My first intercity transit trip since before the pandemic

[Matthew H Fish]

Yesterday, I took my first intercity bus transit trip since before the pandemic. It was on a small bus route between Corvallis, Oregon and Newport, Oregon. Before 2017, this was cross-ticketed with Amtrak and would have been scheduled as trip 8575. Now, it is a "local" bus service operated by the two adjoining counties for the two towns, 50 miles apart. It costs 10 dollars, each way.

I showed up at the bus stop too early---and looked at my schedule and saw it was printed in 2018. There was another schedule posted there, with the time changed by a few minutes. I was worried, but another passenger (the only other passenger), who showed up a little after me told me the schedule had been changed. The bus was leaving 20 minutes after I got there. But still, once I was on board, it was a nice trip over the coast range to Newport. Of course, I wore a mask, as did everyone on the bus, and it seemed fairly risk free---sharing a small space with 2 people for an hour doesn't seem any less risky than sharing a grocery store with possibly hundreds of people for 20 minutes. Anyway, so it was good to get away. The only problem was that once I was in Newport, I realized after looking at a schedule that I had picked up off the bus that the return trip was two hours earlier---shifted from 5:30 PM to 3:20 PM, which greatly curtailed my activities in town.

The biggest problem when I ready to board the bus was that there was an indigent, seemingly mentally disabled man on the bus who had no fare. I paid his fare ($7), which was not that great of a problem, but on the trip back, he kept on taking off his mask. I know it can be hard, and once or twice is understandable, but he didn't seem to take it seriously. Also, he might have had some disabilities going on, but he also might have just been drunk. This can often be a problem on these types of bus trips. It was very annoying to me.

So, two take-aways from this: first, while I approve of high-capacity, high-technology rail solutions, those rail lines are going to depend greatly on lots of bus lines that take people to their final destination. Sadly, in the US, the idea of taking a bus is seen as somehow a "last resort", and the schedules are often impractical for tourism or business travel. Also, sadly, many of the people who ride the bus are not going to make the ride easy for other passengers. There needs to be a cultural change in how people view bus riding before it becomes part of an integrated transportation network.

Also, riding the bus with someone who was non-compliant about masks made me think maybe I have returned to travelling too soon. It is annoying that people can't follow what are some simple, necessary rules to make travel easier and safer for all of us.

So, while I can't fault the bus itself--- I can see why people wouldn't want to take a trip like this.

 

[Everydaymatters]

The cultural change is not going to happen. The last time I rode a bus, other than Amtrak's connecting buses was years ago. It was Greyhound and people told me I wouldn't like it, but I wanted to experience it. On the way to Orlando, the chemical smell from the bathroom made me very, very sick. On the way back to Chicago, I had a seatmate who kept spitting his tobacco into a jar. Nope. Never again.

 

[Maglev]

One thing that buses need for a "cultural change" is wider seats--a two and one arrangement would be much better than the current situation, which practically forces one to lean on one's seatmate.

 

[MARC Rider]

The cultural change is not going to happen. The last time I rode a bus, other than Amtrak's connecting buses was years ago. It was Greyhound and people told me I wouldn't like it, but I wanted to experience it. On the way to Orlando, the chemical smell from the bathroom made me very, very sick. On the way back to Chicago, I had a seatmate who kept spitting his tobacco into a jar. Nope. Never again.

The last intercity bus I took that wasn't an Amtrak connector was the Concord Coach from Boston South Station to Portland, Maine in 2003. I though the ride was fine. It probably helped that the coach wasn't crowded, and I had a seat pair to myself. The other riders were well-behaved. The ride was 2 hours nonstop, which is faster than the Downeaster, and they run the buses hourly.

 

[NS VIA Fan]

I live 120km from my closest VIA Rail station and a lot of my trips will start or end on the bus. The bus ride is just fine!

 

[oregon pioneer]

Our local People Mover bus is very similar to Matthew Fish's small bus -- other end of the same state. But they do make it perfectly plain on their social media and advertising that if you don't have and wear a mask, you can't ride. Not sure how their drivers are trained to handle someone who won't keep theirs on after they are underway. Did your driver make any attempt to deal with the situation?

I am very glad the buses are there for those who need to travel and have no other means, but I am still not going till I am thoroughly vaccinated (along with most others), and COVID numbers are way down. I don't think that will be too many more months... I can handle the wait.

I must admit, though, I'm starting to dream of my first trip...

 

[hlcteacher]

before covid i rode long distance (overnight+) greyhound often; like any public transportation there is the good and there is the bad, but when i cannot take a train (they always seem to have no coach seats available when i want to travel) i take the bus; i don't think i have used the on-board restroom for years...i make sure to have the complete itinerary and plan accordingly; i also find the over the highway travel cheaper than the train, although the ambiance and scenery is limited; however, no trip to dc so far this year and it may be late this year before i consider long distance public transportation travel

 

[Matthew H Fish]

Oh, I probably should have specified...this was an intermediate range bus, about 50 miles/70 minutes, and it seated, at most, a dozen people, and less under the circumstances. So this bus trip was just a little longer than a long city bus trip, so no worries about bathrooms or people falling asleep across me.

As for the bus driver and the non-compliant man---well, the driver was driving, and probably didn't notice too much. Also, personally, it is not like someone pulling down a mask to take a drink of water really increases risk too much. So maybe he saw a thing or two but didn't know the extent of it, and was understandably keeping his eyes on the road.

I actually said something to the guy when I got off the bus---that if he wanted to thank me for paying his fare, next time he should wear his mask all the way, all the time. Hope the lesson sank in.