MegaBus comes to Richmond (Article/Newscast)

[MetroLinerXLZ]

Starting December 15th, MegaBus will be going to Richmond. According to the MegaBus website options, the buses will run to Baltimore, D.C., Hampton, Raleigh/Durham, and Charlotte from Richmond.

And I can SERIOUSLY has one ticket. Damnit, I don't know where I want to go....the options are just that GOOOD!!!

Link to NBC12 News Article/Video:

http://www.nbc12.com/Global/story.asp?S=13514197

[Scrabbleship]

Starting December 15th, MegaBus will be going to Richmond. According to the MegaBus website options, the buses will run to Baltimore, D.C., Hampton, Raleigh/Durham, and Charlotte from Richmond.

And I can SERIOUSLY has one ticket. Damnit, I don't know where I want to go....the options are just that GOOOD!!!

Link to NBC12 News Article/Video:

http://www.nbc12.com/Global/story.asp?S=13514197

This service is needed, but Megabus has made it kind of hard to a daytrip from Richmond to anywhere northbound. There is a 9-hour gap in departure times that falls between 4:35 AM (the overnight northbound from Charlotte) to 1:50 PM (a Richmond-DC-White Marsh-Philly run). I would say this is a case of massive oversight, but I think something else is up especially with the rumors of some NYC-DC runs becoming NYC-DC-Richmond runs. I think there could at least be a ~6:30 AM departure and something late-morning at least.

[Flxible]

We just started getting Megabus service this week as well- three runs daily from Knoxville to DC.  Each one stops at the Falling Branch Park and Ride off I-81 in Christiansburg, just a Smart Way ride away from Roanoke.   Saw one of their MCIs heading northbound this evening.

[Scrabbleship]

Some observations on the first day of operations I gathered from news sources and such.


The first Pittsburgh-DC run (the overnight run) had 25 people. That's slightly less than what I had on a double decker doing DC-Philly-NYC overnight last February.
The first daylight DC-Richmond-Durham-Charlotte run had nearly 40 leaving DC and was down to around 25 when it got to Raleigh. The first bus doing the reverse had around the same number leaving Charlotte
DC-Knoxville looks to be in the above range (healthy for a WTF route) leaving Knoxville, let alone that Tech students are already patronizing the Christianburg stop in good numbers.
From someone I know that was on the first DC-NC daylight run, there was a decent amount of turnover and people taking it to/from intermediate stops and that the amount of people from Durham-Charlotte was higher than that of Richmond-Durham.


Personally, showings like this only highlight Greyhound's weaknesses in the south. DC-Knoxville via them involves a transfer and 2 extra hours of travel. DC-anywhere in North Carolina falls victim to Greyhound's milk runs in that state. Heading north, DC-Toronto on Greyhound including transfer, is 6 hours longer on average. I think all this might work out.

[WMAveteran]

Don't forget that AMTRAK has competing service in the New York to Charlotte corridor provided by THE CAROLINIAN that stops at many of the same cities but, alas, only once a day.  There is also service provided by THE CRESECENT to many of these cities with (relatively inconvenient) arrivals and departures in late evenings and early mornings.  I like an intercity bus trip as much as anyone on this blog but after a couple of hours the lack of legroom and seat room is painful.  On the other hand, I have ridden Business Class on THE CAROLINIAN twice and it is a very civilized way to travel with a 10:55 AM departure from DC and a 8:14 PM arrival in Charlotte with complementary drinks and snacks and an electric outlet at your seat.

[Tritransit Area]

I might take Megabus to Richmond one day, especially if a transfer isn't needed if coming from Philadelphia.  T'would be a long bus ride though.  However, a trip to Charlotte via the Carolinian seems enticing than trying to travel via the Megabus, even if the bus is cheaper.

[MetroLinerXLZ]

I might take Megabus to Richmond one day, especially if a transfer isn't needed if coming from Philadelphia.  T'would be a long bus ride though.  However, a trip to Charlotte via the Carolinian seems enticing than trying to travel via the Megabus, even if the bus is cheaper.

Seeing that I rode MegaBus from Richmond-Philly (and back) on the opening day, I can safely say that there is NO transfer on the Philly-Charlotte run. It's all a 1 seat ride.

[Tritransit Area]

WOW!  Charlotte for a dollar!

[Flxible]

DC-Knoxville looks to be in the above range (healthy for a WTF route) leaving Knoxville, let alone that Tech students are already patronizing the Christianburg stop in good numbers.

Personally, showings like this only highlight Greyhound's weaknesses in the south. DC-Knoxville via them involves a transfer and 2 extra hours of travel. DC-anywhere in North Carolina falls victim to Greyhound's milk runs in that state. Heading north, DC-Toronto on Greyhound including transfer, is 6 hours longer on average. I think all this might work out.

I'm glad to hear folks in our region are using Megabus in good numbers.  I knew it would be a hit with VT students, especially those that usually use Greyhound.  Regarding your WTF comment, I too am surprised that Megabus chose Knoxville as a terminus, but since it runs down I-81, this is a boon to my area.

I rode Greyhound from Roanoke to Union Station back in March, and it wasn't too bad.  I had one transfer in Charlottesville, and the trip took about 5 hours, 45 min- not much longer than the driving distance of 4 hours.  However, most GLI trips from here to DC take longer as they go over to Richmond on the way up.  But Megabus will surely beat them on price- the above round trip cost me $97.00.

One question: What are "milk runs"?  I'm not hip to that piece of terminology.

[WMAveteran]

DC-Knoxville looks to be in the above range (healthy for a WTF route) leaving Knoxville, let alone that Tech students are already patronizing the Christianburg stop in good numbers.

Personally, showings like this only highlight Greyhound's weaknesses in the south. DC-Knoxville via them involves a transfer and 2 extra hours of travel. DC-anywhere in North Carolina falls victim to Greyhound's milk runs in that state. Heading north, DC-Toronto on Greyhound including transfer, is 6 hours longer on average. I think all this might work out.

I'm glad to hear folks in our region are using Megabus in good numbers.  I knew it would be a hit with VT students, especially those that usually use Greyhound.  Regarding your WTF comment, I too am surprised that Megabus chose Knoxville as a terminus, but since it runs down I-81, this is a boon to my area.

I rode Greyhound from Roanoke to Union Station back in March, and it wasn't too bad.  I had one transfer in Charlottesville, and the trip took about 5 hours, 45 min- not much longer than the driving distance of 4 hours.  However, most GLI trips from here to DC take longer as they go over to Richmond on the way up.  But Megabus will surely beat them on price- the above round trip cost me $97.00.

One question: What are "milk runs"?  I'm not hip to that piece of terminology.
 

Milk runs" is actually railroad terminology that described local freight or "mixed" trains (passenger and freight) that stopped at every station and whistle stop to deliver literally milk cans, food, mail and everything else that made small towns run at the time.  Over the years the term "milk runs" has been used to describe very slow, multi-stop local service as opposed to an end-to-end express run

[Scrabbleship]

Milk runs" is actually railroad terminology that described local freight or "mixed" trains (passenger and freight) that stopped at every station and whistle stop to deliver literally milk cans, food, mail and everything else that made small towns run at the time.  Over the years the term "milk runs" has been used to describe very slow, multi-stop local service as opposed to an end-to-end express run

When I was thinking milk runs and North Carolina, I was thinking of this blog post of someone's Raleigh-Asheville journey with a whole bunch of intermediate stops. That and the stark differences in how much more direct and sane Megabus is versus Greyhound in terms of scheduling and time.

Case in point: My fiancée has family between Raleigh and Durham and we're going to see them for MLK weekend. Our RT price for DC-Durham for both of us: $30 and that at MOST has two stops with Richmond and MAYBE a convenience stop en route.

The same journey on Greyhound, albeit to Raleigh: $189 RT for both of us, all of which with either a change of bus in Richmond or a long layover in Richmond, longer overall travel times even taking away the time in Richmond, and often many stops in-between. Pricing a Charlotte-Raleigh journey for a friend without the free seat code is even more shocking, $70 RT on Greyhound with most runs taking 5 hours one-way vs. $11 max RT on Megabus with runs just over 3 hours.

[Scrabbleship]

I just came back from the trip I had mentioned (I wrote an in-depth review in the Beyond the Beltway) forum. I think Megabus hit a home run with the service to North Carolina as my bus down was mostly full and my bus up was packed. The downside is that nobody in Richmond seems to be supporting it; heading down 1 person got off and nobody got on, heading up 2 people got off and 1 person got on.


The lack of ridership, coupled with the horrible northbound schedules, seem to be making Richmond the Hartford of the South. There really need to be some mid/late morning departures to DC (onward to Philly or NYC) with 2-3x daily Richmond-NYC bypassing DC. Just watch Richmond not last 2011, then come back the right way in late 2012-early 2013 a la Hartford.

[MetroLinerXLZ]

I just came back from the trip I had mentioned (I wrote an in-depth review in the Beyond the Beltway) forum. I think Megabus hit a home run with the service to North Carolina as my bus down was mostly full and my bus up was packed. The downside is that nobody in Richmond seems to be supporting it; heading down 1 person got off and nobody got on, heading up 2 people got off and 1 person got on.The lack of ridership, coupled with the horrible northbound schedules, seem to be making Richmond the Hartford of the South. There really need to be some mid/late morning departures to DC (onward to Philly or NYC) with 2-3x daily Richmond-NYC bypassing DC. Just watch Richmond not last 2011, then come back the right way in late 2012-early 2013 a la Hartford.

There are a few valid reasons for the lack of support from Richmonders for MegaBus:

1. Most people in this city (for some reason or another) do not have bank accounts to pay for a ticket online. If they can't pay for a ticket with straight cash (like on Greyhound or the Asian competitors like New Century and APEX), they ain't buying!

2. There are a lot of Snowbirds (people that are originally from NYC, no offense to anyone from there!) living in in Richmond, and they aren't digging MegaBus. This is mainly due to the fact that MegaBus requires a transfer in D.C. to catch a bus to NYC. While Greyhound, New Century, and APEX offer one-seat express rides between Richmond-NYC....which companies do you think Richmonders are going to take? APEX and New Century (because of the cheaper-than-Greyhound fares and one-seat ride)! Once MegaBus runs a straight Richmond-NYC, I can safely expect a double-decker VanHool!

3. This same situation applies to the Hampton run as well, but in this case...it's all about placement. Instead of stopping in Hampton, MegaBus should've went all the way to Downtown Norfolk. LOTS of Norfolkers would love a better alternative to Richmond, but they aren't going to catch 2-3 HRT buses to get to Hampton and catch the MegaBus with a load of luggage.

[Scrabbleship]

To refute those points:

1: The same can be said about DC or Baltimore or most cities. However, there are also riders that come into a city to ride Megabus. One article about the Knoxville run had passengers from Nashville and Chattanooga quoted, both of those are a ways from Knoxville. I'd think that there'd be passengers from Ashland, Petersburg, and other points in-between.

2a: Megabus has kinda dropped the ball by dragging their heels on Richmond-NYC service. The market is there and if it was launched even 3x a day the ridership would be there from the get-go. Richmond-NYC is one of those very low-hanging fruit routes that Mega has let sit to the point that it's really ripe, similar to their passing several times on Scranton or a Boston-Albany-Syracuse-Buffalo-Toronto route.

2b: Megabus for northbound travel from Richmond is painfully inconvenient. How do you let a 9-hour gap between departures when two lines are routed through there exist and fester? Put in some northbound departures to NYC or Philly in the 6:00-10:00 AM timeframe and people WILL ride.

3a: Hampton is another dropped ball and doesn't work well for anyone but students at Hampton and those with ties to the Northern Neck. Of the Seven Cities of Hampton Roads, which are the two that advertise like crazy for tourists from DC and Baltimore? That route should logically go to Norfolk and/or Virginia Beach, but there is one potential problem...

3b: CoachUSA may not have the authority to cross the James River. This was suggested on another board as to the choosing of Hampton when there are tons of sites in Norfolk and Virginia Beach to stop at, but I don't buy it for the most part.