MegaBus service offers $1 rides from St Louis to Chicago, KC added

[bahua]

Kard! How dare you complete the lyrics after I guessed what the song was?

[kard]

Kard! How dare you complete the lyrics after I guessed what the song was?

You just filled in a later line, not the title.  You got the line right if it makes you feel any better.

[DaveKCMO]

megabus is adding service from KC to STL (and onwards to chicago) on april 2. departs from 10th and main and arrives at STL union station (and CHI union station after that). the departure times (12:15p, 8:30p) compliment the existing amtrak schedule (7:30a, 4:30p) nicely. greyhound already has five daily departures, but makes one stop in columbia. travel times to STL are 3:30 for megabus, 4:30 for greyhound, and 5:40 for amtrak.

http://megabus.com/us/schedules/kansasc ... ate=020407

[KCTigerFan]

What a great deal.  It is interesting that the stops in STL and CHI are both at their Union Stations while ours is not.  Hmmm. 

I also am curious for someone who tries this trip to post a report.  Based on the cost I imagine them stopping and passing a can around for gas money.  I also picture the inside of the bus being similar to the bus ride I took in Costa Rica years ago... Milk crates as seats, people selling food, rusty hole in the roof... You know, ambiance! 

[ComandanteCero]

maybe this is considered "cute" in the UK:



looks plain evil to me

edit: come to think of it, i believe i've found my new avatar..... or not

[staubio]

I'd be willing to be the guinea pig but all of the dates I'm entering are saying that no trips are available. Sadly, with the continued track work, it all but takes Amtrak off the table for me, though I doubt I'll be able to get my unboxed bike on a bus.

[dangerboy]

What a great deal.  It is interesting that the stops in STL and CHI are both at their Union Stations while ours is not.  Hmmm. 

Not really interesting.  It's stopping at the 10th & Main Transit Hub, which gives it excellent connection with the city's bus network.  KC's Union Station is further from the CBD and has poorer transit connections than those in STL and Chicago.  It's as simple as that.

[chrizow]

i look forward to speaking with interesting characters from STL and CHI downtown. 

[KCTigerFan]

True, but the downtown transit center does not seem conducive to picking up people arriving.  Also, that location doesn't have facilities for people arriving or departing.  Seems the ATA transit stop on Main at Union Station might be better. 

[ComandanteCero]

Megabus - conveyor belt to America's homeless

[trailerkid]

Not really interesting.  It's stopping at the 10th & Main Transit Hub, which gives it excellent connection with the city's bus network.  KC's Union Station is further from the CBD and has poorer transit connections than those in STL and Chicago.  It's as simple as that.

Considering Union Station has Amtrak + MAX connections as well as potential commuter rail lines, I don't fine it out of the question to expect it to serve as a regional transit hub. Perhaps they could make US the hub while also stopping at the CBD transit center before exiting for I-70.

[enough]

i took megabus round-trip to st louis a couple of weeks ago.  i'd normally take amtrak, but megabus fit my travel schedule better.

megabus operates brand new 56-passenger coaches (mci model j4500).  passenger loads were light so there was lots of room.  other passengers were well-behaved -- more like students than homeless. 

drivers could use some training in people skills -- they weren't rude or anything, just didn't seem to know how to relate to people. 

the scheduled time to st louis is 3 hours and 25 minutes.  we arrived about 30 minutes late in both directions, but that's still good compared with amtrak's scheduled time, which is now 5 hours and 55 min.

megabus will change its schedule slightly beginning june 4, and they'll stretch it to a more realistic 4 hours and 15-30 minutes.

top fare to st louis appears to be $20.  i got my eastbound seat for $8 by reserving about 4 days ahead.  coming back i reserved literally 2 hours before departure and got a $17 seat.

megabus complements amtrak and greyhound service across missouri, and i'll use them again whenever their schedule fits my needs better than amtrak.

[DaveKCMO]

i took megabus round-trip to st louis a couple of weeks ago.  i'd normally take amtrak, but megabus fit my travel schedule better.

megabus operates brand new 56-passenger coaches (mci model j4500).  passenger loads were light so there was lots of room.  other passengers were well-behaved -- more like students than homeless. 

drivers could use some training in people skills -- they weren't rude or anything, just didn't seem to know how to relate to people. 

the scheduled time to st louis is 3 hours and 25 minutes.  we arrived about 30 minutes late in both directions, but that's still good compared with amtrak's scheduled time, which is now 5 hours and 55 min.

megabus will change its schedule slightly beginning june 4, and they'll stretch it to a more realistic 4 hours and 15-30 minutes.

top fare to st louis appears to be $20.  i got my eastbound seat for $8 by reserving about 4 days ahead.  coming back i reserved literally 2 hours before departure and got a $17 seat.

megabus complements amtrak and greyhound service across missouri, and i'll use them again whenever their schedule fits my needs better than amtrak.

how was your departure from 10th/main?

it's too bad these services couldn't compliment each other more by having megabus terminate at union station in kansas city. megabus stops at union station in st. louis and will be part of the new intermodal facility that opens next year.

has anyone seen any advertising?

[trailerkid]

has anyone seen any advertising?

There were quite a few large ads this semester in the University Daily Kansan for the kids from Chi and StL.

[anniewarbucks]

If it were up to me transportation wise, even though the bus sounds like a good deal, I would go by Amtrack. With Amtrack I would get a good cooked meal on board. The bus would have to stop at a restaurant along the way to let people out to eat. The train is a dying breed in this country passenger wise. I would like to see a resergence in rail transportation.

[enough]

megabus changed its schedule effective june 4.  travel times to st. louis are now 4h15m to 4h30m -- they couldn't meet their original 3h25m schedule. 

in addition, buses now leave kansas city (10th & main) earlier -- at 1130 and 2000 instead of 1215 and 2030.  return departures from st. louis are pretty much the same as before -- 0530 and 1430.

i've been watching fare quotes on their website.  if you buy a ticket for tomorrow or the day after tomorrow you'll pay $17 or $20 one-way to st. louis.  if you reserve for a travel date beyond that, you'll probably pay $10 or less.

[jaysonv]

I'm taking a trip to St. Louis via MegaBus next weekend.  I booked it a couple weeks ago.  $8.50 round trip!  It's unbelievable.  Even if I decide not to go, it's hardly a loss. 

Fortunately I live next to 10th and Main and I'm going to be a couple blocks away from Union Station in St.L so it only makes sense.  I think Trains are Tops (tm) but if it weren't for MegaBus, I'd just drive over taking the Amtrak right now. 

Once we realize the oil is running out, we'll *have* to have a better train system, so I'm not too worried about them disappearing.  I just hope we still are in a position to leverage the remaining cheap energy to rebuild the infrastructure.

[LenexatoKCMO]

I saw one of their buses driving through the xroads the other evening - looked like a nice new coach. 

[staubio]

MegaBus had a potty break on I-70 this weekend at a restaurant we were stopped at. It looked like all college aged passengers.

[KC0KEK]

megabus changed its schedule effective june 4.  travel times to st. louis are now 4h15m to 4h30m -- they couldn't meet their original 3h25m schedule. 

Yet another reason why it's difficult to believe the claims made in another thread of routinely driving from KC to STL in 3 hours or so.