[QUOTE=kunilou]
There is no bus service to Kirksville, Warrenton, Maryville or any other small or mid-size city in Missouri, even those with a pool of college kids. Greyhound decided that those routes can’t be profitable, even with a captive audience. And since no other operator has stepped in to fill the gap, I guess they’re right.
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Weirdly, when I was doing my MPA at Fort Leonard Wood (Webster University), I did a paper on this subject. Missouri has really, really bad transport.
I’d rather drive myself than risk sitting for an extended period beside something that smells foul and bumps up against me. (The last time I took a bus, the fellow beside me pissed himself.) I much prefer driving myself, stopping where and when I chose and being able to fully recline and snooze comfortably, listing to a CD or radio without headphones, breathing clean air, not having to worry about luggage, and not being annoyed by others.
For a trip that is too far for me to comfortably drive in one hop, a plane will get me there much more quickly than a bus, and at the destination there will be a car rental available, whereas with the bus, there more than likely will not be a car rental on site.
[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus]
If you look through American magazine ads of the 1950s and 1960s, you’ll see that bus companies were experimenting with such things, and the ads advertise the comfort (!) of bus travel, presumably in contrast to driving.
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The Grehyound Bus Museum is well worth visiting: http://www.greyhoundbusmuseum.org/
It gives insights into how America grew. Quite inspiring.