Arbor Update

If you’re the 5th seat or higher, and depending on the departure time, the fare from Detroit to Chicago is only $8.00. This is funny, because it will cost you $8.50 to catch the bus from Ann Arbor to Detroit.

On the one hand, great, cheap transportation. On the other hand, there’s something that rings of tragedy in making it this easy to GTF out of Detroit. How much does it cost to get back (just out of curiosity)?

Chicago is the “hub” of their network with routes to various Midwest cities.

http://megabus.com/us/schedules/

Couldn’t tell from the fares whether it’s cheaper to go one way or the other but I’m guessing that it’s probably all the same way or likely discounted for round-trips.

The radio report I heard suggested that fares are the same in either direction. Basically, as the bus sells out fares go up, but they start at $1 in any direction from Chicago.

It will be interesting to see how this does. Unfortunately it doesn’t sound like they’ve done heavy research into SE Michigan to Chicago public transportation trip demand, because if they did they’d realize that Ann Arbor is the most heavily used amtrak station in SE Mich. and that many people from suburban detroit use the ann arbor station.
To me, this would say that a stop in Ann Arbor would be preferable (or they need to have some trips originating from here).

I just booked a trip to chicago and back. $15 to and $1 back, plus $.50 = $16.50 total. I will report back…

These remind me of the “Chinatown Buses” (aka Fung Wah) that run between the Chinatowns of NYC, DC, Philly and Boston. They are usually like $20-30 r/t.

Er, Scott, no… I’ve had friends who’ve taken the Chinatown buses between Philly/NYC and NYC/DC. I’m a fan of public transport, and I’m generally broke, but after hearing those stories… yeah. I wouldn’t get near one, and I’ve done Greyhound and Amtrak.

They do seem to be taking a page from the Chinatown bus business scheme, for sure, but the sketchiness factor seems to be far less. Definitely curious as to how it turns out, though. It may be a same setup with a slicker webpage, who knows. ‘Though last time I did Greyhound from Chicago to Ann Arbor, I ended up on the floor for half the trip (overbooked the bus, and I absolutely couldn’t wait for the next, so…). If they guarantee a seat, they’ve already one-uped Greyhound at least.

I spotted the MegaBus (hard to miss!) heading westbound on I-94 yesterday and it looked pretty full. But I’m sure the construction on I-94 played havoc with their schedule!