Yes. I just posted a question re: folding bikes as a response to the megabus news. I'd love to be able to spend a long weekend in a place like Toronto and have a bike with me, without the need to box it and all that.
2011-03-30 17:28:15
15
megabus gets better
just heard that megabus is adding 9 new cities starting may 11th! i wanted to spread the news to try to drive greyhound out of business. the new cities:
akron, buffalo, cincinati, cleveland, columbus, toronto, detroit, erie, toledo
yay!
2011-03-30 17:25:30
Any word on what the Megabus policy is regarding bikes? I am interested in non-Greyhound options to get my bike and me after Crush The Commonwealth...
2011-03-30 17:53:05
I wish they would just run a bus to chicago, rather than having to transfer. But, I will still take a transfer over greyhound! Exciting!
2011-03-30 18:07:16
@dmg. I'm guessing if you box it and throw it under yourself the driver won't ask any questions.
2011-03-30 18:39:32
In the past week I have gotten one favorable response by others about bikes on Megabus in DC and one negative from NYC.
The Megabus website says that they do not permit bikes. They do check baggage though. I will need to stuff my bike bag with floral print shirts and shorts or something touristy.
2011-03-30 18:50:04
Ian posted here a while back, and included a letter from Megabus that says they will accept a boxed bike as your ONE permitted piece of luggage. So traveling with a bike via megabus means traveling light. I'll see if I can find the thread again, and link it here.
Here's the text from Ian's post:
<
To: inquiries@megabus.com
From: Ian Everhart
Date: 07/06/2010 05:27 PM
Subject: bicycles
Hello,
I see on your site that Megabus buses do not carry bicycles. This obviously applies to "loose" bicycles, but what about a boxed bicycle? Greyhound and Amtrak similarly do not take bicycles in a rideable state, but will accept a bicycle if partially disassembled and packaged in a bike box. If there is available space in the luggage hold, would Megabus take a boxed bike in lieu of a regular piece of checked baggage?
I am really looking forward to Megabus' route to Philadelphia from Pittsburgh (still waiting for one to DC and points west...) and would be MUCH more inclined to go, much more frequently, if I knew I could bring my bike.
Thanks,
Ian Everhart
They replied:
From: inquiries@megabus.com
To: Ian Everhart
Thu, Jul 8, 2010 at 2:17 AM
Ian:
Thank you for your patience, as per our operation manager; Anna.
Your partially disassembled and packaged in a bike box counts as one piece
of luggage.
Sonia
Megabus.com
Northeast Customer Service
(908)282-7420
Fax: (908) 994-9423
"Coach USA: Committed to Delivering Safe, Affordable, Greener Travel”>>
The link is: http://bike-pgh.org/bbpress/topic/megabus
2011-03-30 18:54:18
Their official luggage policy says maximum one piece of luggage, length + width + height no more than 62 inches (plus a small carryon). That's the size you get to if you use those couplers that split your frame in two so you can fly with it. A normal bike won't fit in 62 inches.
Best to bring along a copy of Sonia's email reply to Ian, and have a backup plan.
i wanted to spread the news to try to drive greyhound out of business.
Nah, competition is good. Megabus with no competition starts slowly morphing into Greyhound.
2011-03-30 19:07:04
sure competition is good. i'd prefer megabus vs bolt bus vs chinatown bus with greyhound dead and gone FOREVER!
2011-03-30 19:12:16
haha insert my china town bus story which inlcudes me being jammed along with my track bike into a van with 14 people midnight in grove city during a snowstorm.
It was awesome!
2011-03-31 15:10:24
I looked up tix to toronto for memorial day weekend, and they've got dollar fares left (or did this AM).
I once paid a dollar to a truck driver to let me sit on a sack of charcoal, with 14 other people sitting on sacks of charcoal, in a 30 year old beat up frankentruck that had ~10 goats tied to the top and several chickens tied and angry in a corner. Any time the goats peed, it came through the leaky roof and landed on us. It took me 8 hours to travel ~150 miles, ended up covered in coal dust and goat pee, and almost missed my flight back to civilization. I cleaned up/changed in the airport as best I could (which excitingly had plumbing). But I saved $1.50 in bus fare by taking the cheaper option. (meaning I didn't have to hitch home when I got back)
Megabus is a way better value for the money. I'm always excited about any mass transportation that doesn't involve charcoal or goats. It's all about perspective.
2011-03-31 16:22:10
wow... Canada IS weird...
2011-03-31 16:42:23
HAHA... Goat/coal experience was in Mali. The only OTHER place it's safe to hitch at the side of any road.
2011-03-31 17:00:49
Hitching in Peru or Guatemala isn't bad either. However, with such good and cheap bus service, who needs to hitch. Be ware of occasional livestock on bus (a.k.a. "chicken bus"). And if you can imagine the most packed Negley, imagine 1.5x more people and everyone is still "comfortable" as a result of smaller people (shorter/lighter) and social acceptance of slightly more crowded transport. The buses are converted US school buses with luggage racks over the seats and more powerful engines that sound like dump truck engines. How I wish to go back to Latin America!
2011-04-01 21:36:16
The Goat/coal experience made me forget the reason for my initial post! I wanted to add that I like to see BOTH Megabus and Greyhound in business as both companies allow for useful redundancies that can come to use in case of freak weather and a need for an alternate route. Also, Greyhound serves more local stops that Megabus doesn't. There are times that I use Greyhound or Amtrak the rest of the way when Megabus does not serve a specific place.
2011-04-01 21:39:57