The Megabus - (LA Service 8/07-6/08)

[nickv]

The Megabus, "brought to you" by CoachUSA...

I think this is a bus system SoCal can actually use until HSR opens up: An inter-regional express bus system connecting several cities of the state plus Las Vegas and Phoenix. I've actually took a CoachUSA bus from Anaheim to Las Vegas and their service was great.

I also noticed that the LA bus station stop is Union Station itself, not a standalone terminal like the LA Greyhound Bus Station. I think that will be a plus.

The one thing I cannot believe about the Megabus is its discounted fares for trips planned well in advance. I did an online fare quote (on 8/3) for a holiday weekend round trip from LAUS to Vegas on Labor Day Weekend of 8/31-9/3: $16.50.

The only downside I see: Megabus is going to have to fill up those seats if it's going to profit.


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megabus.com "Search & Buy"

Thank you for making your selection.

The trip(s) are listed below for travel on:

Fri August 31, Returning on Mon September 03,
for 1 passenger

Please select the trip(s) you require for your outbound and return travel and then click the 'Add Trip(s) to Your Order' button at the bottom of the page.

You can also use the 'Search and Buy' box on the left to search again with different dates.

Available Outbound Trips
Please note that the departure and arrival times displayed are for the main terminus points you selected. More than one stop location may be available in some cities. If the city you are traveling to/from has more than one stop location, you may use whichever location you prefer. For a list of additional pick-up and drop-off points and appropriate departure and arrival times on these trips please select Schedules.

Note: All times shown are local time in that city.

Select Details Price
7:15 AM Depart Los Angeles, Union Station
Arrive Las Vegas, Grayline Customer Service Center 11:55 AM 1 seat = $1.00
11:30 AM Depart Los Angeles, Union Station
Arrive Las Vegas, Grayline Customer Service Center 4:10 PM 1 seat = $8.00
4:00 PM Depart Los Angeles, Union Station
Arrive Las Vegas, Grayline Customer Service Center 8:40 PM 1 seat = $8.00

Available Return Trips
Please note that the departure and arrival times displayed are for the main terminus points you selected. More than one stop location may be available in some cities. If the city you are traveling to/from has more than one stop location, you may use whichever location you prefer. For a list of additional pick-up and drop-off points and appropriate departure and arrival times on these trips please select Schedules.

Note: All times shown are local time in that city.

Select Details Price
7:15 AM Depart Las Vegas, Grayline Customer Service Center
Arrive Los Angeles, Union Station 12:00 PM 1 seat = $8.00
1:00 PM Depart Las Vegas, Grayline Customer Service Center
Arrive Los Angeles, Union Station 5:40 PM 1 seat = $8.00
5:15 PM Depart Las Vegas, Grayline Customer Service Center
Arrive Los Angeles, Union Station 9:55 PM 1 seat = $8.00

(Reservation fee is $.50)

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LA Times: www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-numegabus31jul31,0,2152394.story?coll=la-home-center

Is this the magic bus that will pry Angelenos away from their steering wheels?

A new nonstop line will roll into Los Angeles next week, serving seven cities with a handful of fares as low as $1. Megabus, a subsidiary of Coach USA, will carry passengers from L.A. to San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, Las Vegas, San Diego and Phoenix. The fleet will follow routes well served by airlines and Greyhound buses and well traveled by motorists.

Another express bus company based in a city that loves to drive has found it's not easy to get people on board. "We are still struggling," said Kazuhiro Nakagawa, a partner in California Shuttle Bus, a 4-year-old concern that runs buses once a day to San Francisco and charges $45 per ticket ($60 for "luxury" accommodations, guaranteeing the seat next to yours will be empty).

Some days, he said, there are only two or three passengers on board. "The people who are in L.A. are not accustomed to using public transportation like buses," Nakagawa said.

Megabus executives said they were undeterred. "We truly believe there's a market for this," said Dale Moser, president and chief operating officer of Coach USA/Megabus. "It's an excellent value for your money."

The Megabus service began in the United Kingdom four years ago and was rolled out in the American Midwest last year. Executives were unsure at first if they would be successful in a country where people were more accustomed than their British cousins to driving their own cars. But now Megabus is operating in 14 cities, including Chicago.

Midwesterners who try it keep coming back, Moser said, and more than half had never been on an inter-city bus before.

He predicted that Southern Californians would try a nonstop bus to escape rising gas costs and congestion, and that people concerned about the environmental effect of driving or flying would be interested in the bus alternative.

A few seats on each Megabus will sell for $1 -- plus a 50-cent booking fee -- to customers who book the furthest in advance. Most fares will be in the range of what Greyhound charges.

The highest price for a ticket to San Francisco -- about a seven-hour ride -- will be $38.50, while a ticket to Las Vegas -- about 4 1/2 hours -- will be $34.50.

That isn't much less than some plane tickets. Virgin Airlines recently unveiled $44 flights to San Francisco, and Southwest will fly you to Vegas for $59.

Beyond that, Greyhound Lines Inc. makes 14 trips a day from Los Angeles to San Francisco and 15 to Las Vegas.

"We always welcome competition," said Anna Folmnsbee, a Greyhound spokeswoman.

Megabus probably needs to sell about 20 tickets per trip to break even, said Bart Reed, executive director of the Transit Coalition, a Sylmar-based mass transportation advocacy group.

"If it's marketed properly and hits the right people, it could work quite well," he said.

Megabus will advertise on billboards, in bus shelters and train stations and in college newspapers and AARP publications. Tickets will be available on its website ( www.megabus.com /us) starting Thursday. The company plans to launch a Spanish-language version of the site in the future.

Effective marketing and cheap fares have worked on the East Coast. A bevy of low-cost buses has been plying highways between Boston and Washington for years, giving bus travel a good name even in a region with plentiful train service. The same thing could happen in California, Reed said, with the right level of competition.

Caleb Epps, a Boston transplant living in L.A., said he would appreciate having the option of riding the bus.

Back home, the 26-year-old audio engineer frequently took the so-called Chinatown Bus from Boston to New York, paying less than $20 for the four-hour journey.

In the West, where "the spaces are so big," he said, bus travel might not have much appeal.

"It's going to be a tough sell," he said. "People are used to having their own car and using it to go wherever they want."

[e-mail]

[dasubergeek]

While that's nice, I doubt it'll take off. Airline fares are too cheap.

And whom are they kidding? If you leave LA Union Station at 4 PM on a Friday of a three-day weekend, ain't no WAY you're getting in to Vegas at 8-anything PM the same day.

[wad]

All of the times are very optimistic.

L.A. to San Francisco in 7 hours? It can't even be done in a car.

[tonyw79sfv]

I driven from the north San Fernando Valley to Morgan Hill (just south of San Jose) in 4 hours. Los Angeles to San Francisco can be done easily in under 6 hours. However, that is only possible at off peak times. 7 hours beats Amtrak's 8 - 10 hours via bus/train combinations.

[nickv]

I also just noticed that Megabus may also have problems with one other fundamental flaw: Some of the city stops are not in the central core/downtown areas. That includes the San Diego stop.

Most travelers will have to transfer to a local transit line or even a taxi to connect to the activity centers and transit hubs in the downtown areas. That's right, some of the city stops are placed in areas not suitable for inter-regional transit. For example, suppose somebody who lives in Downtown LA had a corporate business meeting to go to in Downtown San Diego. He got the meeting date well in advance; so taking the Megabus for a buck and a half one-way would first seem to be the easy way since the bus stops at LAUS. But once the traveler arrives in San Diego, there might be a connection problem. The bus stops at 3888 Beech Street, which is outside of the downtown area and offers very few transit connections. The only real way to get into downtown during non-rush hour is to connect to MTS Line 965 which is local community circulator to the City Heights Transit Plaza. From there, take Line 10, sort of a local-plus line to Downtown. Not everybody headed into San Diego is going to have the patience to handle those transfers nor be able to afford a taxi ride to downtown either. Coach USA should have picked the Santa Fe Station in downtown instead.

The stop in Phoenix is not as bad as San Diego; it lets travelers off at Arizona State University, near the Tempe Transit Center. From there travelers can take the Valley Metro Red Line Bus or the Valley Metro Light Rail starting in 12/2008 into Downtown....but placing the stop at Phoenix Central Station would have been a better pick. That's one less transfer travelers have to deal with.

I think if Coach USA addresses these issues, this should help it get the ridership it longs for. I might as well suggest this to them. If anybody finds any other fundamental issues, post them here if you like, but be sure to submit them to Coach USA.

[wad]

tonyw79sfv said:

I driven from the north San Fernando Valley to Morgan Hill (just south of San Jose) in 4 hours. Los Angeles to San Francisco can be done easily in under 6 hours. However, that is only possible at off peak times. 7 hours beats Amtrak's 8 - 10 hours via bus/train combinations.

I took a Greyhound red-eye that took 10 hours. This traveled up the coast and made stops in the middle of the night at stations that were closed.

A Greyhound Express, which took the 5 freeway, took about 8.5 hours. This trip made stops in Oakland, San Jose and a food break in Coalinga.

I just don't think it can be done, even if the bus was non-stop.

[nickv]

Megabus Update-

The "flaws" that I've posted back in August have been addressed.

The San Diego stop is moved from 3888 Beach St to the east side of 13th Street, between G Street and Market Street in Downtown with about a 200 yard walk to the trolley station. Local transit connections are still a little wishy-washy, but much better than it was last summer.

In the Phoenix Valley, the Tempe stop remains, but a stop has been added at Phoenix Central Station...Right on! That's Phoenix's main transit hub connecting Megabus with several Valley Metro bus lines. The Valley Metro Red Line bus also connects the Central Station to Sky Harbor Airport and the Phoenix Greyhound Station every 15 minutes on weekdays and every 30 minutes on weekends.

Hopefully, those changes will help Megabus riders get to their final destinations problem free.

[LAofAnaheim]

Megabus needs to address the Las Vegas stop. It's 3/4 mile from the airport and 3/4 mile from the edge of the strip. Not really walking distance (especially in 100 degree weather!). They should add a stop near a Monorail station, maybe that will help both systems.

[nickv]

The Megabus headed south toward San Diego now goes all the way to the San Ysidro Transit Center (near Tijuana) with an intermediate "closed door" stop (discharge only to SY, pick up only to LA) in Downtown San Diego.

There's also a few added intermediate "closed door" stops in the SF region too.

www.megabus.com/us/stops/index_west.php

Now if the Las Vegas stop is moved to a better spot and reservations can be booked by tapping the TAP, then Megabus will be set.

[joequality]

I'm actually booked to Vegas leaving tomorrow (Friday) at 4:30pm from Union Station. Coming back Sunday at 2pm. Will write back with review

[joequality]

It took off about 4:35 and headed into standard Fri evening traffic, so it put into Vegas about an hour later. Not bad considering my friends in a car hit the same traffic so the time wasn't too far off.

On the way back however, I elected to ride with my friends just for the hell of it. I'm glad I did because we passed the Megabus broken down on the side of the 15 in the middle of the desert; engine cover was up and people did not look too happy. I would have been one of them if I chose to not blow my $8 ticket.

[joequality]

joequality said:

It took off about 4:35 and headed into standard Fri evening traffic, so it put into Vegas about an hour later. Not bad considering my friends in a car hit the same traffic so the time wasn't too far off.

This isn't very clear. I meant an hour later than the posted arrival time of 9:30pm -- we came in around 10:30pm

[nickv]

Megabus Service Updates



ROUTE M10
Los Angeles - Phoenix - Tempe
Weekdays & Weekends: Line cancelled on 1/7/2008 due to low ridership.

ROUTE M15
Los Angeles - San Diego
Weekdays & Weekends: Line cancelled on 3/23/2008 due to low ridership.

[Tony Fernandez]

I'm not surprised about the LA-SD route since there's already the Pacific Surfliner, but what about LA-Phoenix?

[nickv]

I'm not surprised about the LA-SD route since there's already the Pacific Surfliner, but what about LA-Phoenix?

IMHO, CoachUSA should not have given up on the LA-Phoenix route. Having an extra bus line in combination of the existing Greyhound service along the I-10 corridor was not a bad idea, but this route did have its problems since the beginning. When the route first launched, the Phoenix stop was actually Tempe; the bus bypassed Downtown Phoenix! Later, a stop was added in the Downtown Central Station. Even with this change, the route still had its flaws. Because SoCal is so wide, there should have been some intermediate stops along the way for select trips:

LAUS - San Bernardino Transit Mall - DT Palm Springs - Blythe Transfer Center (bus stop and rest) - Phoenix Central Station

This would have allowed more people to use the service, not only for long distance travel, but for travel throughout SoCal as well. (eg. Ride Megabus from Downtown LA to Downtown Palm Springs for $1 each way!)

Another suggestion which could have helped out with this route was to generate a "Bus-2-Bus" agreement with Coach USA and Greyhound, much like "Rail-2-Rail" between Metrolink and Amtrak California. This would allow riders more buses to choose from using one ticket. I know...I have to figure out how a $1 bus ride would work into this.

I think something like that would have made better sense. Although Greyhound emulates this route already, the run times are not frequent and all of the stops except for Blythe are at standalone terminals, not transit hubs.

I think if Coach USA had addressed these issues, this could have helped with better ridership.

[nickv]

LA Megabus to be Cancelled



All Megabus bus routes to/from LAUS will be cancelled after 6/22/2008 due to low ridership.

The concept idea of Megabus was really good; there were express bus routes connecting LA to its big neighbors, however it did have its problems. I think one of them was poor marketing. Sure, the newspaper and billboards were littered in Megabus ads over the last summer, and its Web site is very creative but that's just about all I was able to get from Megabus marketing.

I think private/public transportation partnerships with public transit agencies, schools, hotels, and other businesses may have given Megabus its riders.

Megabus sort of started with this concept by placing some of its stops at existing transit centers, but sort of stopped there and never quite "finished" it.

The partnerships may have allowed the company to add or link their bus schedules in public transit media, just like how Amtrak schedules are on Metrolink media. For example, a public/private partnership with Metrolink could allow a traveler in Irvine headed to Vegas to purchase his/her Metrolink and Megabus ticket in one transaction, much like being able to purchase a FlyAway bus ticket to LAX at a Metrolink station or buying Amtrak Surfliner tickets to other destinations.

Another fundamental flaw I think is poor bus stop placement. The LAUS stop for example was sort of "hidden" on the street next to the Metro Gold Line station. The stop should have been placed either near the bus bays where Amtrak stops their motorcoaches, or at the bus plaza. When Megabus first launched in SoCal, the San Diego stop was burried in an area east of the Downtown area with very limited transit connections. I think that kind of hurt the LA-San Diego route last summer, although they did move the stop into the Downtown area a few months later. Still, it was far away from the Santa Fe Depot, the main transit hub in the area.

Again, I think Megabus in LA had good concepts, but they were never quite executed in the way they should have been.

RTA CommuterLink 206 Saturday service has its similar problems with poor bus stop placement (ie. too rush-hour oriented) and basically no marketing. This route serves the busy I-15 corridor in SW Riverside County. The freeway is heavy on rush hours and weekends. The commuter ridership is VERY high... The Saturday ridership levels are VERY low, but with a few modest improvements like better marketing, better connections to Metrolink and a stop at "Little Vegas", that is, Pechanga Resort, this route can become a popular way to get around on the weekend. Who would not want to leave their car and high gas prices at home to visit "Little Vegas" during the weekend?

[James Fujita]

I noticed that the L.A. Times quoted our own Bart Reed ("Megabust") in their article on Megabus' demise. seems like a waste of his transit expertise to comment on a low-fare bus route.

Megabus was useless for my frequent Central Valley-to-L.A. trips and as for L.A. to San Diego, I'm too much of an Amtrak loyalist to ride a bus, but it does seem like Megabus must've done something wrong, if they couldn't take advantage of $4 gas.