Philadelphia to White Marsh to BWI, via transit (Baltimore: transfer to, buying)

[avg12]

I was wondering if anyone here knows about White Marsh to BWI commuting.

For someone coming from the Philadelphia side, is it possible and not too inconvenient to go from Philadelphia to White Marsh Park & Ride via MegaBus, to BWI airport, all via transit or via a cab service?

Perhaps the best option is just Amtrak. But I was wondering if bus is possible.

Greyhound:
I looked into Greyhound Baltimore station to BWI. The estimated cab fare should run about $23.10 according to taxifarefinder. Is that accurate? While Greyhound is half the price of Amtrak, the savings differences diminishes with the cab fare, but the cab is waiting there and takes one right to the gate.

[HandsUpThumbsDown]

Originally Posted by avg12

I was wondering if anyone here knows about White Marsh to BWI commuting.

For someone coming from the Philadelphia side, is it possible and not too inconvenient to go from Philadelphia to White Marsh Park & Ride via MegaBus, to BWI airport, all via transit or via a cab service?

Perhaps the best option is just Amtrak. But I was wondering if bus is possible.

Greyhound:
I looked into Greyhound Baltimore station to BWI. The estimated cab fare should run about $23.10 according to taxifarefinder. Is that accurate? While Greyhound is half the price of Amtrak, the savings differences diminishes with the cab fare, but the cab is waiting there and takes one right to the gate.

There's one important lesson that I cannot stress enough here: never, ever trust Greyhound to get you where you want to be, when you want to be there, or at all. It's completely unreliable, and that's from years of taking both long and short-haul Greyhound buses. They treat you like cattle. They do not care about you or where you're supposed to go, even if you are a paying customer.

OK, now to the topic at hand: Yes, it's possible to get to BWI via transit, but not incredibly easy. There are a few local buses that go to White Marsh and do pick you up right at the megabus but it's a long ride into downtown. (Maybe an hour)? Then you'd have to get on the Light Rail to the airport. So if you had plenty of time and not much money, it could be done.

Buses from White Marsh Park and Ride (which is where Megabus lets off): No. 15, (http://mta.maryland.gov/services/bus/routes/bus/August_2010_15_Route_Weekday.cfm - broken link) No. 120 (http://mta.maryland.gov/services/bus/schedule/June_15th_08_Route_120_Weekday.cfm - broken link). You can also walk to the mall (which you can see from the parking lot) to get the No. 35 (http://mta.maryland.gov/services/bus/routes/bus/aug2010_35week.cfm - broken link). Why it doesn't stop at the park and ride, I have no idea. (These are weekday schedules, see the MTA website for weekend schedules, which will be more limited).

You'd ride any of these buses to Howard Street and transfer to the nearest southbound light rail stop (the trains run on the surface of Howard St). Be sure to get on a light rail train that says BWI/Thurgood Marshall. From there to the airport will take about 30 minutes or so.

So let's balance costs: Let's say the Megabus ticket is $20. An all-day MTA pass will cost $3.50 (buying this pass on the bus prevents you from having to buy a 2nd ticket for the light rail, or you could save 30 cents and buy a 2nd ticket). That's pretty cheap. But keep in mind our transit can be slow and late. Budget at least 2.5-3 hours for getting from White Marsh to BWI with waiting for the bus and train, travel time, etc.

If you're on any sort of time crunch I would forgo the bus trip and take Amtrak straight to BWI station. You'll be paying for your sanity. There's a free shuttle bus there that will take you directly to your terminal.

[GoPhils]

Yeah Amtrak would probably be easiest, and might not even be much more expensive than trying to do all that other stuff

[avg12]

Originally Posted by HandsUpThumbsDown

There's one important lesson that
If you're on any sort of time crunch I would forgo the bus trip and take Amtrak straight to BWI station. You'll be paying for your sanity. There's a free shuttle bus there that will take you directly to your terminal.

Thanks.

Regarding the BWI rail station, is there an enclosed waiting area where one can wait indoors while waiting for the shuttle bus? (thinking about winter weather here)

[HandsUpThumbsDown]

Originally Posted by avg12

Thanks.

Regarding the BWI rail station, is there an enclosed waiting area where one can wait indoors while waiting for the shuttle bus? (thinking about winter weather here)

I think so. You can wait inside the rail station. The shuttles are usually there waiting for you, though.