Amtrak Throughway Bus / Motor Coach Between SPD & LAX

Traveled numerous times on the Sunset Limited to Los Angeles LAX (arrival @ 5:35am) with a continuing connection via Amtrak Throughway Bus (departs @ 2:45pm) to San Pedro's Catalina Terminal (SPD). That is, a nine (9) hour layover at LAX. Thank goodness we have access to their Metro Lounge! What a blessing that was when they installed it a few years back!

Additionally, we have also traveled numerous times from SPD to LAX to connect to the Sunset Limited (departs @ 10:00pm) back to Texas. The Throughway Bus from SPD to LAX that Amtrak always schedules for departs @ 1:30pm from SPD. There are earlier Throughway Buses from SPD to LAX that we would find more convenient ... and, in fact, have "talked" our way in to convincing the bus driver to allow us on board! And, in every case, the bus has had less than a dozen passengers ... occupancy was never an issue.

Our question is:

Is there etched-in-stone rules that says we cannot get on an earlier Amtrak Throughway bus than what our Amtrak ticket states? We certainly appreciated (and compensated accordingly to the driver) for letting us on board, but we'd really like to know the "rules" of such accommodation.

Any similar experiences?

Thanks!

I can't give a definitive answer, but given that the timetables say that these Thruway busses "require reservations" then technically you are at the driver's mercy. From a practical standpoint I imagine you'll bat nearly 100% in getting on the earlier bus, except perhaps during heavy holiday travel periods. The San Pedro busses all continue to, or originate in, Bakersfield, so I imagine the bulk of passengers only use them north of LAX.

It's too bad there's not an earlier s/b bus for you to use. That seems like a significant schedule gap.

fairviewroad said:

I can't give a definitive answer, but given that the timetables say that these Thruway busses "require reservations" then technically you are at the driver's mercy. From a practical standpoint I imagine you'll bat nearly 100% in getting on the earlier bus, except perhaps during heavy holiday travel periods. The San Pedro busses all continue to, or originate in, Bakersfield, so I imagine the bulk of passengers only use them north of LAX.

It's too bad there's not an earlier s/b bus for you to use. That seems like a significant schedule gap.

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Thanks! Appreciate the response.

The bus is reserved to guarantee seats for folks furthur down the line, which, in this case, is Long Beach. While I doubt that there's much chance that the bus fills at the two stops before LAX, it is possible, and the driver shouldn't be taking on passengers not ticketed for that bus.

Why don't you just buy the ticket for the earlier bus when you book?

It seems there must be other ways to get from Union Station to San Pedro without having to wait nine hours. How about a taxi or an Uber? Or check out public transit? Why not take the FlyAway Bus to LAX where you can catch a shared van to San Pedro? I did the shared van a coup;e of years ago when transferring from LAX to a San Pedro hotel prior to a cruise.

I mean this is Los Angeles, not some spot in the middle of nowhere. There are options.

sechs said:

The bus is reserved to guarantee seats for folks furthur down the line, which, in this case, is Long Beach. While I doubt that there's much chance that the bus fills at the two stops before LAX, it is possible, and the driver shouldn't be taking on passengers not ticketed for that bus.

Why don't you just buy the ticket for the earlier bus when you book?

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The driver will know how many passengers are expected to board in Long Beach. If it's a full-size bus, and only 10 people are ticketed to board in Long Beach, then even a simpleton can do the math and know there will be plenty of room.

I guess you could theoretically have a last-minute rush of people buying tickets during the 15 minutes it takes to get from San Pedro to Long Beach, but that seems highly unlikely.

As to why the OP doesn't simply buy the ticket for the earlier bus, it appears that Amtrak.com does not allow that for passengers connecting to the Sunset Limited.

MikefromCrete said:

It seems there must be other ways to get from Union Station to San Pedro without having to wait nine hours. How about a taxi or an Uber? Or check out public transit? Why not take the FlyAway Bus to LAX where you can catch a shared van to San Pedro? I did the shared van a coup;e of years ago when transferring from LAX to a San Pedro hotel prior to a cruise.

I mean this is Los Angeles, not some spot in the middle of nowhere. There are options.

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Good ideas. One option would be the Metro Silver Line.

That will take you from Union Station into downtown San Pedro and vice-versa.

fairviewroad said:

sechs said:

The bus is reserved to guarantee seats for folks furthur down the line, which, in this case, is Long Beach. While I doubt that there's much chance that the bus fills at the two stops before LAX, it is possible, and the driver shouldn't be taking on passengers not ticketed for that bus.

Why don't you just buy the ticket for the earlier bus when you book?

Click to expand...

The driver will know how many passengers are expected to board in Long Beach. If it's a full-size bus, and only 10 people are ticketed to board in Long Beach, then even a simpleton can do the math and know there will be plenty of room.

I guess you could theoretically have a last-minute rush of people buying tickets during the 15 minutes it takes to get from San Pedro to Long Beach, but that seems highly unlikely.

As to why the OP doesn't simply buy the ticket for the earlier bus, it appears that Amtrak.com does not allow that for passengers connecting to the Sunset Limited.

Click to expand...

Translation: The bus driver has no idea how many people are getting on in Long Beach.

This is why the bus stops even when there are no passengers. Someone could buy a ticket thirty seconds before it departs and get on.

As for booking the ticket for an earlier bus, one only need use multi-city.

MikefromCrete said:

It seems there must be other ways to get from Union Station to San Pedro without having to wait nine hours. How about a taxi or an Uber? Or check out public transit? Why not take the FlyAway Bus to LAX where you can catch a shared van to San Pedro? I did the shared van a coup;e of years ago when transferring from LAX to a San Pedro hotel prior to a cruise.

I mean this is Los Angeles, not some spot in the middle of nowhere. There are options.

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Los Angeles is a big place, Mike.

The airport is well out of the way. Might as well take the FlyAway from Union Station and then take the FlyAway to Long Beach!

There are plenty of transit options, but I'm sure that if the OP wanted to use them, he'd have plugged it into Google Transit to find himself.

sechs said:

MikefromCrete said:

It seems there must be other ways to get from Union Station to San Pedro without having to wait nine hours. How about a taxi or an Uber? Or check out public transit? Why not take the FlyAway Bus to LAX where you can catch a shared van to San Pedro? I did the shared van a coup;e of years ago when transferring from LAX to a San Pedro hotel prior to a cruise.

I mean this is Los Angeles, not some spot in the middle of nowhere. There are options.

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Los Angeles is a big place, Mike.

The airport is well out of the way. Might as well take the FlyAway from Union Station and then take the FlyAway to Long Beach!

There are plenty of transit options, but I'm sure that if the OP wanted to use them, he'd have plugged it into Google Transit to find himself.

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Still, waiting around Union Station for nine hours for a bus connection seems a bit excessive. Pretty long wait just to travel a relatively short distance. As another poster noted the Silver LIne runs from Union Station to San Pedro. Looks like it takes about an hour. Much better use of their time.

Silver line does not run all the way down to the harbor, but stops about 5 miles north. There are busses that run from the transit center to the waterfront if that is where the final destination is.

Other options include booking a shuttle from Union Station to wherever you want to go. Most of the shared ride companies and non shared ride companies can book a pickup that is not at an airport. Riding all the way out to LAX to get a transfer is kinda nuts.

Example: http://www.execucarexpress.com

San Pedro is not an easy place to get to with public transportation.

The silver line ends at a rather sketchy area and the buss to San Pedro stops at a number of places I'm not getting off at. The final stop Harbour Beacon may be OK,but.

If it was me I would be looking to get to Long Beach to get a Catalina Express. OR Flyaway bus from Union Station to the airport (LAX)is 7\8.00$ and a uber to San Pedro from there is no more than $25.00 I use that system both going to Union Station and returning quite often.

Taking the FlyAway seems pretty ridiculous.

You could just take the Red or Purple lines to Metro and transfer to the Blue line. Then take LADOT 142 to San Pedro. Less than four bucks if you use a TAP card.

Getting off of a bus in San Pedro not good. What you may save might very well be removed by force at a bus stop. Take the Blue to Long Beach and catch a uber across Terminal Island to your location.

Sorry for being negative as San Pedro is a great place if you stay out of the risky area's.

anumberone said:

Getting off of a bus in San Pedro not good. What you may save might very well be removed by force at a bus stop. Take the Blue to Long Beach and catch a uber across Terminal Island to your location.

Sorry for being negative as San Pedro is a great place if you stay out of the risky area's.

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I don't think that you know what you're talking about.