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Old 10-29-2011, 11:26 AM
 
Location: The big blue yonder...
2,061 posts, read 3,737,126 times
Reputation: 1183

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I live in Washington, DC now and I use Megabus occassionally. I use Megasbus to ride to New York City. The trip is usually about 4 hours and has never cost me more than $19 (one way). That's VERY cheap considering that the tolls between DC and NYC total over $20.

It is a very comfortable bus (NOT anythingn like Greyhound crap), is a double decker bus that even has seating with tables below (and somehow I've ALWAYS managed to get one of those seats!!!! I hope I haven't jinxed myself) and offers FREE WIRELESS onboard!!!

Whenever I want to take a quick getaway to Manhattan, I take the train over to the Megabus lot, catch the bus up (usually ride up on an early Saturday morning bus. Almost never full), sometimes only cost $17. I take my netbook along for the ride because it easily fits in a small bag. I arrive in Manhattan before noon, and I had time to sit and watch a movie and do some work online. I do what I want to do in the city, then catch the bus home when I'm done... No worries about tolls; cost cheaper than the Acela or Amtrak; cost cheaper than any flight; No worries about traffic (at least I'm not driving in it. I can sleep instead); No parking worries; No gas price worries... I LOVE riding Megabus from DC to NYC!!!

As a matter of fact, I'm ON MEGABUS RIGHT NOW AS I TYPE THIS! This morning, I woke up and decided to ride to NYC for today. I'm almost there. While purchasing my tickets online, I noticed that Megabus plans to finally start servicing ATLANTA and various cities in the Southeast!!!!!

THAT'S WONDERFUL NEWS!!!! So I started taking a look at the routes and prices and I can NOT believe my eyes!!!! The prices MUST be temporary, unless someone (like the city of Atlanta) is paying extra to keep the bus route prices low to promote people to travel to Atlanta (because it's so cheap)...

The prices I've seen so far are:

Atlanta to Orlando - $1.00 or $3.00 per seat (I could take a wife & 3 kids to Disney from Atlanta for $5.00+ tax!!!!)
Atlanta to Chattanooga - $1.00 or $3.00
Atlanta to Birmingham - $1.00
Atlanta to Charlotte - $3.00
Atlanta to Memphis - $3.00
Atlanta to Mobile (and you can make it from Mobile to NOLA or P-Cola easily)
Atlanta to Jacksonville
Atlanta to Nashville
*Like I said, this could be temporary because it's new. OR it just could be something that Atlanta has decided to pay Megabus to help improve economic growth in Atlanta... Either way, I'd hop on those prices and take advantage of traveling the region!

THIS IS AMAZING!!!!!!! Now, Atlanta will have cheap and easy access to Disney, the beach in JAX, Tennessee Aquarium, Tunica/Memphis area and the Gulf Coast. The just need to add New Orleans and Savannah!

But even better, if it is promoted right, people from all around the region should start visiting Atlanta more, and spending more money in Atlanta. That would build Atlanta's economy!

This is great news to me.

Any thoughts?
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Old 10-29-2011, 12:03 PM
 
2,590 posts, read 4,531,451 times
Reputation: 3065
I'm pretty stoked about this, even though there's a chance I may be relocating to DC myself within the next few months and won't really get to experience much of the Atlanta service. I took advantage of Chinatown buses a few times when I lived in NYC but I don't have any experience with MegaBus yet. I think bus travel is a little more feasible in the NE due to all the cities being so much closer but hopefully MegaBus is sustainable in the south. It's nice to have a decent alternative to driving for a weekend trip or whatever. It's a bit of overkill to fly to any of those cities and it's expensive. It's past time a city the size of Atlanta offered something besides that Greyhound crap. I've had to take Greyhound once and that's more than enough times for me. A DIRECT route to your destination makes a world of difference in bus travel.

That $1 deal has something to do with when you book a trip. If you are one of the first people to book on a trip you may get that $1 rate. I remember hearing about them doing that in New York but again I never actually used MegaBus. I don't think the cities are involved in keeping the prices down. I think the company just figures only a few people will book early enough to get those $1 fares and they can make it up on the rest.

These high gas prices have really curtailed my road trips so I'm looking forward to a cheap trip to Nashville, Memphis, or Mobile when I get the time. Hopefully they'll add New Orleans soon.
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Old 10-29-2011, 02:54 PM
 
Location: Atlanta the Beautiful
635 posts, read 1,509,905 times
Reputation: 287
Wonderful news I love this idea.
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Old 10-29-2011, 08:24 PM
 
Location: The Greatest city on Earth: City of Atlanta Proper
8,485 posts, read 14,997,570 times
Reputation: 7333
Quote:
Originally Posted by Psykomonkee View Post

Any thoughts?
Uh, awesomesauce?!

And I might actually check out Jacksonville now since I never felt it was worth the money to drive/fly there.
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Old 10-29-2011, 08:55 PM
 
Location: West Cobb County, GA (Atlanta metro)
9,191 posts, read 33,883,354 times
Reputation: 5311
If those fares are correct, I'm sure getting a ticket will be next to impossible once word gets out (and you'll likely be sitting next to someone with 11 kids traveling on the bus if you do get one - at least for a while). But good luck to them in this region.
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Old 10-29-2011, 10:40 PM
 
Location: Northlake
580 posts, read 1,421,762 times
Reputation: 297
This is my first time hearing about Megabus and I love the deal. I will be checking out prices in a moment to Charlotte ... now I don't have to worry about driving. And I agree with you guys on adding New Orleans to the list and also Jackson, MS or close by (Meridian, MS).
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Old 10-29-2011, 10:49 PM
 
651 posts, read 1,562,595 times
Reputation: 342
bus ride for LESS than a redbox rental.. lol ($1.20 pun intended)
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Old 10-29-2011, 11:45 PM
 
2,590 posts, read 4,531,451 times
Reputation: 3065
Quote:
Originally Posted by ehoez View Post
bus ride for LESS than a redbox rental.. lol ($1.20 pun intended)
I don't know what that was but I'm pretty sure it wasn't a pun.
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Old 10-30-2011, 09:35 AM
 
Location: The Greatest city on Earth: City of Atlanta Proper
8,485 posts, read 14,997,570 times
Reputation: 7333
Here's the location of the information about the upcoming service.

http://us.megabus.com/Atlanta%20Launch.aspx

According to the presser, Megabus will be using Civic Center Station as their "terminal". You can also book seats today even though service will begin on November 16th.
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Old 10-30-2011, 12:19 PM
 
16,700 posts, read 29,521,595 times
Reputation: 7671
I've taken MegaBus and BoltBus while living in the Northeast Corridor (New York-Boston).

This is totally awesome.

Someone made a comment earlier that the disadvantage of having MegaBus in the Southeast was the lack of density/lower population.

However, there is a big advantage the Southeast has for this MegaBus launch:

*Better highways, less congestion, and ease of travel between regional cities. The only traffic concerns to worry about are within Metro Atlanta. In the Northeast, for example, there can be traffic concerns at any time. A four to six hour trip is nothing in the Southeast--and now with high-quality city-center to city-center transportation, taking a weekend trip from Atlanta to Nashville, Charlotte, etc. is all the more appealing.
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