You Can't Make A $1 Ticket to New York Without Breaking A Few (Safety) Regs

Agreed. I have gotten between Boston and NYC in 3-3.5 hours on Fung Wah. It often beats the Regional, sometimes even Acela. I have no idea how they avoid being ticketed for the necessary speeds.
 
BussesAin'tTrains said:
It is. CBS was confusing Megabus $1.00 "first one to book" deals to make a snarky point.
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Ah I see. I actually prefer using Megabus or Boltbus. I only use FW or LS if I have to take a sudden trip to NYC and don't want to pay $35 on either the MB or BB.
 
datadyne007 said:
Yeah... I just save up and take the Acela... and write it off as a "staying alive fee" when I go to NYC.
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Its only 40-50$ roundtrip for regional if you book in advanced.....no need to save up for an Acela.
 
A bunch of years back, Lucky Star and Fung Wah were the only buses going out during a major blizzard. The bus terminal was a mess with unhappy stranded travelers, but I walked straight through to the back and onto a Lucky Star. My goal was to get to NYC or die trying!
 
Nexis4jersey said:
Its only 40-50$ roundtrip for regional if you book in advanced.....no need to save up for an Acela.
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Regional doesn't offer power outlets and the nicer amenities of Acela. It takes longer too. My time is precious in NYC.
 
I just want to throw out a push for GoBus (former World Wide Bus) which has excellent customer service and runs Alewife>Riverside>34th. I used to take Bolt if I wasn't taking the train but I've since become a regular with them.

Megabus was good when it first started but its gone rapidly downhill since. I used to frequent the Fung Wah and Lucky Star but after a particularly horrific incident involving being stuck in the summer sun in traffic for 7 hours on a bus with questionable air conditioning that was pumping sewer smelling air out of the bathroom into the whole bus I swore off them for ever. Anyone who has ever been near a septic tank bubbling over knows what I'm talking about. Terrible.

As for the Regional, I've never had a seat without an outlet, although I once had an unrehabbed car with only one outlet per row instead of two. IMO the biggest plus of the train is you can get loaded on the way down.
When I used to barback I used to take the first train out in the morning. Since everyone elses bearly-eyed early morning was my end of the night I used to get some fun stares when I went to the cafe car and got a cup of coffee and three jack daniels.
 
I'm often struck by how poorly archboston.org forum goers misunderstand politics, but this thread is an egregious example. The degree to which you are being played is stunning.

The misunderstanding of statistics, politics, and economics here is staggering.

This will not result in safer inter-city travel. This will mean higher prices for consumers, fewer choices, and more dangerous unregulated bus-lines.

Good God. The road to Hell is paved.


Urban driving resulted in 5.0 fatalities per billion passenger miles
Amtrak passengers suffered ... 1.4 fatalities per billion passenger miles.
Urban transit bus riders suffer about 1.1 fatalities per billion passenger miles.
airline travel, with an average of 0.14 fatalities per billion passenger miles
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Boston requires “Chinatown” buses to use the city’s South Station partly so that it can charge bus operators for services they don’t need.
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http://www.cato.org/doc-download/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/PA680.pdf
 
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JoeBoston1 said:
Remarkable the misunderstanding of statistics.

This will result not in safer inter-city travel. This will mean higher prices for consumers, fewer choices, and more dangerous unregulated bus-lines.

Good God. The road to Hell is paved.
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Perhaps the price for the buses should actually be higher in order to ensure that the buses are properly maintained and that CAPABLE drivers are hired.
 
davem said:
I just want to throw out a push for GoBus (former World Wide Bus) which has excellent customer service and runs Alewife>Riverside>34th. I used to take Bolt if I wasn't taking the train but I've since become a regular with them.

Megabus was good when it first started but its gone rapidly downhill since. I used to frequent the Fung Wah and Lucky Star but after a particularly horrific incident involving being stuck in the summer sun in traffic for 7 hours on a bus with questionable air conditioning that was pumping sewer smelling air out of the bathroom into the whole bus I swore off them for ever. Anyone who has ever been near a septic tank bubbling over knows what I'm talking about. Terrible.
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Agree 100%. The former World Wide Bus (haven't been on it since it changed to GoBus) is great for people who don't want to head to S Station. I've never had any issues with them.
 
JoeBoston1 said:
I'm often struck by how poorly archboston.org forum goers misunderstand politics, but this thread is an egregious example. The degree to which you are being played is stunning.

The misunderstanding of statistics, politics, and economics here is staggering.

This will not result in safer inter-city travel. This will mean higher prices for consumers, fewer choices, and more dangerous unregulated bus-lines.

Good God. The road to Hell is paved.




http://www.cato.org/doc-download/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/PA680.pdf
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Ya, I agree. Let consumers decide. The Chinatown buses should allow me to inspect the undercarriage of the bus before I decide to buy my $1 ticket. Otherwise, some government bureaucrat mechanic is going to take away my freedom to ride in a three wheeled fire wagon on the masspike. Clearly its a victimless issue that the market can decide. Thanks for talking the truth to these Taxachusetts, nanny state- my bus doesn't have brakes boo-hooers.
 
datadyne007 said:
When was this implemented?
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For awhile now. I don't even remember, honestly. The free WiFi was implemented a couple years ago to match the Acela too (just as shitty).

The only differences from Regional to Acela are: -30 minutes, slightly nicer seats, tilting (might make you nauseous), shades on the windows, crummier cafe car seats (IMO), nicer bathrooms and vestibules, and something like double the price.

I take the Regional. Some of them even make the trip in under 4 hours, ahead of schedule (my favorite is 135), because Amtrak pads so heavily.

But the Acelas are maxing out on capacity, so clearly someone is riding them...
 
czsz said:
Agreed. I have gotten between Boston and NYC in 3-3.5 hours on Fung Wah. It often beats the Regional, sometimes even Acela. I have no idea how they avoid being ticketed for the necessary speeds.
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They didn't. I heard a report that their drivers are charged with record numbers of speeding tickets.
 
I rode a Regional in the late '90s that had an outlet (at least in the cafe car, might have had one at my seat, too).

choo said:
The Chinatown buses should allow me to inspect the undercarriage of the bus before I decide to buy my $1 ticket.
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Again, the "Chinatown" buses don't have the $1 ticket. That's Megabus, which offers that fare to one passenger per trip. And you still have to pay a separate booking fee, on top of that.

I've had bad Megabus experiences, but they were more about crazy passengers on the trip. And bad traffic on the Jersey Turnpike. I do wonder how much flexibility the drivers have on their routes, especially on the double-decker buses that have to deal with low clearances on alternate routings.
 
How did I not know about GoBus when I was living in Cambridge!? Could have saved me a lot of time and stress getting to and from South Station...
 
czsz said:
How did I not know about GoBus when I was living in Cambridge!? Could have saved me a lot of time and stress getting to and from South Station...
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Adam put out a push when they first launched on uHub. They don't seem to do any advertising so I really don't know how else they get business. I for one tell everyone I know, because they are seriously awesome. The drivers tend to be characters too
 
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