Traveling On A Greyhound Bus Lines

   Good Old Greyhound 

Good Old Greyhound
When thinking about travel on a Greyhound bus, a plethora of advice comes to mind. Good and bad...

I have taken so many trips on greyhound that I feel I am an expert on the subject. Many cross-country trips lasting for two to three days have been taken on this one of a kind bus line. Most likely, whether you like it or not, you will probably have to take Greyhound at least once in your lifetime for traveling unless you can come up with two or three times the money of a bus ticket to fly on a plane.

The Good
1. Affordable. Greyhound holds so many purchase specials that sometimes it's hard to refuse. Where else could you go from New Orleans to New York City from $49 to $69 one way? (During a special sale reduction promotion, of course) You are unlikely to get that price on a plane! They usually always have the $99 dollar one-way specials running.

The Catch - You need to be on your toes and keep your eyes on the lookout when these promotions happen.

2. Locations. They have a bazillion locations where you can catch a bus. Ever heard of Dallas, Pennsylvania? New Iberia, Louisiana? How about Hancock, New York? Didn't think so...However, Greyhound goes there!

The Catch - Really, there is none. Greyhound even makes your trips more convenient by letting you board the bus without having a ticket. That's right, can you believe it? Don't think they give a free ride though because you will need to purchase one as soon as you arrive at your destination.

The Bad
1. Unorganized. They are constantly changing arrival and departure gates, times and even destinations. One time while using a Greyhound bus, they put me on a different bus all together going from Washington, DC to Binghamton, NY...I couldn't believe it. It was a totally different bus line all together called Shortline. It did go to the same destination. The Shortline bus station was diagonal to the Greyhound, but it did put me in a four-minute panic when I first heard the announcement.

2. Cleanliness. This will sound really gross, but it's true. You may want to bring along a moist rag or antibacterial towelette on your ride. Many times than not, I have needed to wipe oil spots off of the vinyl chairs up where the head rests upon the seat back. Whenever I ride a bus with material instead of vinyl, I only wonder what lies beneath...

3. What? You have Luggage? Not anymore you don't....
Horror Story: My husband and I went from New Orleans to NYC and it took two and a half days of travel. When we got to the NYC Port Authority terminal, my husband was missing his luggage that was supposedly stowed away under the baggage compartment during the duration of our trip. It took seven...I repeat SEVEN days to retreat it. Not to mention seven trips from Brooklyn to Manhattan to complain to the Greyhound people about the disappearance. We were not happy! They did offer to have someone bring it to the residence where we were staying at, but we didn't want to take any more chances so we picked it up ourselves.

4. Loony Passengers Cause Drivers to Call Police.
Funny Story. I was taking the Greyhound from Binghamton, NY to NYC Port Authority one day. We had gotten to the first stop in New Jersey when a mentally disturbed individual got on the bus. She was OK for the first twenty minutes or so...but then "AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" She yelled at the top of her lungs for no reason and scared the heck out of everyone, especially the bus driver. He went into a mild panic wondering if everyone was OK...We were...Then, everyone came to the conclusion that some embarrassed passenger must have had a nightmare. It was nighttime and the bus was somewhat dark so...It just had to be that.
Ten minutes later, "AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" again. Then 10 minutes after that a third holler! Then a fourth. Unreal! The driver decided to call in the cops and have the lady removed.

5. Loony Bus Driver Walks Away From the Bus and Never Returns.
Even funnier story - On another trip from Monticello, NY going to NYC, a few kids got on the bus returning home from college to enjoy the holidays. There were a couple of kids snapping their gum and the bus driver had no patience for it and asked them to stop. They didn't. Another couple of kids had their Walkman's a little too high for the drivers liking and he asked them to turn them down, they wouldn't. A couple of other kids were talking a little louder than the driver liked...He got a little louder with each request he made and no one would listen. He obviously got fed up while on route in Newark, NJ and pulled the bus over along the highway at a truck stop and just left. Yep, just walked off. It took an hour and a half for someone to get to where we were. It was a strange experience.

Miscellaneous
Greyhound drivers are some of the most talented drivers in the entire world. They can get the buses parked in the tightest of spots with ease. Drive through the worst of weather without even flinching. Fit through the narrowest of streets that have a stalled car blocking half of the road...I often wonder how they get such a wide bus between two taxicabs with, like, a few feet of space between them in the middle of Times Square. So, all in all, you don't have to worry about safety because I never saw a Greyhound bus driver that couldn't drive great...Unless you wanted to count my Jersey experience, where he just didn't drive at all.

It is a convenient and affordable means of transportation, just be prepared for the worst with a carry on bag with a couple days of clothes, a toothbrush (Because the person next to you will appreciate that your breath doesn't smell like something crawled in your mouth and died). If you plan on going on a long trip: When you don't talk for long periods of time, your breath gets raunchy. It's always smart to carry a $10 roll of quarters with you to get drinks and snacks from the vending machines located at the terminals. Also have an emergency phone number ready to locate the person who is picking you up because like I said, schedules do change. Oh, and I almost forgot, if you are a smoker, as I am not, they do stop numerous times along the way so make sure you have your cigarettes ready to go when you pull into a rest stop. Most importantly, don't forget some moist wipes.

I wouldn't recommend sending your children alone on Greyhound...Unless they are old enough to figure out what to do with a schedule change (IE: get assistance from the information desk). My nephew is 14...Soon to be 15 and I will send him a Greyhound ticket to come visit me this summer. I was 15 when I made my first trek and I got to my destination OK. Hopefully no one will abandon the bus this time.

Mississippi Trailway's Expands

Team Trailways expands again – Bus Supply Charters, Inc. (BSCI), DBA, Mississippi Trailways – is not just expanding the group’s network of independent motor coach operators across the continent. It’s also closing an important service link along America’s third coast, as companies in all states along the Gulf now fly Trailways’ famous—Big Red colors.
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“Mississippi Trailways’ decision to ride with us means we have important team links in Mississippi, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida,” said Trailways president/CEO Gale Ellsworth. “Our network is now fully connected along the Gulf coast, and this strengthens its fabric, as we cooperate to build business opportunities and back one another with road services when needed.”
Keith Sanders, president of Mississippi Trailways, said he looks forward to working with fellow Team Trailways companies.
“We know the brand will help us generate business through its network, especially in slower winter months,” he said. “We’re delighted to add a Mississippi member to Team Trailways!”
Sanders said his company is based in two small-towns, Madison and McComb, MS, but the locations are strategic because they’re about a 100 miles from both Baton Rouge and New Orleans and not far for Jackson, MS.
“We’re even closer to Jackson,” he said, “and we do most of our business in those three cities.” New Orleans convention business is one market they would like to expand, he said.
Sanders’ business partner and wife Karen Sanders serves on the American Bus Association Board of Directors and both manage their company fleet that consists of 15 full-sized motorcoaches.
The couple launched transportation services in 1986 with one bus and a jazz band road touring contract from Preservation Hall in New Orleans.  Since those days, the company has acquired two new coaches a year, and seen its tour and travel business grow along with the fleet, mostly with church and school groups. Clients go to destinations like Branson, San Antonio, or occasionally longer haul trips east and west. Military troop transport has also been in their charter business repertoire.

Approaching, Entering and Exiting...

Roundabouts:  Approaching, Entering and Exiting...

Approaching:

• As you approach the roundabout, look for signage to choose your exit. Choose which lane to use as you would for any other intersection (See Diagram 2-36). Use the left lane to turn left or to go straight. Use the right lane to turn right or to go straight. (See Diagram 2-37). Do not enter a roundabout from the right lane if you want to turn left. Cyclists generally keep to the centre of the appropriate lane, or dismount and use the roundabout as a pedestrian would. (See Diagram 2-38.)
• Slow down and watch for pedestrians on the approach to the yield line at the entrance of the roundabout. Stay in your lane.
  

Entering:

• Visual checks: Do visual checks of all vehicles already in the roundabout and those waiting to enter (including cyclists).
  
• Look left: Traffic in the roundabout has the right-of-way. When preparing to enter the roundabout, pay special attention to the vehicles to your left. Adjust your speed or stop at the yield sign if necessary.
  
• Adequate gap: Watch for a safe opportunity to enter the roundabout. Enter when there is an adequate gap in the circulating traffic flow. Don’t enter directly beside another already in the roundabout, as that may be exiting at the next exit.
  
• Travel counter-clockwise: Once in the roundabout, always keep to the right of the central island and travel in a counter-clockwise direction.
• Keep moving: Once you are in the roundabout, do not stop except to avoid a collision; you have the right-of-way over entering traffic. Do not change lanes while in the roundabout. If in the inside lane and you miss your exit, you must continue around until you meet your exit again.

Exiting:

• Signal: Be sure to signal your exit and watch for pedestrians.
  
• Maintain your lane: Stay to the left if you entered from the left lane, or stay to the right if you entered from the right lane.
• Maintain your position: Maintain your position relative to other vehicles.
  
• Signal intent to exit: Once you have passed the exit before the one you want, use your right-turn signal.
• Left lane exit: If exiting from the left lane, watch out for vehicles on the right that continue to circulate around the roundabout.

Vintage GMC Super Coach

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Staring Down The Path Tour. Day 10 | blackswanlane.com

Cushioning non-Greyhound Routes

Submitted By: William Donley

There's most likely far less cushioning now-a-days on non-Greyhound routes, but I have to relate a story. At Bonanza, it was common to carry hound drivers on the 50 mile trip to Boston, their work reporting location. Or to anyplace. They would park at Providence and jump on the Boston Express. Most were absolute gentlemen, but in the 90s, Greyhound was not drawing the same caliber of driver as they did in the 60s-50s-40s etc. 

 

One Friday Evening, I was the 9:30PM NYC-PABT Gate 17 to Providence. I was about the leave when a man dressed in what I knew was Greyhound Training Uniform ran up to the bus and said loudly and rudely "Providence Please" and proceeded to his seat. I asked him if he had a ticket, and he said, Greyhound Pass. I said I needed to see it so I could mark my envelope, just the union card would be fine.

 

 "Union Card?????" Yeah the Union Card. He said "I have a voucher from my training school in Richmond." Oh, I told him that his bus was just down the driveway in the next building. 

 

He said that bus would not stop in Providence, that it went NYC-Hfd-Bos. And it would take him more than 8 hours to get to Providence. No Problem, but step outside a moment. I explained to him... Pal, there's a way to go about this, and 1st you ought to introduce yourself and ask if you might get a lift. I'm glad to take you, even though I'm just about solid, but you've got to learn how to get a free lift the right way or you're gonna learn how to get your butt kicked off the bus. He sat behind me and gave me a 4 hour lesson on what Greyhound was doing wrong. 

 

He asked me to run the 52 passengers down a road closer to his home so he could walk home, but I told him that we had one stop, at the station. 

 

A couple of weeks later, he again appeared at the PABT at 9:30 PM for the ride to Providence. I gladly put him aboard, he was in the Greys this time, and I was not going to hassle him. This time he sat behind me and proceeded to tell me that he had broken the all-time speed record on a Boston to Buffalo run, and had run 80 MPH nearly all the way. He was hoping for the run again and was going to make the 500 or so mile trip in even less time. Of course after the run, he had to cushion to the PABT. 

 

 I thought, Oh this is a great driver. But it'll take him longer than average to get to the Million Mile award. What I did not tell him was that 2 days later, I was taking over as Safety Director at Bonanza.

As I said, Greyhound drivers are carried every day on Bonanza, mostly to Boston, but actually anywhere, and while I was in management, it continued. 

 

Now Bonanza had several ex-Greyhound drivers who left during the various labor troubles and some were VERY bitter about it. One we'll call Wally, a fine driver, but VERY VERY bitter, considered every Greyhound driver who worked for the company after Wally left to be a scab, but he did not make waves normally. His driving was exemplary. But all one had to do was hiccup and Wally was ready to erupt big time. 

 

He winds up with Mr. New Greyhound Rocketass cushioning with him. The GH driver sits halfway back. 5 minutes into the trip, Mr GH rocketass shouts from his seat "Hey driver, don't you know how to set the heat? I'm cold. Bitter Wally ignored him. Soon, Rocketass shouts "you know at Greyhound, we know how to set our heater switches." No answer from Wally. 

 

But at Boston, bitter Wally takes him aside and in no uncertain terms tells him he will not be cushioning with Wally in the future. No problem. Mr. GH Rocketass writes a letter of complaint to CoachUSA HQ in TX. The letter winds up on my desk. Oh boy. Who better to give Mr. GH R/Ass some common sense lessons than his fellow Greyhound Boston drivers. I instruct our dispatcher in Boston to hang the letter of complaint in the Greyhound drivers room. Attached was a company-wide bulletin from me forbidding any Greyhound driver to cushion on Bonanza Bus lines without a ticket. 

 

Well, it wasn't very long before he received his well deserved instructions from Greyhounds union reps and normal minded drivers at Boston about how to conduct himself was receiving a free ride, and of course I quickly rescinded the bulletin. 

 

Months later he applied at Bonanza, informing me that he would be a real driver, and could make up time on any run, whereas most Bonanza Drivers (many with 40 years) did not know what the hell they were doing. No, Bonanza did not hire him while I was there. He went on to driver for a small charter outfit in Rhode Island, and left the day he had 3 accidents in the same day in NYC with a Vanhool. He had chased a car through Times Sq which somehow had offended him with 57 people aboard, sideswiping cars and truck to catch his prey. 

 

I last saw him in a state park on a school bus charter making kissyface to a woman on the nose of the school bus he was driving. Jon, I know you must have had your share of dillys in your day, but they are still out there! Sorry for the cushioning story going on so long.

Bill.

 

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