With over 3800 destinations Greyhound is America’s bus line.    It is the daily primary transportation for millions of American living in communities not served by train or plane.

For decades, a Greyhound Station was a source of pride for many communities.  By the 70’s the stations were synonymous with crime. By the late nineties many of these stations were relocated from the central city to remote areas of the city.   In 2011, Greyhound station in Sacramento moved from is L street terminal downtown to Richards Blvd.

My love affair with Greyhound ended in my teens when I took the hound from New York City to San Francisco.  That was reinforced a few of years ago on a trip from Atlanta to New Orleans. While there were  banners that read that the new buses had extra leg room and wifi on board.    That wasn’t my experience. My bus was crowded, there wasn’t any wifi, uncomfortable seats with marginal air conditioning and passengers who treated the bus like a garbage dump.

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Musical Entertainment,Crime, Good Burgers, Homelessness, Metal Chairs and Fried Chicken

Bus 6062 From Atlanta to New Orleans

Click on the Link Below for the full Story.

https://sacratomatovillepost.com/2012/09/28/bus-6062-from-atlanta-to-new-orleans/

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Greyhound dominance as a bus company is being challenged.  In 2008, facing competition from low cost carriers like Megabus launched BoltBus.  Most of Boltbus operations are on the East Coast.  BoltBus like MegaBus entered California and Nevada and left the market due to low ridership.  Boltbus is thriving in the Pacific Northwest, with routes in Oregon and Washington to British Columbia.     Boltbus operates much like the other low cost carriers and does not operate out of Greyhound Stations.

German Giant Flixbus entered the US in May and is serving many of the smaller cities that Greyhound abandoned.  Many Greyhound station have security,  Some have metal detectors found at US airports.  The company is rolling digital timetable at its stations

Passengers can purchase tickets online. and its pricing is flexible.  If a passenger take a route with stops or chooses a late or non commuter buses, he may find a price that is considerably lower.  More stations have restaurants for travelers with some stations featuring Starbucks.

Review: Sacramento to Reno   

Dates of Travel  June 20-24, 2019

Sacramento ($14.85) The bus arrived 45 minutes late.   The bus was three quarters full and there was a stop in Loomis and Truckee before arriving to Reno.  The bus, Prevost X3-45 was clean.  This giant 6.4 370 man found the leather seats comfortable and the person sitting next to me had ample room. ( Not a small feat, I have paid $75 for a larger seat on American and has less room than the Greyhound)  The AC , on this mid nineties afternoon was very cold.   Each passenger had a power source for her cell phone or electronics.  Throughout the bus were instructional signs to connect to the Wifi.   The Wifi was just okay, Greyhound doesn’t recommend downloading or Streaming. So its not conducive for working.  Where Greyhound makes up for those shortcomings is their Onboard Entertainment Suite.   Passengers, has a limited amount of free movies, TV shows, games, and news sites available.  Aren t one point in the Sierras the I lost the signal.  The bus arrived to the Amtrak Station a block from Reno’s famous Arch. 30 minutes late.

Reno ($15.00) The bus arrived 10 minutes late. The bus,another Prevost X3-45.  I asked frequent travel how did he liked the bus.  While he wasn’t as impressed as I was, he said there are a lot of older buses in the fleet, they have new seats and wifi but they aren’t as comfortable.  He went on about stations and attitudes of the drivers who set the tone of the trip.  As for the trip, this was an express to Sacramento  I settled in, and watched the movie ” Girl Trip”. if there was a negative about the trip.  The bus arrived in Sacramento early and I didn’t get to see the ending.

Greyhound

+ New comfortable buses with wifi and Entertainment Suite

+ Flexible Low Pricing

– Slow Wifi, not good for those wanting to work as they travel

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Greyhound, stepped up its game.  I was very impressed with the room and comfort of the new buses.  While the stations are improved and are safer its still difficult to shake its seedy image.