Greg Erken.com

• Introduction
• Now Boarding!
• Settling In
• The Nashville Blues
• Racing To Richmond
• DC Bound

Though we left Nashville nearly 3 hours late, somehow we arrived in Richmond with plenty of time to catch bus 2426 to Washington, DC, which left on time at 3:50 PM ET. No stops on this leg, we're going straight into Union Station.

Which means -- wait for it -- we'll hit Washington Friday night rush hour traffic. On 95 North.

Sure enough, by the first slowdown, the bustracker -- working on this leg -- showed us 45 minutes behind schedule already.

The driver had it tough, 3 straight hours of heavy traffic, often bumper-to-bumper, but he did a very good job. He drove steady as she goes and kept a good pace with traffic. He was probably more happy than we were to see Union Station.

Getting grumpy.

The Bus tracker was now working, and making me grumpier.

My spirits rallied as my sister Mary lobbed some heartwarming memes in my direction.

This photo approximates my idealized vision of Union Station in Washington, DC, upon arrival after 31 hours sitting in 3 different Greyhound buses.

Boarded St. Louis at 1:45 PM CT Thursday afternoon, arrived DC 7:00 PM ET Friday night, 30 hours of bus travel, 45 minutes behind schedule. Airline travel from St. Louis to DC usually takes me about 2 to 4 hours, depending on non-stop vs. connections (our obvious 5th difference between bus and airplane travel).

(Thanks for the Creative Commons license for the great photo to Andy Feliciotti at ihitthebutton.com.)

Box Score

My Greyhound Bus Review

It Worked When It Worked

Comfort and Convenience

One way to evaluate Greyhound is to compare the company's claims of comfort and convenience with the reality as I experienced it.

The reclining chairs were indeed comfortable, power outlets were plentiful and operational, temperature onboard was pleasant (though it was late December, we were traveling through a very mild climate).

Regarding our sacred "personal space," just like air travel, sometimes my buses were full and I had a seatmate, and sometimes they were pretty empty and I had two seats to myself. Perhaps Greyhound was more crowded than usual given Christmas travel.

There was plenty of room in the overhead bins, with the aforementioned caveat that only smaller items could fit. There was also plenty of room in the larger compartment below, but that brought some security risks I highlighted earlier.

The on-board restroom was disappointing. It was cramped like an airplane loo, but it lacked soap and running water, and without the standard "Vacant/Occupied" indicator, it required awkward interactions.

I tried the Wi-Fi early on, but it seemed slower than my T-Mobile cellular, so I just stuck to cellular. I wasn't streaming anything requiring much bandwidth, just reading articles on my phone.

Customer Service and Support

Another consideration for any product or service is when something goes wrong, how helpful, informative, and eager to make good is the company? On this score Greyhound really fell down. The 3-hour delay in Nashville was made more frustrating by the inability/unwillingness of staff to provide any reason for the delay, or any ETA.

Given modern communications you have to assume that the company actually knows where its buses are at all times, but somewhere in the chain of command the decision was made to tell passengers nothing -- at least at the Nashville station, on that night, about my bus. But I will say the bus driver did whatever she had to do in order to get us to Richmond on time for me to catch my next bus.

How About Compared to Air Travel?

Yet another way to review Greyhound is to compare it to the obvious alternative of airline travel. Here are five ways the bus falls short of the airplane experience:

1. Smaller overhead luggage bin.
2. No tray table. Important if you want to work on your laptop.
3. No running water or soap in the bathroom (on the three buses I was on).
4. Less security for your luggage. Yes, airlines can lose your luggage, and somebody could grab the wrong bag at the baggage carousel, but those wide-open bus compartment doors seemed to be a much greater security risk for your property.
5. Needless to say, it takes longer by bus than airplane to go the same distance.

And four ways Greyhound perhaps beats the airlines:

1. More frequent stops to stretch your legs or have a quick smoke.
2. These stops give you more choice and control over food/drink, depending on where you stop. But not much choice, as I encountered mostly overpriced and unhealthy junk food. In Nashville, there were fast food joints within a few blocks of the station, but perhaps not in the best neighborhood, and you’ve got a target on your back if you’re schlepping luggage around. If you’re traveling a long ways you’ll definitely want to bring some food and drink with you.
3. Likewise, if you'd rather not use the onboard bathroom, you'll likely stop somewhere soon and get a chance to do your business.
4. Lastly, while going Greyhound is probably cheaper than air travel for the same distance, I can't say for sure as I haven't researched other trips. The $211 I paid was certainly cheaper than the $1,000+ the airlines wanted for last-minute travel during the post-Christmas airline meltdown. And $211 is not much to pay for going 1/3 of the way across the USA.

Conclusion

Based on my one long trip, I would say Greyhound is a viable alternative to air travel, but, like the airlines, the more connections and bus-switching in your itinerary, the more likely it is that something can go wrong. A short one-bus trip will probably be smooth, efficient, and inexpensive.

Overall, Greyhound seemed to be yet another one of those things that works quite well when it works, and then fails miserably when it doesn't.

"What Have You Learned Dorothy?"

It's Over And I'm Out

Like most people, I enjoy my comforts, conveniences, choices, and personal space, and tend to take them for granted. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly a typical 21st-century American like myself feels unfairly, outrageously! deprived when out of this comfort zone. Granted my trip was 30 hours -- considerably longer than most air travel -- but in terms of hardship, it's not exactly Iwo Jima, is it?

An abundance of these things is (mostly) all I've ever known, certainly relative to the vast majority of people who have ever lived on this planet. Not long ago these comforts and choices were unavailable or unaffordable luxuries for most people. Now they are assumed.

Most of us live better than kings of old, but many of us still complain like serfs. Or rather, I bet serfs rarely complained, as they couldn't imagine a better life. Nothing better was attainable.

I should reflect on the fact that getting On The Bus rather than flying or driving is itself a choice now available only in our modern times. And for many people that can't afford airfare or don't own a vehicle -- or get stuck in a nationwide airline meltdown -- it's the only practical choice for travel.

If you've gotten this far, Dear Reader, I thank you for reading my travelogue. I hope it's of interest to travelers curious about the modern-day Greyhound Bus experience, and that it provided a couple of laughs along the way.

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