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Back On Those Roads
February 19th, 2009 | Dean Arrindell
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Have you traveled up and down a road your whole life? It's the road you've seen evolve through traffic pattern changes, new curves and lane additions. Maybe it's a little local road, or it's a major highway. For me, I-95 and the New Jersey Turnpike are those roads. I've been going up and down them for most of my life. Growing up outside of Washington DC, I would come to New York often to visit my grandparents. Going to college in New Jersey, I would drive south to see my parents.
Since I began living without a car in and around NYC 13 years ago, my main method of transportation between NYC and DC has been Amtrak. Occasionally I would borrow or rent a car, but Amtrak usually got me there and back. It's quick, convenient and easily gets me to and from the centers of both cities. The price isn't bad, but it's not cheap either. Prices can vary, but the cheapest roundtrip ticket I found (without discounts) is $144.
Traveling by plane is too much of a hassle. I did it once and that was enough. The plane ride itself is short, but LaGuardia and Reagan National airports aren't easy to get to from my home in NYC and where my parents live in Maryland. I'd have to travel to an airport, check-in, wait to get through security, wait to board, potentially wait on the runway, fly, land, disembark and get to local transport, then get from the airport to my final destination. Those series of little trips can add up being the same amount of time as riding Amtrak. And it's still more expensive than the train. It’s not worth it.
Then there's the bus. I took a DC-NYC bus trip once with my dad a long time ago. I think I was around 9-years-old. I hated it. I remember being hot, squished in a seat, and taking a lot longer to get there compared to taking a car. In reality, it may not have been that bad, but imagine being hot, crammed and not being able to get out and play. When you're nine, that's torture. So, buses were out.
My bus ban was loosened a few years back. I took Peter Pan Lines a few times to various places in Massachusetts. It wasn't bad, but I didn't want to make that NYC-DC trip on the bus. I must've been scarred by my childhood bus ride. Lately, though, a lot has been written about new bus companies serving the East Coast. They were reportedly reliable, with comfy seats, a few have wi-fi and they’re cheap! About $20 one way, or, if you purchase your tickets early enough, $1. That's right, one buck! I reviewed the sites and while Boltbus wasn’t the cheapest, they sold me. Their website said they have wi-fi, extra legroom and reserved seating. And they're cheaper than Amtrak. So, I took a chance, lifted my bus ban and booked with Boltbus.
On the morning of my trip, I was a little worried when I got to the bus stop at 7th Avenue and 33rd Street. Two garbage trucks were picking up a small mountain of trash. Well, trash has to be picked up at some point, and I guess 7:15 on Saturday morning is the time and 33rd and 7th is the place. I just worried if it was an bad omen that the bus stop doubled as a trash dump.
The garbage was finally picked up, my fellow passengers and I waited a few minutes, the bus pulled up and we boarded. I got a seat, fired up my laptop and settled-in. It’s a nice bus. The leather, or maybe pleather, seats are clean and comfortable. Boltbus advertises it has extra legroom, and I didn't feel cramped. I was able to browse the Internet on their wi-fi without any problems. After writing, I closed my eyes to get some sleep. I did the head-bob a few times, but was otherwise comfortable.
A Boltbus in DC
One criticism: electrical outlets aren't available for every seat. And the seats that did have them, were in a strange place. They were in the middle of the head rests of the aisle seats. So, as a window seat passenger, my power cord was in the face of the person sitting next to me. They should put the outlets between each pair of seats.
A warning: get there early. The website recommends getting to the bus stop 15 minutes before the scheduled departure time. It also states, "Five minutes before departure we reserve the right to release any reservations as 'no shows.' Walkup passengers will be loaded at this time." They're not joking. Before we took off to DC, I heard a man yell, "You gave my seat away?" I couldn't hear the entire conversation, but it sounded like the driver told the wanna-be passenger other departure times because a walk-up passenger filled the seat. I don't think the wanna-be passenger joined us on our trip.
The trips down and back were good. Both arrived early to their destinations and there were no issues. We didn't make a stop on the way down, but we did on coming back to NYC. I'm not clear what the policy is about that.
Getting that $1 ticket seems to be difficult. You have to book far in advance and perhaps travel on one of their slow days. Megabus also offers $1 fares, too, so check them out. My round trip fare for this trip was $43. Since I’m saving compared to Amtrak, I’d definitely take Boltbus again on those roads I've been on my whole life.
Have you taken a bus to travel in the Northeast? What did you think? Do you have a better way to get up and down the East Coast? Let me know in the comments section below.
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Dean Arrindell | Comments Off
Back On Those Roads
(via Facebook, MySpace, Digg, email and more)
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