I was reminded today why I tend to avoid taking Greyhound like I avoid eating raw onions and the entertainment district on a weekend (or any night, really).
I was forced to take the bus today after I saw how absurd VIA Rail's full price fares were - at the prices they were charging for a one way ticket I could fly twice the distance round trip. Seriously.
So I hopped on the bus. The price was right ($20 from Guelph to Toronto), the bus was relatively on schedule and quite spacious. There were so many people looking to get the hell out of Guelph on a Saturday that they had to call up a second bus to take all the extra passengers. I had a few seats to myself.
What warrants the 2 star (or really, 1.5 star) rating is not only the duration of the trip (which was unacceptably long and had way too many stops, despite being billed as an "express" bus) but the comfort level. I had forgotten how loud and BUMPY the Greyhound experience can be. The windows were literally rattling the entire way and I was being jostled around constantly without a moment's peace.
I should mention that I'm a fast and deep sleeper the likes of which this world has never seen (we're bordering on a diagnosis of narcolepsy here) and even I had a hard time staying asleep because I kept being violently awoken by the rattling and shaking of the windows, even on seemingly smooth stretches of highway.
There's no way this is a road conditions thing as I've driven this stretch of road in a car many times - so it's gotta be something with the bus. Never again!!