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Greyhound: a tour of the worst part of every city in North America. During less lucrative times in my life I used to ride on Greyhound (and Bolt & Megabus) semi
by blululu 6y ago
Greyhound: a tour of the worst part of every city in North America. During less lucrative times in my life I used to ride on Greyhound (and Bolt & Megabus) semi-frequently. It is a good deal if you don't mind spending an extra 6 hours waiting around and are willing to risk being decapitated to save ~$50-200 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Tim_McLean https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Tim_McLean). One thing that I will say is that intercity bus travel in North America is much nastier than comparable services in Latin America or East Asia. I feel like this is primarily a socio-economic issue stemming from the fact that middle class Americans do not like to ride a bus so Greyhound is much worse than equivalent services in Mexico. I recall once riding a bus from Texas to California, and the greyhound was being too exceptionally sketchy in terms out the amount of drugs and pornography in use before sundown. In El Paso I transferred to a Mexican bus service to go the rest of the way to LA, and I was very grateful for the massive improvement in hygiene, noise and sanity on the Mexican bus line.
- andromeduck 6y agoOh god I still remember that and the 5'th estate episode. Really tragic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gAeVysCIl8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gAeVysCIl8
- allenu 6y agoWhen I was younger, I used to take the Greyhound a lot between my home town and the town I was doing an internship. The stations were definitely in the not so great parts of town. If you were there after dark, it just did not feel safe. Of course, you rode it because it was cheap vs. your other options. Eventually, I got wise to the slightly pricier competitor in the area and started using that. I have to admit that now I would not bat an eye at spending the extra $25 on the ride, but back then it felt like a luxury.
- bobthepanda 6y agoBoltbus (Greyhound subsidiary) and MegaBus are certainly better where they are available.
- visiblink 6y agoI'm in Western Canada and Greyhound is gone now. A couple of replacement bus lines started up prior to the pandemic, but I don't know if they've survived. I never had a problem with the depots, though they definitely weren't classy places. If you knew the towns along the route, it was usually easy to walk to a better restaurant, store, etc. I continued to ride the bus long after my economic situation improved, because I actually enjoyed it. I met a lot of interesting characters taking the bus. I've heard a lot of "Greyhound stories," smoked a bit of weed with strangers, and found myself in some unexpectedly cool situations. Always an adventure. Air travel is so sterile in comparison.
- owenversteeg 6y agoI completely agree, and I'm very glad to see this perspective in this thread. I used to ride cheap buses because I didn't have much money, now (pre-corona) I still ride them even though I'm doing well. You meet people, hear fun stories, find yourself in interesting situations... There are "filters" on the population that rides airplanes or trains, but all of humanity rides the bus. And while the chance that a grandma unpacks her food and shares some with you on the plane is nil, I've had it happen to me multiple times on the bus, so there's that :)
- vagrantJin 6y ago> There are "filters" on the population that rides airplanes or trains You're on to something here. It's hard to explain generally without sounding like a tool. I occassionaly ride the bus because for the same reasons you mentioned - it's alive in there for some reason. Same with bars and taverns. Blue collar workers have stories for days and make good friends with just about anyone as long as you have a respectful and decent way about you.
- visiblink 6y agoAgreed. I would have replied earlier, but I've been digitally detoxing for the last few months, so I'm fairly inactive.
- Symbiote 6y agoA small number of murders, plus very few fatal collisions, still seems like very good odds compared to driving in a car.
- Schiendelman 6y agoYeah, this seems far safer than driving yourself!
- S_A_P 6y agoOne of the sketchiest places in downtown Houston is the greyhound station. There is a 2-3 block radius in downtown that I won’t walk through anchored by that greyhound station.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- bergstromm466 6y agoWhat is it like for people in this ‘sketchy place’ when you walk through their neighborhood? If in your eyes they contribute to making a place ‘sketchy’ - what could their perspective be on you? How do they see you? I am asking because to me your comment seems devoid of empathy towards others, and I’m curious how you came to be. I’d like to learn more about your perspective if possible.