Results tagged “boltbus”

Megabus and BoltBus are seemingly now the biggest players in the saturated and ever growing D.C.-NYC coach bus market. People may argue about which is better in terms of service, but when it comes to leaving early in the morning, Megabus is hands down the top choice. They’re the only carrier that offers pre-dawn options to New York, leaving from D.C. at 5:15 and 6:15 a.m. Just don’t try to show up for an early morning bus without a reservation.

The low cost bus business has certainly boomed over the last couple of years. While the Peter Pan/Greyhound and various Chinatown bus lines have been offering cheapo rides from D.C. to New York City and Philadelphia for a long time, they now compete with a long list of newcomers, many of whom offer extras like free wireless internet or leather seats. Megabus, the Greyhound-operated BoltBus, Vamoose, and DC2NY are just some of the companies hoping to lure you to inexpensive East Coast travel. And now a D.C.-based team of developers has launched a new site, BusJunction.com, that allows you to search all of their schedules at once.

Before 2 p.m. on Monday, I stood at Todays Bus’s New York stop at 3 Pike Street in New York City's Chinatown, waiting to return to Washington. But my bus was nowhere to be seen. At 2, Eastern Travel came and went. New Century sat around the corner filling up. Hawkers for both stood by slinging tickets. BoltBus and Megabus, which I wish I had booked instead, were miles uptown and probably sold out anyway. And after nearly an hour and not even a representative for my carrier in sight, I put my return ticket in my wallet, pulled out another $20, and grabbed the next New Century coach back to D.C.

Penn Quarter Living reminds us that as of Monday, popular discount bus lines BoltBus and MegaBus moved their shared stop two blocks from its previous location, from 11th Street NW just above G Street to around the corner on G Street NW between 9th and 10th. With the rush to get out of town for Christmas in full swing today, do note the change if you're riding one of these two bus lines up I-95. You'll recall that back in June, DDOT attempted to relocate all commercial bus lines to a single location at L'Enfant Plaza, but later backed off the plan due to public outcry. Do you think this new G Street location makes a better bus stop than 11th Street? Neither DC2NY nor any of the Chinatown lines have moved their stops.

We know you love being able to grab a cheap bus to New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and other destinations along the east cost. Entrepreneurs know it too, which is why we've kept track of an explosion in new intercity bus options recently, including BoltBus, Megabus, and DC2NY, along with the traditional Chinatown buses. But with so many more buses picking up and dropping off in several areas of downtown, the District Department of Transportation has taken notice of safety and congestion concerns, and is now planning to force all such buses to load in a single “intercity bus zone” in Southwest.

Somehow we missed the news that UK-based Megabus.com (which began its first service in the U.S. in Chicago in 2006) began running low-cost bus service between D.C. and New York on May 30. We spotted this Megabus bus stop sign outside Metro Center on Friday.