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Forty-odd years ago, I rode Greyhound a fair bit. It was before deregulation brought airline fares down. The buses were reasonably clean, not that smelly unless
by cafard 6y ago
Forty-odd years ago, I rode Greyhound a fair bit. It was before deregulation brought airline fares down. The buses were reasonably clean, not that smelly unless you sat way back by the restroom. I wouldn't care to do it today--the 20-year-old back can tolerate what the 60-year-old back can't, or anyway would rather not.
But it wasn't that bad. I would stand at the end of the line for a bus. The worst outcome was sitting next to the person nobody else wished to sit next to. The best and more common outcome was that the bus would have filled up before I boarded, and Greyhound would bring out another bus--I could ride in a nearly-empty bus.
- reaperducer 6y agoBut it wasn't that bad I rode Greyhound a few times in the year before the pandemic. Cincinnati to Indianapolis. Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Chicago to Madison. My experience was the same as yours: It's not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. I think people just have a worst case scenario in their minds that keeps them away. I understand that. I feel the same way about airplane travel over the last decade or so.
- kingkawn 6y agoIt’s run of the mill vilification of anything associated with poverty
- jessaustin 6y agoNo, it's not. Greyhound regularly simply cancels trips in order to fill more seats on the next trip over the same route. The result is that people who don't have any other choice end up traveling e.g. for 20 hours instead of 8 as the published schedule would suggest. They wouldn't get away with this if their customers were people whose complaints have the attention of officialdom. I don't really believe the "it would cost more if they didn't jerk you around or if they ever cleaned the terminal" excuse either.
- blululu 6y agoFor the most part, yes, Greyhound is a solid service. I have been across more than 20 states on Greyhound buses and it is generally a great service that provides excellent value. That said, I also have about 2 drinks worth of seriously messed up stories associated with some of these travels. As a man under 40 with a reasonable build and plenty of patience, everything will probably be fine, but I would not necessarily recommend this mode of transportation to everyone.
- cafard 6y agoThe messed up stories are there, no question.
- dwighttk 6y agoMy travels have tended toward trips that are too long for Greyhound to be an option. NC-TX or NC-MN are more expensive than even non-discount airfare and take more than a day vs less than half a day...
- jimmaswell 6y agoIn my experience the seats have always been good and there were lots of people much older than 60 on the bus.
- wrp 6y agoWhen discussing Greyhound, it's important to specify exactly when your experience was, because things have changed a lot over time. When I used Greyhound in the 1980s, buses were clean and on time, and passengers were clean and well behaved. My experience traveling by bus then was better than my experience traveling by air now.