The LA bus terminal is a really ‘interesting’ place.
I felt perfectly safe though.
I did not feel safe in the NYC AMTRAK train terminal. I would not do it alone. (Tiny, elderly lady)
Mrs. Wagner’s pies have been known to cause sudden instances of poetic depression whilst riding buses. As long as you pack some sandwiches, you’re probably OK.
While traveling by Greyhound has had a reputation of being crap, it is a bit of a stretch to say it is dangerous. Those cases are a minority.
I use to have a toy Greyhound bus as a child and loved it dearly. But I never recall taking the bus since I was a toddler.
Everyone since has told me to avoid it, take the train, plane or a car.
This right here.
nevermind
City bus to/from school 1956 and up
Yellow school bus, rather ride in covered wagon pulled by oxen
SF trolly
London double decked
ARMY buses
Steam train
regular engine
Amtrack
( Seattle to/from Tulsa, Continental & Greyhound = 23 hrs
Rail = 24 hrs ) early 60’s
Airplanes, single seat to DC-10, military aircraft
Cars, trucks, horses, etc.
Boats, all sizes, power & sail
Most fun & interesting = Piloting small pvt aircraft, then steam train straight out of a western movie in Mexico, sailing,
sailing small sailboats off shore, then night bus rides through Mexico mountains, 1961
Cheapest = Bus ( I am a big guy so no problems from others. )
Toilet paper = great idea for all travel.
But most of all, travel as much as you can.
Take pictures.
Indeed. Traveling by grayhound is much safer in the US than Canada. We’ve yet to have a beheading here.
In September 2002, I bought a one-week Greyhound/Peter Pan bus pass that covered the eastern U.S. Instead of staying in a hotel, every night I would take the overnight bus from NY to DC or vice versa, and I’d sleep on the bus (and then I’d take a nap in a park in the afternoon).
The only thing that struck me about Greyhound travel in the U.S. (as opposed to Canada) was that American bus passengers seemed to be poorer than Canadian bus passengers, on average.
I did NYC to Oakland, CA in 1981. The air traffic controllers strike hit while I was visiting my divorced mother in NYC and my folks refused to let me fly back. At the time it was so very NOT awesome. But it was an interesting life experience :D. And I made it through perfectly safely at age ~13.
I’ve taken Greyhound about a half dozen times when I was young on multi-hour rides. They aren’t that bad, really. More comfortable than flying coach today IMHO. Pay attention to Alley Dweller’s advice and be just a little cautiously aware while in major metropolitan depots, which can occasionally be little hives of villainy in the wee hours of the morning, and you should be fine.
My only real complaint is the seating. You are in a window seat, with very little room, and you have some jughead come and sit right next to you, blocking your free access to the toilet. There is precious little room already, so, you have to excuse yourself and climb over them, and they already have something on their lap, etc…
Otherwise, if time isn’t an issue, go for it. IIRC, airplane toilets ain’t no great shakes themselves.
I recently came across mention of this also, elsewhere on the Net. Strikes me as rather alarming – as against the UK’s equivalent, National Express long-distance buses / coaches (admittedly, far shorter average distances than in North America), where booking of seats on is rigorously controlled, and you’re guaranteed a seat on the vehicle for which you’ve booked. I feel that I’d be nervous about trying Greyhound – being a pessimist, I’d be certain that any bus I had a ticket for, would be full up and I’d be turned away.
Irma Kurtz – American lady long resident in the UK, where she has made a name as an “agony aunt” and general commentator on life – spent several months some 25 years ago, travelling extensively in the USA by Greyhound, and wrote a book about it, The Great American Bus Ride. The author came to find her Greyhound travels fascinating-verging-on-addictive (well, people can get addicted to the strangest things). As I recall: while she met many highly eccentric fellow-passengers, she never found herself in acute actual or perceived danger. An interesting read; though one foible of the author, to me, was her some reason becoming obsessive about her trusty Driza-Bone overcoat which she took everywhere, against inclement travelling conditions. This reader ended up feeling, “if you mention that bloody D-item one more time, I’ll scream.”
In dozens of rides, I’ve never found myself unable to get a seat, and I am guessing it is a fairly rare circumstance. Most busses I’ve been on have been half-empty.
I think it is considered kind of like city busses, in that your ticket buys you a seat along that route but does not buy a specific time. I’ve always liked the flexibility that provides.
When I was riding Greyhound, their business model was, if there are more passengers, they’ll provide more buses. Has that changed, now that your tickets are for a “specific bus”?
And yes, they travel across boring rural USA: in my memory, those are the parts that are the most memorable.
A few weeks ago I was on a business trip to LA with a friend and colleague. We wanted to go to a couple of places, and I learned that Angelinos are obsessed with Uber – I used it but wasn’t impressed-- and horrified that anyone would ride on public transport. We walked through Koreatown, where we were staying, grabbed a bus, then did the same on the way back. On another occasion we rode the Metro. While the public transport in LA is not on par with Northern Europe, I was actually pleasantly surprised that they were not the den of iniquity that we had been warned of.
Pretty weird.
IME, tickets aren’t for a certain bus, but a certain route, starting at a certain time. My last Greyhound ride was going from Minneapolis to Madison (5ish hour trip), and my ticket was for something like 2pm. For $10, I was able to change that ticket for the 1pm bus, but if that bus was full and I had to wait for the 2pm anyway, I was out the $10. They do send another driver out if the bus fills up (and I once had a “backup” driver dump his passenger load in Kansas City, MO rather than the intended Minneapolis because he didn’t feel like going the entire way on his day off), but it can be a pretty long wait.
Other than one hellish experience (included the Kansas City dump, among other mishaps), I’ve had no problems with Greyhound, and I never felt unsafe. Just un-cared-for. I’d consider it again if need be. Be advised that long distance trips aren’t really *that *cheap though- IIRC that Madison-Minneapolis round trip was something like $150.
Being a fellow non-American, I think I can relate to your concerns, OP,so I hope this helps:
Last year I had to get to Las Vegas from Santa Barbara (on time - I had to attend an MMA fight at the Palms - it was a big family thing).
It was a 4 leg journey. From SB to Los Angeles, LA to Las Vegas, back to LA, then to San Diego. So I bought the tickets in one go, right?
Well, it wasn’t until I was at the counter at the Greyhound terminal in Las Vegas that I found the driver in Santa Barbara had taken the wrong part of the ticket. He had taken the Vegas to LA ticket, but no worries, said the lady at the counter, I’ll just write a note and stamp this piece of paper and you can show it to the driver when the bus gets here.
Knowing full well about the first come first served rule, I was about the third in line with my suitcase. When the bus showed up, they took my suitcase and gently placed it in the compartment.
However, the woman who takes your ticket said, No, I can’t accept this. But , the woman at the counter said this would be ok. Well, she said, it’s not, so you better go back. So I went back to the counter. She told me to get the other woman over to speak to her. I tried that, but that woman was having none of it. The woman at the counter suddenly couldn’t have cared less. So I had to buy a new ticket. There was a big line up at the counter so thought I’d better use the ticket machine. Meanwhile, the bus was filling up quick. The engine was on, my suitcase was on board, and I didn’t even have a ticket!
I was sweating bullets as I went through the steps on that machine, thinking I wouldn’t get a place and my suitcase would go without me.
It all worked out, though, I grabbed my ticket as the machine spat it out, and ran onto the bus at the last second. Exciting times!
All in all, traveling via Greyhound was a terrific experience. The drivers were real characters, telling horror Greyhound stories of people being left behind, giving us their life philosophies, acting as tour guides.
I never felt unsafe, but I did take precautions such as checking for the taxi rank when we got to a terminal (usually pretty skeevy places), and heading straight for it on arrival.
I found the buses to be clean, the passengers were fine, but I do advise you to make sure you’re at least an hour early for your own peace of mind, and make sure you check your tickets.
I’d advise against it. Use Amtrak. At least you’d be able to stretch your legs.
If Greyhound’s flogging some “go everywhere pass,” don’t succumb. Buy a one-way ticket to some destination on your route 300 or so miles away. That’ll give you an idea how horrible it would be to tour the entire country by bus.
Edit to add: I had to take a Greyhound (in Canada) about 300 kilometres some years back, and had to sit at the very back. The thing had an exhaust leak into the cabin. I got off sick as a dog.
Yes. Even though I didn’t have a bad experience with Greyhound, this is an even better idea. You also have a dining or cafe car, and the restrooms are pretty good, especially compared to a Greyhound bus.
You might also try Megabus. Its a bus service like Greyhound only it can be darn cheap “like $10 a ticket” in some cases. Although their services area are very limited and they dont have terminals.
Amtrak is by far preferable to Greyhound in terms of a pleasant trip. Unfortunately, Amtrak coverage is thin the further you get west. The train from NOLA to LA only runs 3 or 4 days a week (though it does go through Langtry Texas). The ideal would be to use Amtrak when you can and fill the gaps with the bus (I think Trailways in some form still exists as well).