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Bus services in the U.S.
#1

Bus services in the U.S.

This is kind of a random question, but something I wonder about. Why do we have such crappy bus services in the U.S. as compared to what you find in the better off Latin American countries like Chile and Argentina? I've never taken Greyhound but I hear it's not so great and doesn't have any type of sleeper coach with fulling reclining seats. For dirt cheap, in Argentina, you can have an overnight bus ride with a 180 degree reclining leather seat with an attendant, privacy curtains, movies, hot dinner, desert and champagne. It feels like flying in first class.

I just find it odd that nothing like that exists in the U.S. I'd still rather fly long distances than be in a bus for 18 hours, but for routes that are too close to go through all the hassle of flying yet far enough apart to be tiring to drive, like L.A. to S.F., a luxury bus would be awesome.
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#2

Bus services in the U.S.

You can get some nice long distance bus rides in Asia. I haven't traveled enough in South America to even know they existed. I love ferries and have taken them and trains like crazy in Europe. Africa I took some wild bus rides.

I think in the US on a public funding level a lot of mass transit money goes to light rail type stuff. It works in some places really well. I went to college in St. Louis and they had some shitty train system going up, but their bus system was awful. A lot of other US cities I saw were similar.

When I went to St. Louis when I was 18 I was all excited about taking Greyhounds all over the place. I did them maybe 20 times my first year and they were miserable. That's a horrible way to travel. I'd never really left Hawaii, and wanted to see the mainland. I just bought a car the second year. Anything long distance flying was just more practical.

I don't know if a lot of folks from other countries use Greyhounds, but I bet they don't do it for long. That would be a terrible representation of US travel if they did. Those things were just disgusting. Maybe they have something nicer in place along the east coast? I've ridden Amtrak up there but was disappointed after seeing European and Asian trains.

The Island of Oahu has an excellent bus system that is always rated one of the best in the US. It's all public funded and it's an island so big deal. Now even out here they're starting to build some fixed rail crap that's gonna suck up all the regular bus funding. Just to follow trends I guess.

Aloha!
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#3

Bus services in the U.S.

We do have Amtrak, which really isn't that bad. I took the LA --> Oakland train not too long ago and it was a good experience. The train goes through some beautiful valleys. It ended up being about $60, and the seats are pretty comfortable, and you can walk around-- something you can't really do on a bus.

Also, in the east coast there are some decent bus services between the major cities, like DC to New York or Philly.

We're actually pretty lucky to have relatively cheap air choices. I always find $130 each way tickets to NYC from LA.

Argentina is planning a high speed rail service between Cordoba and Buenos Aires. I wish they had it now so that if I go down there I can check it out, but it's coming.

Rail > Bus (typically) when the option exists.
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#4

Bus services in the U.S.

Quote: (12-07-2009 01:51 PM)kerouac Wrote:  

Rail > Bus (typically) when the option exists.

Probably so. But I was surprised at how comfortable the full cama buses are in S. America. I felt 10x more comfortable on the bus than I do on an airplane in coach. I'd rather be on one of those buses for 9 hours than be on a plane for 2 unless I'm really in a hurry.
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#5

Bus services in the U.S.

Las Vegas public transit system is horrible unless you are only staying on the strip. I live maybe 15-20 miles from the strip, and to take a bus home would take me close to an hour and a half.

Greyhounds in America suck as well . But there are other buses you can take throught the states, but I'm sure they are a hell of a lot more expensive than the ones in South America.

I was amazed when I saw how nice busses were in Brazil for such a cheap price. I figured, 3rd world country, this bus right is going to suck. But it was actually way more pleasant than any flight or bus I've taken in the US.
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#6

Bus services in the U.S.

Quote: (12-09-2009 11:13 PM)Brandon E Wrote:  

I was amazed when I saw how nice busses were in Brazil for such a cheap price.

Really?? I thought the busses in Brazil were the worse in Latin America I'd encountered, and at the same time the most expensive. Well, to be honest, I only took one bus in Brazil and that was from Foz do Iguacu to Sao Paulo continuing on to Rio. It was the Pluma bus line. I thought it was horrible. The bus was dirty, seats stained. Stuff was broken like the overhead light, seat back reclining lever didn't work. Maybe other bus lines were better, but I've heard bad things in general about Brazilian buses.

Now Argentine and Chilean buses on the other hand are first class. I actually enjoyed taking 15 hour rides on them, crazy as that sounds.
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#7

Bus services in the U.S.

Hmm. Haven't been to Argentina or Chili, but I'm just comparing it to the US. You have to get at least executivo in Brazil, which a bus from Sao Paulo to Rio would cost about R$60-80. They also have even fancier busses where the chair folds down a full 180 degrees like the ones you were talking about in Argentina. Maybe they are expensive compared to Argentina and Chile, they were quite nice compared to what I've seen in America. I'm headed to Argentina Monday, I'll check out the busses and get back to you.
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#8

Bus services in the U.S.

Detroit is why public transit in the United States is such shit. Also. the American way and American identity is so tightly wound to ownership (house, car, suits) that there is no real push for working public transit. The private companies that have virtual monopolies (Greyhound, Peter Pan, Coach) have no real impetus to compete, save price in a few competitive markets (think commutes and between major cities). I have taken too many greyhounds in my life, and they were all shit. They are alright in Canada, and the "coach Canada" busses are the double deckers and they have Wi-Fi, which is incredible, but nothing like you would see in south America with those Fly Emirates style super-busses that give you the bad chicken and the bootlegged super voilent action movies from the 1980s.

Once you cross the border to go into the states though, (Detroit, Buffalo, Platz,) it just goes downhill, and the further south you get, the worse. I always get caught in some shit along the way, worse than travelling in South America. I get hustled in Pitsburgh, the greyhound is right next to a prison, a crackhead has taken a swing at me in Cleveland (I then haymaker knocked him out) I got vomited on my the black version of Andre the Giant in Detroit, my ticket stolen in DC.

The deeper south you get though, the shittier the ride and the shittier the crowd.
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#9

Bus services in the U.S.

Yeah, greyhound blows and it's almost as expensive as flying. I took the greyhound once from Montrose, CO to Denver, CO. I think it's around a 5 hour drive by car. By greyhound it took something like 21 hours. I'll never do that again.
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#10

Bus services in the U.S.

While they don't have sleeper cars and private attendants as one poster mentioned upthread, there are now many nice bus services in the Washington, DC to Boston corridor. They aren't very expensive and tend to have leather seats, electrical outlets and internet. Bolt Bus is one example. Much cheaper than the vastly overpriced Amtrak and less headaches than flying.
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#11

Bus services in the U.S.

"Also. the American way and American identity is so tightly wound to ownership (house, car, suits) that there is no real push for working public transit."

Yeah, I read somewhere that the auto industry has spent more money than any other industry on convincing Americans that the American dream is car ownership.

Owning a car is retarded. They certainly don't help you swoop girls.

And we all know about the marketing of home ownership this decade.

Suits on the other hand, pay for themselves.
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