Greyhound Long Distance Service

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Philly Amtrak Fan

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Joined
Jul 25, 2015
Messages
2,060
Location
Philadelphia Area
I have discussed a lot about long distance Amtrak service and the lack of service either to certain cities/metropolitan areas and/or between two certain cities/metropolitan areas. So the only other option for public long distance transportation for those who don't want to or are afraid of flying would be buses. So I wanted to see intercity service for Greyhound as a way to compare to Amtrak's. A long time ago, I rode Greyhound overnight a couple of times (once from Philly to Orlando when I couldn't get a Silver Star/Meteor ticket at a reasonable price because back when I was in college reasonable prices were less than today and once from Philly to Nashville). In general, I'd much rather ride a train than a bus.

Routes are found at http://bustracker.greyhound.com/route-finder/. Schedule numbers are in (). Not all stops are on all routes.

Long Distance to/from New York

Miami (1006/1011) via Richmond, Raleigh, Savannah, Jacksonville, Orlando

Atlanta (1080/1081/1082/1083) via Richmond, Raleigh, Durham, Greensboro, Charlotte

Detroit (4414/4427) via Cleveland, Toledo

Chicago (1604/4425) via Cleveland, Toledo, South Bend

St. Louis (1679/1685) via Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Dayton, Indianapolis

Kansas City (1612/1651) via Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Dayton, Indianapolis, St. Louis

Las Vegas! (1675) via Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Dayton, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Kansas City, Denver

Los Angeles!! (1682/1683/1684) via Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Dayton, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Kansas City, Denver, Las Vegas

Long Distance to/from Washington DC

Detroit (4411/4440) via Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Youngstown, Akron, Cleveland, Toledo

Chicago (1602, 1607, 1620, 1632, 4447) via Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Youngstown, Akron, Cleveland, Toledo, South Bend

Long Distance to/from Chicago

New York and Washington as above

Nashville (1115, 1190) via Indianapolis, Louisville (1158 via St. Louis)

Atlanta (1123, 1151, 1153, 1188, 1194, 1196) via Indianapolis, Louisville, Nashville

Tallahassee (1162, northbound only) via Birmingham, Nashville, St. Louis

Dallas (1224, 1227, 1500) via Memphis, Little Rock

Los Angeles (1351, 1364) via St. Louis, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Albuquerque, Phoenix

Not really LD but many buses to/from Minneapolis

Long Distance to/from Miami

New York as above

Richmond (1003, 1008, 1014) via Raleigh, Savannah, Jacksonville, Orlando

Houston (1262, eastbound only) via Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Mobile, Pensacola, Tallahassee, Orlando (1243 and 1247 westbound terminate in Orlando)

Not really LD but many buses to/from Atlanta

Long Distance to/from Los Angeles

New York, Chicago as above

St. Louis (1333, 1360) via Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Albuquerque, Phoenix

Dallas (1403, 1408, 1409, 1415, 1418, 1437, 1444, 1454!!) via Phoenix, Tucson, El Paso

San Antonio (1416, 1419) via Phoenix, Tucson, El Paso

Vancouver (1420, 1429, 1436, 1440) via Bakersfield, Fresno, Sacramento, Portland, Seattle (1431, 1443 terminate in Seattle)

Tons of buses to/from San Francisco

Long Distance to/from Dallas

Chicago, Los Angeles as above

Detroit (1502, eastbound only) via LIttle Rock, Memphis, Nashville, Louisville, Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo

Richmond (1508, 1511, 1514, 1539) via LIttle Rock, Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, Charlottesville

Atlanta (1516, 1522, 1523, 1530, 1547, 1553, 1556, 1567) via Shreveport, Jackson MS, Birmingham

Denver (7304, 7307, 7308, 7309, 7310, 7311) via Amarillo, Pueblo, Colorado Springs

Unlike Amtrak, Greyhound does have a transcontinental route between New York and Los Angeles (and Philly is on the route but Chicago is not). I wonder how many people take the route from NY to LA (or even Philly to LA or NY to Las Vegas).

You can't go from Philly to Chicago on a single bus but you can go to LA and Vegas as well as Denver, St. Louis, Kansas City. Unlike Amtrak, you cannot go from Philly to Florida, Atlanta, or New Orleans (farthest south is Virginia Beach). You can't get from Washington to Florida or Atlanta either although you can go to Chicago and Detroit. The options to/from Chicago seem limited compared to Amtrak as you can't go to the Bay Area, Seattle, or even Denver or Kansas City. There are a few more options to/from Dallas and Atlanta. You can't go from California to Florida but you can go from Texas to Florida. There are plenty of buses between California and Texas while there is only one 3x/week train between the states.

There are certainly cities/routes that Greyhound has that Amtrak doesn't but there are some the other way around as well.

Finally I should point out routes 1090, 1093, 1096, and 1097 between Detroit and Jacksonville passing through Toledo, Columbus, Huntington, Charleston, Charlotte, Columbia, and Savannah. So there are buses to West Virginia. But sadly no White Sulphur Springs.
 
Philly Amtrak Fan said:
I have discussed a lot about long distance Amtrak service and the lack of service either to certain cities/metropolitan areas and/or between two certain cities/metropolitan areas. So the only other option for public long distance transportation for those who don't want to or are afraid of flying would be buses. So I wanted to see intercity service for Greyhound as a way to compare to Amtrak's. A long time ago, I rode Greyhound overnight a couple of times (once from Philly to Orlando when I couldn't get a Silver Star/Meteor ticket at a reasonable price because back when I was in college reasonable prices were less than today and once from Philly to Nashville). In general, I'd much rather ride a train than a bus.

Routes are found at http://bustracker.greyhound.com/route-finder/. Schedule numbers are in (). Not all stops are on all routes.

Long Distance to/from New York

Miami (1006/1011) via Richmond, Raleigh, Savannah, Jacksonville, Orlando

Atlanta (1080/1081/1082/1083) via Richmond, Raleigh, Durham, Greensboro, Charlotte

Detroit (4414/4427) via Cleveland, Toledo

Chicago (1604/4425) via Cleveland, Toledo, South Bend

St. Louis (1679/1685) via Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Dayton, Indianapolis

Kansas City (1612/1651) via Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Dayton, Indianapolis, St. Louis

Las Vegas! (1675) via Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Dayton, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Kansas City, Denver

Los Angeles!! (1682/1683/1684) via Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Dayton, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Kansas City, Denver, Las Vegas

Long Distance to/from Washington DC

Detroit (4411/4440) via Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Youngstown, Akron, Cleveland, Toledo

Chicago (1602, 1607, 1620, 1632, 4447) via Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Youngstown, Akron, Cleveland, Toledo, South Bend

Long Distance to/from Chicago

New York and Washington as above

Nashville (1115, 1190) via Indianapolis, Louisville (1158 via St. Louis)

Atlanta (1123, 1151, 1153, 1188, 1194, 1196) via Indianapolis, Louisville, Nashville

Tallahassee (1162, northbound only) via Birmingham, Nashville, St. Louis

Dallas (1224, 1227, 1500) via Memphis, Little Rock

Los Angeles (1351, 1364) via St. Louis, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Albuquerque, Phoenix

Not really LD but many buses to/from Minneapolis

Long Distance to/from Miami

New York as above

Richmond (1003, 1008, 1014) via Raleigh, Savannah, Jacksonville, Orlando

Houston (1262, eastbound only) via Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Mobile, Pensacola, Tallahassee, Orlando (1243 and 1247 westbound terminate in Orlando)

Not really LD but many buses to/from Atlanta

Long Distance to/from Los Angeles

New York, Chicago as above

St. Louis (1333, 1360) via Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Albuquerque, Phoenix

Dallas (1403, 1408, 1409, 1415, 1418, 1437, 1444, 1454!!) via Phoenix, Tucson, El Paso

San Antonio (1416, 1419) via Phoenix, Tucson, El Paso

Vancouver (1420, 1429, 1436, 1440) via Bakersfield, Fresno, Sacramento, Portland, Seattle (1431, 1443 terminate in Seattle)

Tons of buses to/from San Francisco

Long Distance to/from Dallas

Chicago, Los Angeles as above

Detroit (1502, eastbound only) via LIttle Rock, Memphis, Nashville, Louisville, Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo

Richmond (1508, 1511, 1514, 1539) via LIttle Rock, Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, Charlottesville

Atlanta (1516, 1522, 1523, 1530, 1547, 1553, 1556, 1567) via Shreveport, Jackson MS, Birmingham

Denver (7304, 7307, 7308, 7309, 7310, 7311) via Amarillo, Pueblo, Colorado Springs

Unlike Amtrak, Greyhound does have a transcontinental route between New York and Los Angeles (and Philly is on the route but Chicago is not). I wonder how many people take the route from NY to LA (or even Philly to LA or NY to Las Vegas).

You can't go from Philly to Chicago on a single bus but you can go to LA and Vegas as well as Denver, St. Louis, Kansas City. Unlike Amtrak, you cannot go from Philly to Florida, Atlanta, or New Orleans (farthest south is Virginia Beach). You can't get from Washington to Florida or Atlanta either although you can go to Chicago and Detroit. The options to/from Chicago seem limited compared to Amtrak as you can't go to the Bay Area, Seattle, or even Denver or Kansas City. There are a few more options to/from Dallas and Atlanta. You can't go from California to Florida but you can go from Texas to Florida. There are plenty of buses between California and Texas while there is only one 3x/week train between the states.

There are certainly cities/routes that Greyhound has that Amtrak doesn't but there are some the other way around as well.

Finally I should point out routes 1090, 1093, 1096, and 1097 between Detroit and Jacksonville passing through Toledo, Columbus, Huntington, Charleston, Charlotte, Columbia, and Savannah. So there are buses to West Virginia. But sadly no White Sulphur Springs.
Click to expand...
and greyhound has mostly abandoned the northern plains, leaving the market to smaller regional partners.
 
For those of us that have been in the business for a long time (since 1968, personally), it is a real shame of what has become of "America's Bus Line"....

The pioneer's who founded and built that company over a hundred years ago, must be spinning in their graves...

They are about 25% of their size at their peak years....

At one time you could go coast-to-coast, and border-to-border on thru routes from all major points.

The old Russell's Official Bus Guide, was about as thick as an old Manhattan Yellow Pages (also gone), with Greyhound, Trailways, and independent bus lines offering service over almost every paved highway in the nation.... :(
 
Last edited by a moderator:
railiner said:
For those of us that have been in the business for a long time (since 1968, personally), it is a real shame of what has become of "America's Bus Line"....

The pioneer's who founded and built that company over a hundred years ago, must be spinning in their graves...

They are about 25% of their size at their peak years....

At one time you could go coast-to-coast, and border-to-border on thru routes from all major points.

The old Russell's Official Bus Guide, was about as thick as an old Manhattan Yellow Pages (also gone), with Greyhound, Trailways, and independent bus lines offering service over almost every paved highway in the nation.... :(
Click to expand...
When was Greyhound's peak years? Was it before or after the Interstate Highway System (which caused LD train travel to decline as well)? Or was it the increase in air travel?

Neither Amtrak, Greyhound, Trailways, or any other ground transportation will ever compete with the airways if you want to go from New York to California or even New York to Chicago or New York to Florida (well unless we get 200 mph trains maybe). Still according to this article (http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/fear-flying-good-things/story?id=20471481) more than 20 million people in the US are too afraid to fly and you should be able to make good business transporting passengers long distances that are too afraid to fly, whether by bus or train.
 
Without seeing the actual stats, my guess would be probably during WWII, or the immediate post-war years until the mid-century...

At that time, Greyhound had well over 6,000 buses in its fleet, Trailways had over 3,000 buses, and lots of independent carrier's of various sizes...

There was general slow decline after that, with a few up years, especially during the height of the Vietnam War, but it still was fairly stable, until large decline came about, around the time of deregulation, and the abolishment of the ICC...

Without regulation, and the "cross-subsidising" of weak thin rural routes, by protection of lucrative trunk routes, the local routes were abandoned, while fierce, cut-rate competition occurred on the plumb routes....

Airline deregulation, meant low-cost air carrier's like People Express taking away the traditional bus demographic, on long routes, for the most part. And as time passes, the generation that were afraid to fly, is rapidly disappearing.

The Interstate Highway system proved a mixed blessing for bus travel....while it improved bus speed, comfort, and efficiencies, the easy to drive and navigate system, also made it easier for motorists who wouldn't otherwise attempt long haul driving...

A few years ago, Greyhound's CEO clearly stated that Greyhound was re-inventing itself as a "hub and spoke" carrier, sort of following competitor Megabus's model, and pretty much giving up on attracting coast to coast or other ultra long haul traffic.

The difference between the two competitor's, other than Greyhound having terminal's, and Megabus loading curbside, is that it is still somewhat possible to go across country on Greyhound, while Megabus has gaps between their various hubs with no connection...
 
Hey Railiner! :)

Most of the people on this forum don't know what the heck they're talking about when it comes to Greyhound, but then again, that's true of the general public. I'm not going to waste my time trying to correct and teach these people anymore. All I can say is, it's more complicated then it seems, and don't jump to conclusions.
 
Well that's what this forum is for...to exchange knowledge and opinions with other's having various levels of interest....

nothing wrong with that...... :mellow:
 
I grew up always thinking of bus travel in general as a low class alternative. So I was in my 40's before I ever took Greyhound. I was pleasantly surprised.

I only started using them because a friend who lives outside of Philly in South Jersey said the bus station was closer to his house than going into the city would be.

I have to say the buses were clean and modern and with one exception the power and wi-fi worked well. I have run into some customer service problems with station agents but my one complaint got my ticket refunded.

I did take a somewhat long distance bus trip from NYC to Pittsburgh, and that was better than I expected. Not crowded at all westbound, but packed coming back eastbound.

I have even tried Mega bus once, although that was comfortable it was not hassle free and some of the ways they save costs would make travel unpleasant during some times of the year, especially if there is a storm due to the outside stops with little to no covering.

With all the concentration on the environment and reducing carbon output, I have often wondered why the bus companies and even the railroads, don't advertise as a way to reduce traffic on the roadways.
 
In 1988 I took Greyhound from San Diego, CA to Portland, Maine because there was a special rate of $50. At that time you could smoke on the bus and the whole time I rode in a cloud of nicotine.

I switched buses about six times and hated the whole trip. The five hour layover in NYC mid winter was the worst, sharing the station with a zillion dangerous looking homeless.

In 2005 I took the bus from Omaha, NE to Albuquerque, NM and the trip went well. One bus change in Denver, and the bus did break down in Lincoln, NE but otherwise it was OK.
 
crabby_appleton1950 said:
How do the buses deal with disabled passengers?

I'm now 70 years old, walk with a cane, and have trouble with stairs.
Click to expand...
If not boarding at a curb type platform, most buses have a "kneeler" feature that will reduce the large first step. If you are still unable to climb steps, they do have a wheelchair lift, but you do need to have a wheelchair to use it...
 

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