# Was intercity bus travel once pleasant as pictured in ads and promotional material? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 4, 2008, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-intercity-bus-travel-once-pleasant-as-pictured-in-ads-and-promotional-material/466421 "2008-10-04T06:28:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-intercity-bus-travel-once-pleasant-as-pictured-in-ads-and-promotional-material/466421/61 "2008-10-08T21:26:58Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > As promised–now tell me that the inside of the Scenicruiser, as illustrated at the bottom of this ad, doesn’t look extremely comfortable. Of course, we don’t know for sure that she wasn’t actually a midget and only three feet tall. I don’t know how I missed that. Well actually I do, but that’s neither here nor there. [Bus interior](http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/adaccess.T2793/pg.1/) (Again, go to the bottom) And this one, which I found while having to re-search for the above. It’s an archival ad auction, unfortunately as the vast majority of this material seems to be. It’s an exterior shot only, but shows well the aura they were trying to generate around the concept of bus travel. [Product placement](http://www.adclassix.com/a4/56greyhoundscenicruiser.html) ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-intercity-bus-travel-once-pleasant-as-pictured-in-ads-and-promotional-material/466421/62 "2008-10-08T22:03:24Z")
Please note that bus terminalls are invariably located in the downtown district of any large city they service. And American cities, after dark…the downtowns are No-Man’s-Land after dark! Empty, deserted, used only by junkies, the Homeless, & street gangs looking for a fight/victim. If you arrive late at night, there are few/no cabs willing to go pick you up. **DON’T try to walk! DON’T try to get a local bus/subway!** Trust me on this. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-intercity-bus-travel-once-pleasant-as-pictured-in-ads-and-promotional-material/466421/63 "2008-10-08T22:18:50Z")
OK, here’s the business model. You want to from Donut Center to Dumpsville so you go to my web site. You enter where you are going and when. Then I consolidate all the trips and send the appropriate car, van or bus on a custom-made route to take you and other people where you need to go. Gosh I am brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-intercity-bus-travel-once-pleasant-as-pictured-in-ads-and-promotional-material/466421/64 "2008-10-08T23:48:17Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > I guess I should avoid buses in America, though? Depends on what you are willing to put up with. But terminals often are a little skeezy, and Greyhound isn’t as nice as bus systems in a lot of other countries. But it’ll get you from here to there and really isn’t as bad as people would have you believe. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-intercity-bus-travel-once-pleasant-as-pictured-in-ads-and-promotional-material/466421/65 "2008-10-09T01:08:59Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Please note that bus terminalls are invariably located in the downtown district of any large city they service. > > And American cities, after dark…the downtowns are No-Man’s-Land after dark! Empty, deserted, used only by junkies, the Homeless, & street gangs looking for a fight/victim. > > If you arrive late at night, there are few/no cabs willing to go pick you up. > > **DON’T try to walk! DON’T try to get a local bus/subway!** > > Trust me on this. On what basis should I trust you on this? In other words, have you ever been in a large American city? ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-intercity-bus-travel-once-pleasant-as-pictured-in-ads-and-promotional-material/466421/66 "2008-10-09T01:27:04Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > On what basis should I trust you on this? In other words, have you ever been in a large American city? Well **Bosda’s** location says he’s in Tennessee (if I’m reading it correctly). It’s unlikely (s)he’s never been in a large American city. In my experience, all large American cities are different. They are also different for different people. While I wouldn’t have too much concern about walking around Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, San Jose or Las Vegas in the middle of the night, I think I’d rather avoid walking around Denver, Santa Fe, Phoenix or Salt Lake City. However, my criteria (and experience) are probably different from **Bosda’s** – and I’ve never been farther East than Colorado. My gut tells me that while NYC or Miami might be fine at night, I’d rather avoid some place like Atlanta, Newark or Dallas. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-intercity-bus-travel-once-pleasant-as-pictured-in-ads-and-promotional-material/466421/67 "2008-10-09T02:10:36Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Please note that bus terminalls are invariably located in the downtown district of any large city they service. > > And American cities, after dark…the downtowns are No-Man’s-Land after dark! Empty, deserted, used only by junkies, the Homeless, & street gangs looking for a fight/victim. > > If you arrive late at night, there are few/no cabs willing to go pick you up. > > **DON’T try to walk! DON’T try to get a local bus/subway!** > > Trust me on this. **Bosda** is a little over the top here; in other words, 1978 called and wants its after-dark urban paranoia back. Most American cities have gotten considerably safer over the past thirty years. On the other hand he’s right about the immediate neighborhoods in which the bus terminals are located. They usually are in the part of a city’s downtown that you most want to avoid, and I agree you wouldn’t want to go strolling around after dark. L.A.'s Greyhound terminal is at Fifth and Main, on the edge of Skid Row, if it still is there. At one point I believe they’d moved their terminal operations to Union Station, which is in a safer and more tourist friendly neighborhood. The fact is, I hardly ever see the Rolling Dogs on the local outbound freeways anymore. I suspect Amtrak has taken a lot of their business, at least between Santa Barbara and San Diego. The last time I did see one, three years ago, it nearly crashed into the Blue Line train I was riding in, coming within 10 inches of my window seat–and it turned out to be an old one that someone was operating privately, but still bearing the Greyhound markings. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-intercity-bus-travel-once-pleasant-as-pictured-in-ads-and-promotional-material/466421/68 "2008-10-09T11:54:16Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > … > If you arrive late at night, there are few/no cabs willing to go pick you up. > > **DON’T try to walk! DON’T try to get a local bus/subway!** > > Trust me on this. What course would you then reccomend? \*When in danger, or in doubt, ``` Run in circles, scream and shout.* ``` ---
**Author:** ![accidentalyuppie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@accidentalyuppie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/accidentalyuppie)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-intercity-bus-travel-once-pleasant-as-pictured-in-ads-and-promotional-material/466421/69 "2008-10-09T13:23:44Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > I’ve ridden the Short Line bus from NYC to the Catskill Mountains, and around the Catskills, plenty of times, no complaints there. I’m also a frequent Short Line rider. I do think it is a different experience from typical intercity bus travel. I usually take it to the Poconos. About half the riders (more during the week, less on weekends) are long distance commuters, working in NYC while living cheaper and paying less tax in Pennsylvania. These are working people of all stripes, from construction workers to finance executives. The other half are leisure travellers,most of them reasonable affluent. You see lots of teens and young adults taking the bus up to spend time with family, executives who send their families up in the car during the week and take the bus up join them on the weekends or just day trippers wanting to get out of the city. I would bet there aren’t too many people on these buses that don’t own cars, the bus is a less stressful alternative to driving in most cases. Short Line riders seem rather high up on the socio-economic totem pole compared to your stereotypical intercity bus riders…it’s different And not cheap either - my round trip tickets for the hundred mile or so trip I ususally make are over $50 now ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-intercity-bus-travel-once-pleasant-as-pictured-in-ads-and-promotional-material/466421/70 "2008-10-09T21:46:55Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > What course would you then reccomend? > > \*When in danger, or in doubt, > > ``` > Run in circles, scream and shout.* > > ``` Arrange for someone you know to pick you up in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-intercity-bus-travel-once-pleasant-as-pictured-in-ads-and-promotional-material/466421/71 "2008-10-09T22:17:40Z")
I ride intercity buses all the time, and always have, never having owned a car (I can afford one, and I have a driver’s license and sometimes rent a car, but it’s so much cheaper not to bother with owning one). We’re talking an average of well over ten trips a year, ranging from 50 to several hundred miles, over the past twenty years or thereabouts, so I know whereof I speak, at least for the regions and routes that I’m familiar with. I think the experience depends a lot on location and distance. The real horror stories I hear seem to come mostly from the rural South and Southwest, and/or to involve multi-day trips. I’ve taken intercity buses all over southern New England and the Middle Atlantic States, from Chicago to Wisconsin, and here and there in California. I never had a seriously revolting or frightening experience,\* and most of the time it’s perfectly comfortable. The other passengers are generally not a nuisance, and I love the huge windows and the high vantage point that let me see all the scenery. Totally bestest ride IME is between Boston (or Providence) and Albany during the fall foliage season, which takes you on a breathtakingly scenic tour through the Berkshire Mountains. The bus interiors are usually adequately clean and functional, and a few of the newer buses are downright fancy (window blinds, power points, adjustable headrests and footrests and armrests, etc.). All of them give you far more room and comfort than the average coach seat on an airplane. Most bus terminals are pretty uninspiring-looking (if they’re part of an intermodal transit center, e.g., merged with a train station, they can be nicer), with rows of plastic seats and vending machines on a linoleum floor, but they’re tolerable for a short wait. Smoking and drinking alcohol are prohibited on most intercity coaches nowadays IME, as is playing music without earphones. Some bus lines are cracking down on extended cell phone conversations, too. So I’d say yes, there is a conscious effort being made to improve the image of bus travel and appeal to middle-class riders. But the current status of the bus-travel experience on average, I’d venture to guess, is pretty far from the poverty-line purgatory that non-bus-riders are apt to imagine. - Mind you, I also lived in India several times, for nearly two years total, and rode intercity buses there, which may have raised my skeeve-out threshold considerably. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-intercity-bus-travel-once-pleasant-as-pictured-in-ads-and-promotional-material/466421/72 "2008-10-10T19:26:28Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Please note that bus terminalls are invariably located in the downtown district of any large city they service. > > And American cities, after dark…the downtowns are No-Man’s-Land after dark! Empty, deserted, used only by junkies, the Homeless, & street gangs looking for a fight/victim. > > If you arrive late at night, there are few/no cabs willing to go pick you up. > > **DON’T try to walk! DON’T try to get a local bus/subway!** > > Trust me on this. That is true: most bus terminals are located in inner city areas that were OK, 50 years ago. Now, times have changed, and many of these areas are uninhabited/deserted at night. ---
**Author:** ![diku](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4af34b/32.png) [@diku](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diku)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-intercity-bus-travel-once-pleasant-as-pictured-in-ads-and-promotional-material/466421/73 "2008-10-10T20:39:36Z")
Well, Nashville’s Greyhound station is about two blocks away from the rescue mission/homeless shelter, and is on the wrong side of Broadway. Not a scary neighborhood, but not somewhere where I would care to linger in the evening hours. Plus it still has those quarter-operated TV chairs. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-intercity-bus-travel-once-pleasant-as-pictured-in-ads-and-promotional-material/466421/74 "2008-10-10T21:56:58Z")
> [@diku](#): > > Well, Nashville’s Greyhound station is about two blocks away from the rescue mission/homeless shelter, and is on the wrong side of Broadway. Not a scary neighborhood, but not somewhere where I would care to linger in the evening hours. > > Plus it still has those quarter-operated TV chairs. I’d say one block. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-intercity-bus-travel-once-pleasant-as-pictured-in-ads-and-promotional-material/466421/75 "2008-10-10T22:26:43Z")
> [@groman](#): > > Well **Bosda’s** location says he’s in Tennessee (if I’m reading it correctly). It’s unlikely (s)he’s never been in a large American city. In my experience, all large American cities are different. They are also different for different people. While I wouldn’t have too much concern about walking around Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, San Jose or Las Vegas in the middle of the night, I think I’d rather avoid walking around Denver, Santa Fe, Phoenix or Salt Lake City. However, my criteria (and experience) are probably different from **Bosda’s** – and I’ve never been farther East than Colorado. My gut tells me that while NYC or Miami might be fine at night, I’d rather avoid some place like Atlanta, Newark or Dallas. The greyhound station in Salt Lake City is on the west side of downtown, but the gentrified part of poortown that got turned into a mall is between it & the homeless shelter, so it’s pretty safe now. I worked there as a security guard eight years ago and it was one of the more gritty neighborhoods in town. Overall, downtown SLC is safe after dark. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-intercity-bus-travel-once-pleasant-as-pictured-in-ads-and-promotional-material/466421/76 "2008-10-11T01:59:39Z")
San Francisco’s Greyhound station is at the Transbay Terminal. I’ve spent huge chunks of my life hanging out at the Transbay Terminal in the middle of the night. There are plenty of homeless people, but it’s not an especially dangerous place if you keep your wits about you. And I say this as a young woman. Sacramento’s Greyhound terminal is in a sketchy place, but walking a block in either direction puts you in a better position. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-intercity-bus-travel-once-pleasant-as-pictured-in-ads-and-promotional-material/466421/77 "2008-10-11T05:29:34Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Sacramento’s Greyhound terminal is in a sketchy place, but walking a block in either direction puts you in a better position. Is that where the airport buses used to drop you off and pick you up, before Supershuttle was invented? I remember it certainly wasn’t Nob Hill, but it wasn’t scary-bad. Or maybe they’ve started up the buses again by now. In L.A. the old airport bus company, AirporTransit was pretty much put out of business by the shuttles, but now there are special airport buses again between LAX and Westwood, and between LAX and Union Station, and maybe others besides. ---
**Author:** ![greatshakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@greatshakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/greatshakes)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-intercity-bus-travel-once-pleasant-as-pictured-in-ads-and-promotional-material/466421/78 "2008-10-12T15:42:07Z")
Disregard this. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-intercity-bus-travel-once-pleasant-as-pictured-in-ads-and-promotional-material/466421/79 "2008-10-14T12:26:43Z")
> [@diku](#): > > … > > Plus it still has those quarter-operated TV chairs. God, I remember those! I’d almost be willing to pay big money for one of them, it would be cute sitting in my den. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-intercity-bus-travel-once-pleasant-as-pictured-in-ads-and-promotional-material/466421.md?page=3)