| rev:text
| - I travel constantly on Megabus. I think I'm about to break my 20th trip this year using Megabus. Essentially, it's a love hate relationship. People in Pittsburgh are either afraid to ride the bus, or they are to snobby to ride the bus. I'm here to help those who are afraid because there is no reason to be. Here is the breakdown:
The Good:
Megabus is the quickest bus service there is in and out of Pittsburgh because the Ghettohound busses take forever and suck. It's also typically priced so cheaply that I cannot pass it up. I've paid anywhere from $5- $45 for legs between Pittsburgh and New York, which is a steal. The Toronto route was amazing, and it was $1 consistently for that route.
Also, unlike the Greyhound, Megabus gives the bus driver a GPS so that they don't get lost. The drivers are typically pretty cool, and usually you can get a double seat to yourself for at least part of the trip.
Megabus makes rest stops so you will be able to use a real bathroom. If you pace yourself, you can usually grab something to eat as well. The key to this is MOVING. Lots of people mosey around- don't fall into the trap.
The seats are way nicer than any other bus. There are arms rests so that you can guarantee your personal space. There is more leg room than other bus companies as well.
Megabus is mostly college students and young adults. They don't just let the homeless people ride the bus around, and the cliental isn't as creepy as Greyhound.
The Bad:
I want to strangle every ad I see for the free wifi. IT'S A LIE. I have NEVER had wifi for more than five or so minutes on the bus. However, if you are reading this, the number to complain about the wifi, per the Megabus welcome video, is 201-225-7565.
Megabus needs to get a frequent busser program. I want priority boarding and the ability to accumulate free trips. I'm tired of cray cray middle aged women with fake nails and loud and obnoxious phone conversations sitting behind me. Get on it Megabus.
The quality of the busses varies. Some only have single outlet by the window seat, and others have two centrally located outlets. Some have a window roof, and some do not. Some have tvs as well, but they only use them for the obnoxious videos at the beginning.
You are limited to one tiny carry on and one checked bag. When I say carry on, think airport personal item. When I took the bus years ago, I offered to buy a second ticket to bring an extra bag, and they said no. They JUST updated the luggage policy. You can now check an extra bag if you pay for the most expensive seat on the bus- usually upwards of $60, and some drivers don't honor that. However, I have a friend who tells the driver she has no cash (since it's a cash only transaction....SKETCH), and she'll pay when she gets to the destination. She grabs her bags and says she'll be back with the money when the person that is picking her up arrives. Then, she bolts. Not that I'm recommending this, but it works like a charm for her.
The Ugly:
Some of the workers are just rude. The customer service is atrocious, and if you have a problem no one will help you.
Megabus has a bad bad habit of scheduling departures and arrivals during rush hour. Just don't take those times. I have sat for HOURS waiting for late busses, and the company just doesn't care. These busses run straight through the entire day. If the driver is late for the 6 AM route, then they will be late the rest of the day. Shoot for an early bus.
Stops in the middle of routes have no organization. I've watched the people getting on at State College when a bus is 4 hours late. Most of them were figuring they would just sit and wait for the next bus. And even if you are at an official stop, the workers will sit and lie to you. I've waited up to six hours for a bus to just show up.
Since Megabus doesn't use terminals, pray for good weather. The convention center protects you from precipitation, but this is NOT the case at all stops. And in the winter when it's freezing out, you will be miserable.
Drivers drive back to back routes frequently with no real breaks.
There you have it. Give Megabus a try. I have had plenty of great trips and a few truly terrible ones. If your trip sucks, just lead the entire bus into a riot screaming, "Megabus mega SUCKS*."
*Drivers will threaten to call the state police if you do this.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)