce similar services between New York, Boston and Washington, also starting at $1 a fare. Prices rise to as much as $25 for a one-way fare between New York and Washington.
Megabus.com buses are outfitted with movie screens and free wireless Internet connections, and customers can book tickets on the company’s Web site with cellphones or BlackBerry smart phones. The company runs only express routes between cities; buses stop only occasionally so drivers can take a break.
“We don’t make stops five or six times along the way, which makes us similar to driving your car,” said Dale Moser, president of Megabus.com, a sister company of the Gray Line New York Sightseeing bus line. “And you’re guaranteed a seat.”
A BoltBus official said the company would not be outdone by Megabus.com. BoltBus “is the best of all worlds in terms of extreme value and on-board service, with three inches of extra leg room and electrical outlets at every seat,” said Dustin Clark, a company spokesman.
Megabus.com buses to Baltimore, Buffalo, Boston, Philadelphia, Toronto and Washington will pick up and drop off passengers on the northeast corner of Eighth Avenue and West 31st Street, outside Pennsylvania Station. Buses to Atlantic City will leave from the Port Authority Bus Terminal nine blocks north. The company will operate 11 departures a day to Boston and Washington.
Both the BoltBus and Megabus.com fares are far below regular, nonrefundable Greyhound tickets, which run $33 for a one-way ticket between Boston and New York.
To introduce riders to its service, Megabus.com plans to offer free tickets to customers who book reservations for May 30 to June 5.
More than 900,000 customers have ridden on Megabus.com to and from its two existing hubs, Chicago and Los Angeles, which now serve 22 other cities, Mr. Moser said.
He added that with airlines adding fuel surcharges and gasoline prices rising, travelers who do not typically ride buses might look at his service.
About 35 percent of the company’s customers are young professionals from 18 to 30, and another 30 percent are women from 30 to 55 who do not want to drive into the city, Mr. Moser said. Another 19 percent are what he called “silver surfers,” elderly passengers who want to visit family and friends and often travel during nonpeak periods.
Transportation experts say that to succeed in New York, Megabus.com needs to make bus travel more alluring and dispel the notion that it is for people who cannot afford trains or planes, or do not own a car. To do that, the company must convince customers that it offers better service than other bus companies.
“There’s certainly the perception that buses are for poor people and people without cars,” said Jeffrey M. Zupan, a senior fellow for transportation at the Regional Plan Association. “The way they’ll overcome it is to provide a first-class service. Give people a newspaper and cappuccino to create the feeling they are not second-class citizens.
By KEN BELSON
Published: March 25, 2008
For travelers who want to get from New York to Boston for less than it would cost for a cup of coffee at Starbucks, two emerging bus lines may have the answer.
Megabus.com plans to announce on Tuesday that it will begin service between New York and seven other East Coast cities starting on May 30.
Two-year-old Megabus.com, a subsidiary of Coach USA, is based in Paramus, N.J., and is structured much like Southwest and other low-cost airlines. Tickets are sold on the Internet and by telephone, with the best deals for those who buy tickets the earliest. The first seats on the runs between New York and Boston sell for as little as $1, for one-way fares, with prices rising to as high as $14 as the departure date approaches.
Megabus.com’s announcement comes three weeks after a news came from another bus company, BoltBus, a division of Greyhound, that it would introduce similar services between New York, Boston and Washington, also starting at $1 a fare. Prices rise to as much as $25 for a one-way fare between New York and Washington.
Megabus.com buses are outfitted with movie screens and free wireless Internet connections, and customers can book tickets on the company’s Web site with cellphones or BlackBerry smart phones. The company runs only express routes between cities; buses stop only occasionally so drivers can take a break.
“We don’t make stops five or six times along the way, which makes us similar to driving your car,” said Dale Moser, president of Megabus.com, a sister company of the Gray Line New York Sightseeing bus line. “And you’re guaranteed a seat.”
A BoltBus official said the company would not be outdone by Megabus.com. BoltBus “is the best of all worlds in terms of extreme value and on-board service, with three inches of extra leg room and electrical outlets at every seat,” said Dustin Clark, a company spokesman.
Megabus.com buses to Baltimore, Buffalo, Boston, Philadelphia, Toronto and Washington will pick up and drop off passengers on the northeast corner of Eighth Avenue and West 31st Street, outside Pennsylvania Station. Buses to Atlantic City will leave from the Port Authority Bus Terminal nine blocks north. The company will operate 11 departures a day to Boston and Washington.
Both the BoltBus and Megabus.com fares are far below regular, nonrefundable Greyhound tickets, which run $33 for a one-way ticket between Boston and New York.
To introduce riders to its service, Megabus.com plans to offer free tickets to customers who book reservations for May 30 to June 5.
More than 900,000 customers have ridden on Megabus.com to and from its two existing hubs, Chicago and Los Angeles, which now serve 22 other cities, Mr. Moser said.
He added that with airlines adding fuel surcharges and gasoline prices rising, travelers who do not typically ride buses might look at his service.
About 35 percent of the company’s customers are young professionals from 18 to 30, and another 30 percent are women from 30 to 55 who do not want to drive into the city, Mr. Moser said. Another 19 percent are what he called “silver surfers,” elderly passengers who want to visit family and friends and often travel during nonpeak periods.
Transportation experts say that to succeed in New York, Megabus.com needs to make bus travel more alluring and dispel the notion that it is for people who cannot afford trains or planes, or do not own a car. To do that, the company must convince customers that it offers better service than other bus companies.
“There’s certainly the perception that buses are for poor people and people without cars,” said Jeffrey M. Zupan, a senior fellow for transportation at the Regional Plan Association. “The way they’ll overcome it is to provide a first-class service. Give people a newspaper and cappuccino to create the feeling they are not second-class citizens.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
...and now for something completely similar
I feel compelled to address the announcement of the Bolt Bus, greyhound's new anti-Chinatown service that promises reduced prices, leather seats, wireless internet and electrical outlets. I'll admit that the day I first read about it, I was physically unable to concentrate on anything else, having bought tickets on this unseen yet miraculous vessel well into June. God bless free-market competition! I don't think I mean that.
BUT! Being trailblazers of the Mid-Atlantic travel that we are, you will read everything there is to know about the Bolt Bus here first! Its official debut review will be in two weeks by Lori has the distinct and prestegious pleasure of taking the inagural greyblog trip. I must admit to not reporting this news sooner out of selfish reasons, mainly I wanted to ensure that L and I bought all of our tickets first. I am sorry dear readers, but as Shirley MacLaine said in The Apartment, "that's the way it crumbles...cookie-wise"
BUT! Being trailblazers of the Mid-Atlantic travel that we are, you will read everything there is to know about the Bolt Bus here first! Its official debut review will be in two weeks by Lori has the distinct and prestegious pleasure of taking the inagural greyblog trip. I must admit to not reporting this news sooner out of selfish reasons, mainly I wanted to ensure that L and I bought all of our tickets first. I am sorry dear readers, but as Shirley MacLaine said in The Apartment, "that's the way it crumbles...cookie-wise"
always never again
An engagement led me elsewhere this past week, into the great unknown of Apex's Chinatown bus service. Without the discounted online prices of the greyhound NYC-DC fares, trips to Philadelphia require a different kind of coach.
In the past, I've been known to compare Chinatown buses to a modern-day equivalent of riding a boxcar although I'm pretty sure that never ever cost anyone thirty dollars. Either way, these buses are a disarmingly disorganized means of traveling especially after becoming accustomed to the degradation that comes with the greyhound bus company and their employees.
Don't get me wrong-a traveler is not necessarily valued within this urine soaked bus, in fact the drivers and ticket collectors could be described as even more spirited. The key difference is that the Chinatown bus attitude is more of a disrespect that stems from indifference instead of the outright contempt you'll find from Peter Pan. It might sound like a small difference but here at the greyblog we like to pick up on these context clues.
As I sit in my seat, most passengers seem confused as to where exactly the bus is going. Remarks are made about it going to Philadelphia while others hope New York. Miraculously it goes both places while also making a stop in Baltimore. Everybody wins? There's a sweet vulnerability in watching confused adults ask questions about where a bus they've already boarded is heading. Why did the board without knowing? They resemble those children who overslept on the school bus whose driver was not attentive in checking for them. They simply believe in the fact that they will get to their destination, somehow...maybe.
My absolute favorite part of the experience was our stop in Baltimore which wasn't so much a stop in the city itself but instead the parking lot of a Buck Horn family restaurant. Here people gather on top of a mound of dirt (!!!) and wait for the bus. I can't even imagine how this specific locale was initially chosen or how people can properly eyeball which mound of dirt to congregate to if they are the first person to arrive-I can only speculate. Perhaps those from Baltimore just have an eye for these kinds of things. As our new Baltimore friends join us, the driver exits the bus for a nice relaxing smoke. He is then seen chatting away with another driver as time slowly passes. 15 minutes...still chattin! For such a disgruntled man he seemed to become quite gregarious when in the right company!
It smells like jalapenos and somehow the trip takes just as long to get to Philadelphia as it does to New York, a city which to my knowledge is two hours further north. This might have something to do with the bus going exceedingly slow which leads me to text my friend in Philadelphia that the bus is driving "as if it had a dirty diaper." This kind of slow plodding apparently leads me to make unsavory metaphors. If appreciation for Greyhound once seemed illogical, it quickly became a reality.
-m
In the past, I've been known to compare Chinatown buses to a modern-day equivalent of riding a boxcar although I'm pretty sure that never ever cost anyone thirty dollars. Either way, these buses are a disarmingly disorganized means of traveling especially after becoming accustomed to the degradation that comes with the greyhound bus company and their employees.
Don't get me wrong-a traveler is not necessarily valued within this urine soaked bus, in fact the drivers and ticket collectors could be described as even more spirited. The key difference is that the Chinatown bus attitude is more of a disrespect that stems from indifference instead of the outright contempt you'll find from Peter Pan. It might sound like a small difference but here at the greyblog we like to pick up on these context clues.
As I sit in my seat, most passengers seem confused as to where exactly the bus is going. Remarks are made about it going to Philadelphia while others hope New York. Miraculously it goes both places while also making a stop in Baltimore. Everybody wins? There's a sweet vulnerability in watching confused adults ask questions about where a bus they've already boarded is heading. Why did the board without knowing? They resemble those children who overslept on the school bus whose driver was not attentive in checking for them. They simply believe in the fact that they will get to their destination, somehow...maybe.
My absolute favorite part of the experience was our stop in Baltimore which wasn't so much a stop in the city itself but instead the parking lot of a Buck Horn family restaurant. Here people gather on top of a mound of dirt (!!!) and wait for the bus. I can't even imagine how this specific locale was initially chosen or how people can properly eyeball which mound of dirt to congregate to if they are the first person to arrive-I can only speculate. Perhaps those from Baltimore just have an eye for these kinds of things. As our new Baltimore friends join us, the driver exits the bus for a nice relaxing smoke. He is then seen chatting away with another driver as time slowly passes. 15 minutes...still chattin! For such a disgruntled man he seemed to become quite gregarious when in the right company!
It smells like jalapenos and somehow the trip takes just as long to get to Philadelphia as it does to New York, a city which to my knowledge is two hours further north. This might have something to do with the bus going exceedingly slow which leads me to text my friend in Philadelphia that the bus is driving "as if it had a dirty diaper." This kind of slow plodding apparently leads me to make unsavory metaphors. If appreciation for Greyhound once seemed illogical, it quickly became a reality.
-m
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