I wrote a review for the ultra-cheap bus company, Bolt Bus for my Boston/Emerson blog, the 1880. I thought I’d post it here. I took the Bolt Bus from Boston to New York City and here is a diary as to what went down.

The Bolt Bus in South Station in all its glory

Boston -> New York

2:30 PM
In South Station. Only one person in line. A little bit of me is afraid that I will have the same driver from last time.

3:00 PM
Well, I just boarded the one-and-only Bolt Bus (I’m using their wi-fi as I write this!). I mentioned it in a previous post, and now I’m on my way to New York City.

The line was short until about 10 minutes before, when a bunch more people joined in the line. I paid $1.00 for my ticket, and I think it’s already been worth it. The bus is brand new (it has that new… bus smell) and the driver, Daniel, is fresh and excited to drive (complete with a playful welcome). I was able to join the (read: free) Wi-Fi right away, and the first thing I did was take a speed test. 317 kbps down, 133kbps up. Better than I was expecting.

4:40 PM
All’s well on the bus. The wireless has been very consistent save for one connection drop for about two minutes. It’s been great to browse craigslist and IM and what not. Sent a couple photos (including the one in this post) over the wireless without worry. Passing through Hartford– traffic seems decent and I’m assuming I’ll get into NYC at the scheduled time (7PM).

I’ve noticed the power plugs, on the back of the aisle seat, are a little awkwardly placed. Luckily there’s nobody sitting next to me, so I can let the power cable dangle as much as I want. Whatever the awkwardness, it’s worth it to have some juice.

7:32 PM
We arrived 32 minutes late due to traffic (not due to BoltBus, of course). As we got into the city, our driver Daniel was honking like a maniac at a bunch of different intersections. Not sure how much I liked that (again… one dollar.). Our drop-off point was outside as I expected, right by Penn Station. As we pulled in, some guy in the seats said “let’s have a round of applause for the driver for the best dollar we’ve ever spent,” and everybody clapped. I felt awkward joining in… I guess this is what separates bus travel from all others. Besides, he’s getting paid a flat hourly rate– he has nothing to do with the dollar fare.

New York -> Boston, 3 days later

The dismal “bus stop” from within the bus

9:10AM
“We treat everyone as first class citizens,” says our driver, Kenny. The bus is about 10 minutes late, and I can see how they save a lot of their overhead– their stop in NYC is on the side of the road. And that’s pretty shitty when it’s rainy and wet outside (i.e. NOW). While I was waiting I met with an older couple who had also already taken the bus and asked what I paid for my ticket. $7 I told her. She paid $10. Right before we get on the bus as it arrives, she lets me know about MegaBus and their $1 service (nevermind their creepy-looking mascot). There are not many people on the early Monday bus– there are a few empty rows. Kenny is just as excited as the last driver. He’s explained that they picked the best drivers from both Peter Pan and Greyhound. “We know that Greyhound has a bad reputation. There’s no yelling,” he says, “unless you’re disrupting others on the bus!” He laughs. Yeah, I’ve had a bad experience on the bus before. The wi-fi works right away (as I write this), and we’re off.

1:40PM
We’ve arrived back in South Station. We’re 40 minutes late, but that’s because of the crappy weather and the quick stop (that I was thankful for) 3/4 of the way through.

Conclusion
All in all, I feel like the experience I’ve had with Bolt Bus has been a positive one. They have brand new buses, excited drivers, free wifi & outlets, and very competitive pricing. However, it should be noted that having an actual spot in Port Authority in New York City instead of outside on a street corner would be nice, but this I’m sure would increase the ticket price.

What also sucks is that if you go to their website to buy tickets, you can find that almost every weekend (Fri-Mon) ticket through August is at least $7, and usually $10. Looks like it’s going to be hard to pick up that elusive $1 after all; it would be nice if they didn’t sell their tickets so far in advance so that people could actually have a chance of getting them. I wouldn’t be surprised if one person just went through and grabbed every Fri-Mon $1 ticket through August. After all, it would only cost them 24 dollars.

Would I ride on it again? Sure. Is it better than the train? It’s not as on-time or comfortable, but they do have onboard wi-fi, and that’s a BIG plus. Will they eventually lose exciting and friendly service and get worn down just like the other bus lines? Probably, but $1 is inexpensive enough to double check down the road.

I’ve been interviewed about ten times from all sorts of different media outlets, including local Boston television, radio, and newspaper media, The New York Post, and a few others (which haven’t gotten anywhere).

However, none of them really seem to paint the exact picture I made. So, I thought, since the media can’t really get a full grasp as to what happened, I thought I’d explain a little. So, here goes.

In response to…

…the situation on the bus.
The way this whole thing got started was when I posted the very same e-mail I sent Peter Pan about my experience. What I said in there I believed to have happened and included my feelings about the situation. I never felt physically threatened but instead just felt annoyed and cheated out of an early ride home. He was punishing an entire busload of passengers because of one of them who happened to complain about his driving. While this is very immature, it wasn’t some sort of act of kidnapping or terrorism or any shit like that, in my opinion. A lot of what he’s said in the media he didn’t inform us (I.E. the stop he could’ve made and didn’t). The driver in question was actually relatively nice to me as he suggested I get on his bus which was leaving a good half an hour earlier than my original bus.

…the swing of the media.
In all of the interviews I’ve given, I’ve told all that I can remember from the event. Of course, they ask me what I think about the situation, and I think they’re disappointed when they find that I didn’t feel physically threatened. When they take the things I’ve told them, they take only the parts that interest them out. For example, today I was interviewed by Channel 7 WHDH Boston, and they asked me a series of questions. Repeated three times was the question “how did you feel about the situation?” as though the answer I had given wasn’t interesting enough. They asked me what I felt should happen to the driver, and I basically said what I’ve said here a few times: He was being silly and immature, but I didn’t feel threatened really. They (or whomever) can interpret that as they may and do what they think is necessary.

…the possibility of the bus driver being fired.
This is one of the top things people either question or tell me their opinion about. “What do you think should happen to the driver?” In response to this question, I leave it completely up to the bus company. I feel what he did was wrong, but I personally don’t believe this is something to lose his job on. In The Boston Globe recently, they stated that “Bryant said the story of the bus ride, which has been reported by other media outlets, has unfairly characterized him as a ‘monster.’ ” I really couldn’t agree more. Again, was he in the wrong? Yes. Was he being immature? Yes. Should he be fired? It’s up to Peter Pan.

…the picture in the Boston Globe.

Let’s not talk about that.