Long-distance bus travel in the United States

Long-distance bus travel can be an interesting, inexpensive, and convenient way to see the United States, especially for travelers who do not drive their own car. Buses reach more places across the nation with greater frequencies than trains in the United States.

Understand
Buses cover more of the country than trains and have more frequent departures; and unlike air travel, there is no hassle of security. Although it is not the fastest way, competition between the various operators makes bus travel generally inexpensive. It is even possible to obtain a trip between two cities for as little as $1.

Most intercity bus services use the interstate highway system for the majority of their routes, thereby taking the fastest route they possibly can.

Most long-distance buses are comfortable. Seats are spacious and sometimes have a small flip-down table, like on an airplane. On-board toilets for passengers are also more common than not. Some bus companies show movies on board. Power outlets and Wi-Fi for passengers' use is increasingly the norm. You can also bring food and drink onboard.

Shorter runs, sometimes up to several hours long, may have no intermediate stops. But on longer routes there will be scheduled stops, either in cities where passengers are picked up and offloaded and you can get off the bus for a few moments or at a truck stop where you can get off to eat and drink in a cafe or restaurant. Longer scheduled stops are usually printed on your ticket.

Even for those who fly and drive regularly there are still advantages to include bus travel with your plans. For travel within or to destinations with limited or no commercial air service, bus travel or driving would usually be most economical way to get there. Anything over 200 mi between metropolitan areas or across the country and you will find the cost of air travel to rival or even undercut bus fares. The exceptions for using buses over longer distances is if you plan to travel point to point across the country with the need to hop on and off frequently. To get between places not well served by commercial airlines would be to combine bus with air travel. Take the bus to the nearest city with a major airport, fly to the next city and then take another bus to the final destination. For example, if one is traveling from Arcata, California, to Key West, Florida, the round trip airfare may be $850 whereas the airfare from San Francisco to Ft Lauderdale or Miami in South Florida may be just $240 round trip. Therefore, one would take the first bus from Arcata to San Francisco; fly from San Francisco to South Florida and transfer to another bus going to Key West. This saves money on the difference in airfare, the cost of airport parking in San Francisco and the extra airport surcharges for renting a car from Ft Lauderdale. In context of this example, if you are planning to stay in Key West you can get around locally without a car! But this may not be true in other places especially if you are going to a remote locale like somewhere in the Florida keys, off of the main highway, or to the Everglades from Miami. Using buses in combination with air travel is more necessary for traveling east and west across Canada as the Canadian domestic air market is dominated by the Air Canada and Westjet duopoly. Add to that the higher taxes on air travel and less subsidies and domestic air travel comes out more expensive in Canada than in the United States. For example, for a traveler to get from Vancouver to Toronto he/she can takes a bus from Vancouver to Seattle; fly across the US from Seattle to Buffalo and then transfer to another bus going to Toronto. Same thing with travel between the U.S. & Canada and from outside the North American continent to Canada. Travel by bus from Toronto to Buffalo and fly from Buffalo to Florida or continue further south by bus into New York City to catch an international flight out of North America. The downside is that it takes more time and is less convenient, but it can save several hundreds of dollars in the difference in airfare especially if two or more are traveling together and budget is tight. Most people will still drive to the airport, rent a car from the airport or use Canadian airports because it is quicker and more convenient to get to there. In some major airports intercity bus/shuttle companies (including Greyhound) do offer airport pick-up/drop-off at the 'ground transportation' (or departure) zones of the terminals such as in Buffalo, Miami, Seattle, Orlando, Denver, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, etc

Greyhound Lines

 * Autobus Americanos co-brand with the Mexican bus company, Grupo Estrella Blanca to operate cross-border bus services between the U.S. and Mexico from Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and Utah to the US/Mexican border. In some cities they call at the Greyhound stations while in other places they have their own separate depots or stops. Greyhound also go further south from Laredo, Texas, to Nuevo Laredo and Monterrey in Mexico as Greyhound Mexico.
 * Cruceros USA operates cross border services between Los Angeles and Tijuana via Santa Ana, San Diego & San Ysidro.
 * Lucky Streak goes to the casinos of Atlantic City from Baltimore, New York City (including Brooklyn), Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
 * Quick Link Quicklink is a subsidiary brand of Greyhound Lines to provide frequent local & regional commuter services between New York and Mt Laurel and from New Orleans to Baton Rouge.
 * Valley Transit Co Valley Transit is a full-service bus company serving South Central and Southeastern Texas and to Reynosa, Tamaulipas in Northern Mexico from McAllen TX.
 * Valley Transit Co Valley Transit is a full-service bus company serving South Central and Southeastern Texas and to Reynosa, Tamaulipas in Northern Mexico from McAllen TX.

Coach USA

 * Megabus operates mainly in the midwest and the eastern half of the country to rival Greyhound and the Chinatown buses. They operate between the hub cities of Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, New Orleans, Orlando, Milwaukee, New York and Washington DC with other surrounding cities in the region.
 * Community Coach scheduled commuter service from Morris and Essex Counties in New Jersey to New York City.
 * Dillons offers bus charter and commuter services between Baltimore, Washington DC, Annapolis, and Bethesda in Maryland.
 * Kerrville university express service between Texas A&M in College Station, Dallas, Grand Prairie, Houston, Katy & Texas State University in San Marcos in Texas
 * Olympia Trails operates commuter services across the Hudson between Manhattan and northern New Jersey. They also operate local services in/around Hudson County, New Jersey (Jersey City) under the Red & Tan Brand (may of been discontinued); in/around Essex County, New Jersey as the Orange Newark Elizabeth Bus (ONE Bus); between mid-town Manhattan and Plainfield, New Jersey as the Westfield Commuter; and the Newark Airport Express between Manhattan and the Newark Airport. They also operate select Megabus routes out of New York to Boston, Washington, Baltimore, Albany, Ridgewood New Jersey and Toronto.
 * Rockland Coaches operates commuter bus service between New York City and points in Bergen County, NJ and Rockland County, NY. They also provide local bus service within both locales.
 * Shortline scheduled services from New York City to Woodbury Common, Upstate NY points, Colleges, Orange, Rockland, Sullivan, Bergen and Pike Counties in New York state
 * Suburban Trails offers commuter, casino, and charter services in Mercer, Middlesex, and Somerset Counties, New Jersey.
 * Van Galder Madison, Janesville, South Beloit and Rockford in Wisconsin to Chicago O'Hare along the I-39/90 corridor.
 * Wisconsin Coach Lines operates 15 times daily to O'Hare Airport, and Mitchell Airport from Waukesha, Milwaukee, Racine, and Kenosha.
 * Coach Canada Their Canadian affiliate for travel in Canada which also includes the Megabus brand operating in Canada.

A number of the Coach USA brands have been independent companies that were bought out by or had merged with Coach USA but kept the same name they have before the merger. The Megabus brand is a brand already operating in the UK by Stagecoach Group that was imported to compete in the American & Canadian markets.

Other major companies

 * Shofur offers bus charter and rental services for group travel in over 250 cities within the United States.
 * Shofur offers bus charter and rental services for group travel in over 250 cities within the United States.
 * Shofur offers bus charter and rental services for group travel in over 250 cities within the United States.
 * Shofur offers bus charter and rental services for group travel in over 250 cities within the United States.
 * Shofur offers bus charter and rental services for group travel in over 250 cities within the United States.
 * Shofur offers bus charter and rental services for group travel in over 250 cities within the United States.
 * Shofur offers bus charter and rental services for group travel in over 250 cities within the United States.
 * Shofur offers bus charter and rental services for group travel in over 250 cities within the United States.
 * Shofur offers bus charter and rental services for group travel in over 250 cities within the United States.
 * Shofur offers bus charter and rental services for group travel in over 250 cities within the United States.
 * Shofur offers bus charter and rental services for group travel in over 250 cities within the United States.
 * Shofur offers bus charter and rental services for group travel in over 250 cities within the United States.
 * Shofur offers bus charter and rental services for group travel in over 250 cities within the United States.
 * Shofur offers bus charter and rental services for group travel in over 250 cities within the United States.
 * Shofur offers bus charter and rental services for group travel in over 250 cities within the United States.
 * Shofur offers bus charter and rental services for group travel in over 250 cities within the United States.

The above list is not complete as there are numerous publicly operated buses as public transportation in urban and rural areas and privately owned & operated (for profit) companies traveling across longer distances. Some cross state lines (or international lines to Canada or Mexico) while others operate within a single state. See By bus under Get in, in a city or town article and under Get around and/or Get in, in a state article for a list of additional bus companies traveling to or through that location. A number of the Trailways and other bus lines have interline agreements with Greyhound Lines & each other to allow travelers to buy another bus company's ticket on Greyhound.com or their respective websites for contiguous travel. Under such agreements they usually use shared bus station facilities but not always the case either.

Mexican buses
Some Mexican bus companies offer cross-border transportation between U.S. and Mexico as far north as Chicago and far south as Mexico City from the U.S./Mexico border areas. Some of the cross-border buses are subsidiaries of a larger Mexican bus company while others are smaller American- or Mexican-owned companies serving the regions near the border on one or both sides.

Connections from Texas hubs to the Midwest including Chicago, the Southeast and Mexico are offered by Tornado Bus, El Expreso, Omnibus Mexicanos and Turimex Internacional. Service in and out of Florida is offered by the Chilean JetSet, Argentinian RedCoach, and Cuban-American La Cubana. In California and the Southwest operators include FuturaNet, Tufesa, InterCalifornias and El Paso-Los Angeles Limousines, which may have tickets starting from $1.



Tickets
Tickets can often be purchased online with many of the bus companies, some offering discounts for buying online while others require the tickets can only be bought online. Others with established stations and stops at hotels and convenience stores may sell the tickets at the station or through the store or hotel front desk on a contract basis. The companies with only a curbside stop may require tickets be purchased online, printed and presented to the driver prior to boarding as the drivers cannot accept payment or carry any cash. See their websites as to what the policy may be.

Station amenities
Layovers are a part of longer bus journeys. Some last only 10 minutes, but they can be several hours long. If you have the energy, longer layovers can be used to explore the city. Some travelers may choose to break a long journey to stay overnight in a hotel next to the bus station/stop to be able to shower and get some rest before continuing on the next bus for the rest of the trip.

In many cities Greyhound Lines have closed their large monumental stations and sold them. They have since downsized to curbside stops (like in Portland, Oregon) or into shared facilities with Amtrak trains & local public transportation (Los Angeles, Denver, San Jose, etc) or with local public transportation only (known as 'transit centers' as in Las Vegas). In smaller towns, they have contracted with convenience stores and truck stops (Love's, Travel Centers of America, Pilot's Flying 'J', AM/PM, etc) or hotels to serve as a pick-up/drop-off stop or as a de-facto station. In other places (Seattle, Sacramento, Orlando, Daytona Beach, etc) Greyhound still maintain and operate full service bus station but in smaller building which may or may not eventually close. Other companies have only designated curbside stops or maintain their own separate bus stations in smaller buildings or a "hole in the wall" storefront (such as the 'chinatown' bus companies in New York). They (including Greyhound) also offer airport pick-up/drop-off at the 'ground transportation' (or departure) zones at a major airport or somewhere nearby such as in Buffalo, Miami, Seattle, Orlando, Denver, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, etc. Since the acquisition of Greyhound Lines by Flixbus they now have the same shared stops and stations as well as additional stop(s) for Flixbus.

Therefore, amenities vary according to the location. Gone are the days of the large open indoor waiting room with a small TV set on the armrest at each seat, with a restaurant inside the station. Curbside stops require passengers to reserve, pre-pay and print their tickets or be able to generate a QR code on a mobile device prior to travel as drivers cannot accept cash or card payments and can refuse passengers without a pre-paid ticket. Even at a retail store/truck stop the store may only provide space for the bus to pull in and load/unload passengers only while others may sell tickets and/or provide indoor seating for bus passengers. The remaining functioning bus stations (and those in Amtrak stations) still sell tickets over the counter and offer an indoor waiting room which are small and basic in comparison to the past Greyhound stations. Food and overnight stay options will vary depending on the availability of stores, restaurants, cafes and/or hotels surrounding the stop or station. Some of which are in sketchy neighborhoods with unsavory characters loitering around these establishments while the nearby hotels/motels can be used as dens for prostitution, drug dealing and other criminal activities.

Local public transportation vary in their frequencies and routing. In urban areas the same bus station or stop may be served by multiple local public transportation routes on more frequent schedules while in remote rural locations services are limited and less frequent. Some rural public transportation companies may only operate on certain days or every other week rather than daily. Check their schedules closely if planning to use local public transportation. Otherwise arriving passengers will have to arrange for taxi, ride-share (Uber, Lyft, etc), or with a known contact for pick-up prior to arrival as the stop or station can be in sketchy neighborhoods in an unfamiliar location. In some places a car rental office (Usually Avis, Enterprise or Hertz) can be nearby the bus stop or station for car rental.

If you choose to spend your layover time sampling nearby bars do not get drunk as you will not be allowed on the bus. Even the smell of alcohol in your breath may be enough for a driver to disallow you back on the bus.

Rules
Generally, the few rules imposed on bus travelers are very basic and largely common sense. Smoking and alcohol consumption are always forbidden. Some buses have signs banning eating and drinking, but this is rarely enforced; if you do eat or drink try to clean up after yourself. Try to keep noise to a minimum - no-one wants to hear other people's conversations or music. Unlike air travel, security checks are rare, but there are occasional inspections for 'banned' items, though items that are obvious hazards such as firearms may not be brought on board. Each company has its own guidelines regarding live animals.

Stay safe
In the United States, the security risks in long-distance bus travel can be related to the behavior of other passengers and maintaining order on the buses.

There have been several reported incidents where threatening or violent situations have occurred between passengers on long-distance buses. In these cases, the risk is directed at other passengers and the bus staff.

Problems can be caused by, for example:


 * Substance abuse on buses
 * Disruptive behavior from those with mental health issues
 * Arguments and fights between passengers
 * Possession of weapons on buses
 * Disruptive behavior from youth gangs

The openness of long-distance buses and the large number of certain types of passengers increase the risk of such situations compared to, for example, air travel.

Bus companies try to address these issues with security personnel and passenger screenings, but it is difficult to guarantee complete safety in all situations.

In any case, the threat of situations caused by other passengers is an unfortunate security risk in long-distance bus travel in the United States.