# Looking for tips on my first BoltBus trip



## rickycourtney

I'm traveling to Vancouver BC for my friends birthday and I've decided to take Greyhound's BoltBus. For anyone curious, the price was $29 compared to $72 on Amtrak (for a schedule that didn't work out as well.)

I read elsewhere to sign up for Bolt Rewards so my boarding pass would be in the "A" group. Any other tips for traveling on BoltBus? (where's the best place to sit on these X3-45's?)

Also can someone explain the Canadian border process? Does everyone exit the bus and walk through border control or do the agents board the bus and check passports?


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## The Davy Crockett

Advice...

Don't...

... go over to the dark side! :lol:


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## AmtrakBlue

The Davy Crockett said:


> Advice...
> 
> Don't...
> 
> ... go over to the dark side! :lol:


I was thinking the same thing.  But then again, Ricky likes talking buses with S.H., so it may be too late.


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## Swadian Hardcore

Hey railfans, don't view buses as your enemy. Buses have provided important intermodel connections to trains and supplemented rail service for many years. A large part of Greyhound used to be owned by the Great Northern Railway. Bus and train ridership have grown simutaneously in recent years. That means we need to cooperate against cars and planes!

Sorry, I don't know muc about X3-45's, I've taken them before but not recently and I haven't studied them in detail. You really got a bad deal from BoltBus, most tickets from Seattle to Vancouver sell for $10-$20. I've been watching prices on that route too since I plan to ride it on my way to Canada.

You also have a chance of getting a D4505. They both have 50 Premier LS seating but are definitely in different configurations because the D4505 has a front wheelchair lift while the X3-45 one is towards the rear. The windows on the X3-45 are curved and the cargo holds aren't very big. The driver's seat is lower than one the D4505 or 102DL3.

At the border crossing everyone gets off, all baggage is taken off, lines up, and gets checked. Takes about 30 minutes, could take up to 60 minutes if there's suspicious passengers or a full load.

Tell us how the trip goes, I might ride BoltBus from Portland to Seattle later this year, but I must take Greyhound to Vancouver due to timing. I cannot take the Cascades, BoltBus, Quick Shuttle, or Cantrail, their schedules are all unable to fit my needs. I think Quick Shuttle and Cantrail are overpriced and overrated with their H3-45 tour buses, not good for intercity ops.


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## rickycourtney

AmtrakBlue said:


> Advice...
> 
> Don't...
> 
> ... go over to the dark side! :lol:





The Davy Crockett said:


> I was thinking the same thing.  But then again, Ricky likes talking buses with S.H., so it may be too late.


Don't worry folks, I'm still a supporter of Amtrak... but I find the Cascades schedules between to be somewhat... lacking (especially VAC-SEA). There's only 2 round trips per day, the rest are bus connections... and I really don't want to pay almost twice as much to more to ride the less luxurious Ambus. Plus, I rode my share of Ambuses between LA and Bakersfield.

But I will say, moving to a new city without a car I have become a fan of all forms of public transportation (train, bus, Taxi/Uber and carsharing).

On a train related note I got the chance to ride the new ODOT Cascades trainset (Mt. Bachelor) the cab car is a bit less ugly in person (but not by much!), but they ride great and the interior of the cars was awesome!

Plus, I'll always love the fact that I can get a craft beer from Portland while on the Cascades (can't do that on a bus!)



Swadian Hardcore said:


> Sorry, I don't know muc about X3-45's, I've taken them before but not recently and I haven't studied them in detail. You really got a bad deal from BoltBus, most tickets from Seattle to Vancouver sell for $10-$20. I've been watching prices on that route too since I plan to ride it on my way to Canada.


That's what I paid. $13 Seattle-Vancouver, $15 Vancouver-Seattle plus a $1 booking fee. It's a bargain considering my trip is in 5 days!



Swadian Hardcore said:


> You also have a chance of getting a D4505. They both have 50 Premier LS seating but are definitely in different configurations because the D4505 has a front wheelchair lift while the X3-45 one is towards the rear. The windows on the X3-45 are curved and the cargo holds aren't very big. The driver's seat is lower than one the D4505 or 102DL3.


Interested to try out these seats... you've mentioned them a lot. I've never been on the X3-45, but I've been on an Amtrak California D4505... they are nice buses.



Swadian Hardcore said:


> At the border crossing everyone gets off, all baggage is taken off, lines up, and gets checked. Takes about 30 minutes, could take up to 60 minutes if there's suspicious passengers or a full load.


Sounds like a pain in the ass. But I'm not sure if Amtrak's and the airline's process of making you stand in the border control line to exit the station/airport in Vancouver is any better.



Swadian Hardcore said:


> Tell us how the trip goes, I might ride BoltBus from Portland to Seattle later this year, but I must take Greyhound to Vancouver due to timing. I cannot take the Cascades, BoltBus, Quick Shuttle, or Cantrail, their schedules are all unable to fit my needs. I think Quick Shuttle and Cantrail are overpriced and overrated with their H3-45 tour buses, not good for intercity ops.


I'll be sure to give you a full report of a bus trip from the perspective of a person who usually rides trains.

Oh, and just cause I was curious (and ever the comparison shopper)... Quick Shuttle was $50 and Cantrail was $72 for the same trip. For these prices I'd *much* rather take Amtrak Cascades.

I'm also not that interested in taking Greyhound considering there's a high likelihood I'd be stuck on one of those G4500 coaches you say are so terrible.


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## Swadian Hardcore

Yeah, I hate G4500's too, but with my tight schedule of getting up to Canada I'll be forced to take Greyhound. I have to visit around Seattle then get to Vancouver in the same day without arriving too late. So Greyhound Schedule 6518 (601N) is my only choice.

When you're up in Vancouver at Pacific Central, could you just take a peek at Greyhound Canada's buses parked in the same station? I'm interested in those for my loop around Western Canada.


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## rrdude

As much as I hate to admit it, I have to agree with Swadian Hardcore on this one. 

Public transit especially intercity buses, should be seen as an actual supplement to Amtrak. Think of them as feeders. There are just not enough now.

California Amtrak certainly has it right all of the connections that they offer. I just wish the rest of the country would follow.


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## AmtrakBlue

We were just kidding.


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## The Davy Crockett

rrdude said:


> As much as I hate to admit it, I have to agree with Swadian Hardcore on this one.
> 
> Public transit especially intercity buses, should be seen as an actual supplement to Amtrak. Think of them as feeders. There are just not enough now.
> 
> California Amtrak certainly has it right all of the connections that they offer. I just wish the rest of the country would follow.


Dude,

There is SO much I could say... h34r: :lol:

However, all joking aside...

While I agree we need MORE 'intercity' public tranportation that helps get vehicles with one or two pax off the road, and I'm not opposed to busses, vans, etc. filling that need per se - if rail is not an option - this is _AMTRAK_ Unlimited, so it is by nature an AMTRAK and RAIL oriented site that attracts railfans, foamers, people with questions about Amtrak, etc., etc.

Now when there is a member who seems to get more excited about busses - and who good naturedly pushes that love at us foamers - I think they should expect some good natured 'push back' for loving busses over trains.

But Dude, you bring up a good point:

*I think AU needs a sub-forum for Thruway busses, since they ARE a part of the Amtrak system.*

The connectivity they provide is important, and the system will continue to expand, IMHO. It is an overall model of where we should be going in the future. Part of what makes many European public transportation systems work so well is the coordination of connections between various types of transportation.

What do other folks think?


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## Swadian Hardcore

I fully agree with The Davy Crockett about intermodel travel. I've been trying to increase my "travel efficiency", that means I want to see more and do more in less time and for less money. So sometimes I take trains and sometimes I take buses. Since Amtrak in Reno downright fails to meet my needs, I've been riding Greyhound a lot. Intermodel freight worked so well to boost freight railroads' profits, so intermodel passenger travel should work just as well.

Railfans are intent on pushing for rail service everywhere, but rail service is not _fit _everywhere. Sometimes, a bus a better than a train. Or if you need to get across an ocean, you'll really apprieciate passenger jets. I'm a big bus fan, but I don't argue for buses everywhere, and railfans shouldn't argue for trains everywhere.


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## AmtrakBlue

Swadian Hardcore said:


> I fully agree with The Davy Crockett about intermodel travel. I've been trying to increase my "travel efficiency", that means I want to see more and do more in less time and for less money. So sometimes I take trains and sometimes I take buses. Since Amtrak in Reno downright fails to meet my needs, I've been riding Greyhound a lot. Intermodel freight worked so well to boost freight railroads' profits, so intermodel passenger travel should work just as well.
> 
> Railfans are intent on pushing for rail service everywhere, but rail service is not _fit _everywhere. Sometimes, a bus a better than a train. Or if you need to get across an ocean, you'll really apprieciate passenger jets. I'm a big bus fan, but I don't argue for buses everywhere, *and railfans shouldn't argue for trains everywhere.*


Except that this forum is a TRAIN forum. Yes, there are places to discuss non-train transportation, but....


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## Swadian Hardcore

AmtrakBlue said:


> Swadian Hardcore said:
> 
> 
> 
> I fully agree with The Davy Crockett about intermodel travel. I've been trying to increase my "travel efficiency", that means I want to see more and do more in less time and for less money. So sometimes I take trains and sometimes I take buses. Since Amtrak in Reno downright fails to meet my needs, I've been riding Greyhound a lot. Intermodel freight worked so well to boost freight railroads' profits, so intermodel passenger travel should work just as well.
> 
> Railfans are intent on pushing for rail service everywhere, but rail service is not _fit _everywhere. Sometimes, a bus a better than a train. Or if you need to get across an ocean, you'll really apprieciate passenger jets. I'm a big bus fan, but I don't argue for buses everywhere, *and railfans shouldn't argue for trains everywhere.*
> 
> 
> 
> Except that this forum is a TRAIN forum. Yes, there are places to discuss non-train transportation, but....
Click to expand...

By "everywhere", I don't mean discussion mediums, I mean locations. For example, railfans should probably stop saying "Bring Back the Vancouver-Prince George passenger train", since Vancouver-Prince George isn't suitable for passenger trains. You'd be surprised how many people actually comment on other sites thinking it's a good idea to run a daily passenger train through the middle of nowhere.


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## rrdude

The Davy Crockett said:


> rrdude said:
> 
> 
> 
> As much as I hate to admit it, I have to agree with Swadian Hardcore on this one.
> 
> Public transit especially intercity buses, should be seen as an actual supplement to Amtrak. Think of them as feeders. There are just not enough now.
> 
> California Amtrak certainly has it right all of the connections that they offer. I just wish the rest of the country would follow.
> 
> 
> 
> Dude,
> 
> There is SO much I could say... h34r: :lol:
> 
> However, all joking aside...
> 
> While I agree we need MORE 'intercity' public tranportation that helps get vehicles with one or two pax off the road, and I'm not opposed to busses, vans, etc. filling that need per se - if rail is not an option - this is _AMTRAK_ Unlimited, so it is by nature an AMTRAK and RAIL oriented site that attracts railfans, foamers, people with questions about Amtrak, etc., etc.
> 
> Now when there is a member who seems to get more excited about busses - and who good naturedly pushes that love at us foamers - I think they should expect some good natured 'push back' for loving busses over trains.
> 
> But Dude, you bring up a good point:
> 
> *I think AU needs a sub-forum for Thruway busses, since they ARE a part of the Amtrak system.*
> 
> The connectivity they provide is important, and the system will continue to expand, IMHO. It is an overall model of where we should be going in the future. Part of what makes many European public transportation systems work so well is the coordination of connections between various types of transportation.
> 
> What do other folks think?
Click to expand...

I guess that begs the question, is it really Amtrak Unlimited? Or, is it intercity passenger rail, unlimited?
I'm wondering if posters/members really care if it's "Amtrak" that runs intercity passenger trains? Or are they just more concerned about HAVING intercity passenger trains with appropriate services?


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## Swadian Hardcore

I gotta agree, I think it's more about "trains" than about "Amtrak". We don't hear much people calling themselves "Amtrak fans" as compared to "railfans". I'd say I'm a railfan but not an Amtrak fan, as in I like trains but I don't always like the way Amtrak runs them.


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## The Davy Crockett

rrdude said:


> I guess that begs the question, is it really Amtrak Unlimited? Or, is it intercity passenger rail, unlimited?


To answer that question, without answering that question, at this point in time they are one in the same.



> I'm wondering if posters/members really care if it's "Amtrak" that runs intercity passenger trains? Or are they just more concerned about HAVING intercity passenger trains with appropriate services?


See above.

Speaking for myself, my worry is that if Amtrak doesn't provide this service, nobody else will.


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## Swadian Hardcore

The Davy Crockett said:


> rrdude said:
> 
> 
> 
> I guess that begs the question, is it really Amtrak Unlimited? Or, is it intercity passenger rail, unlimited?
> 
> 
> 
> To answer that question, without answering that question, at this point in time they are one in the same.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm wondering if posters/members really care if it's "Amtrak" that runs intercity passenger trains? Or are they just more concerned about HAVING intercity passenger trains with appropriate services?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> See above.
> 
> Speaking for myself, my worry is that if Amtrak doesn't provide this service, nobody else will.
Click to expand...

The thing is, Amtrak really is the national network, so if Amtrak dies, that just means the federal government stopped supporting it. The NER would probably still run because it breaks even or actually profits "above the rails". The state-supported trains would still run, except maybe not under the Amtrak name. We would just lose the coordination between train networks and the LD trains. The authorities would change, and the "Amtrak" name might be gone, but the SD trains would still run and most of the ridership comes from SD's anyway.

Of course losing Amtrak as the *National* Rail Passenger Corporation wouldn't be good for trains in general, but that doesn't mean state trains would die too.


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## Swadian Hardcore

To Ricky, who is still going to be riding the BoltBus in three days, you might want to know that the Premier LS seems to have changed design since Greyhound first ordered them. The 2008-2009 X3-45 appear to have the old, uncomfortable version, while the 2010 and later units have the newer version.

The old version had a footrest like the old Greyhound seats but passengers complained of poor support so I think they changed the bottom supports to be stronger but had to cut out the footrest. Not sure what actually happened but it just seems to be from pictures and passenger reviews.


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## rickycourtney

Well I'm happy I went the BoltBus route. There's been another mudslide near Mukelteo. There's gonna be bustitutions for the Cascades and EB until Thursday. So I'd be on a bus anyways for part of the Amtrak trip.


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## rickycourtney

First impressions:

These buses run great! It's a 2009 Prevost X3-45 (#0861).The ride is super smooth and very quiet. The curve at the top doesn't cut out any shoulder room.

The BLUE WiFi system overall is very good. I loaded it up once the scenery got boring and the movie selection is great (I watched Life of Pi.) Internet is on the slow side. Good for reading blogs and checking email but not much else (maybe Greyhound should consider blocking netflix and pandora.)

Border control was inconvenient but pretty painless. Took about 30 minutes for 3 officers to process all the passengers while another officer processed the driver and bus. The only thing that could have made it faster was more officers.

The seats are not the worst I've sat in... But they do tend to lean forward and they're a bit hard. (It's the version with the footrest.) Also the leather is a nice touch but a lot of seats are starting to show rips and tears. But they have a generous recline and plenty of legroom. I think they're as nice as the seats on the California cars and nicer than most coach airline seats.

Overall a good showing so far for a $29 trip! Stay tuned for a full report with pictures soon.


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## Swadian Hardcore

While you're in Vancouver, could you please just take a look at the Greyhound Canada buses? Are there many G4500's, D4505's, or 102DL3's? Remember, Greyhound Canada D4505's are still painted while and have the old rear end like the DL3's, with the big grille. So you can identify by the fenders or the nose, but not the rear end.

If you take a picture of the Greyhound Canada lineup in Vancouver that'd be great! Single picture showing all the buses would be enough for me to know what I'm gonna get to ride when I head up there. Thanks if you can do it.

#0861 is one of the older Prevosts. It's a 2009 Prevost X3-45, seating capacity 50 passengers. Was in the Northeast until it got switched to Seattle. This one does indeed have the older Premier LS with the footrest. As with other reviewers, you seem to describe poor bottom support, causing them to slide forward. This is corrected in the later version from 2010, which removed the footrest for tougher bottom support, but the seats are still harder than the Patriot PT on the 102DL3.

"Prevost Car Model X3-45; VIN: 2PCG334949C729785. 2009 Ste. Claire, Quebec, Canada. #0861 in Seattle-based BoltBus-only pool. May not be used on regular Greyhound schedules."


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## railiner

rickycourtney said:


> First impressions:
> 
> These buses run great! It's a 2009 Prevost X3-45 (#0861).The ride is super smooth and very quiet. The curve at the top doesn't cut out any shoulder room.
> 
> The BLUE WiFi system overall is very good. I loaded it up once the scenery got boring and the movie selection is great (I watched Life of Pi.) Internet is on the slow side. Good for reading blogs and checking email but not much else (maybe Greyhound should consider blocking netflix and pandora.)
> 
> Border control was inconvenient but pretty painless. Took about 30 minutes for 3 officers to process all the passengers while another officer processed the driver and bus. The only thing that could have made it faster was more officers.
> 
> The seats are not the worst I've sat in... But they do tend to lean forward and they're a bit hard. (It's the version with the footrest.) Also the leather is a nice touch but a lot of seats are starting to show rips and tears. But they have a generous recline and plenty of legroom. I think they're as nice as the seats on the California cars and nicer than most coach airline seats.
> 
> Overall a good showing so far for a $29 trip! Stay tuned for a full report with pictures soon.


Glad you enjoyed your trip...looking forward to your full report......


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## rickycourtney

Here's my complete trip report:

*Boarding:*




_BoltBus at Seattle's International District/Chinatown station_

In Seattle BoltBus picks up from the International District/Chinatown station at 5th and King (about two blocks away from Amtrak's King Street station). The station is served by Sound Transit's Link light rail and dozens of bus lines. I arrived by light rail and I was there about 15 minutes before departure. The bus appeared to have just arrived and the very friendly driver was already explaining the proper way to load bags under the bus.

After that he started boarding the bus by the boarding groups printed on our tickets... A, B & C. As he checked our tickets the bus driver also checked our passports and passed out customs forms. Once you're on the bus it's open seating (the whole process is like Southwest Airlines), but it's worth mentioning that trips are not overbooked so you're guaranteed to get a seat.

*The trip:*

The bus left on-time at 1pm and our first stop was in Bellingham about 2:40pm. Instead of stopping at the Greyhound/Amtrak station in Bellingham, BoltBus stops at Cordata Station a transfer station for city buses. Since the bus wasn't scheduled to leave until 3pm the driver told passengers they were free to exit the bus, get some fresh air, use the real restrooms and vending machines at the station or run over to the Dairy Queen to grab a bite to eat.




_BoltBus in Bellingham_

We left right on time at 3pm and arrived at the Canadian border at about 3:30pm. At that point all passengers had to exit the bus and walk into a building dedicated to processing intercity bus passengers. Once inside, three agents questioned all the passengers while another agent questioned the driver and inspected the bus. It took about 30 minutes for all the passengers to clear customs and reboard the bus. (The customs building also had real restrooms.)





_BoltBus and passengers at Canadian customs_

We ended up arriving at Pacific Central station in Vancouver about 20 minutes early. A few note about the station: it has a small but comfortable waiting room, a couple of convenience/gift shops (like you'd find in an airport) and a couple of restaurants. It's a nice station considering it only sees 2.5 trains a day (most passengers that use this station are traveling by bus) and it's a very easy 2 block walk to the nearest SkyTrain station.








The return trip was exactly the same except that US customs look about 45 minutes (there were only two agents to question passengers and inspect the bus). Because of that the stop in Bellingham was only for a couple of minutes and passengers continuing on to Seattle couldn’t exit (the driver said that the restrooms in Bellingham were closed at that time of night anyway.) We arrived in Seattle about 15 minutes early.




_BoltBus at US customs_

*The bus:*

BoltBus uses newer model coaches that are equipped with leather seats that have more legroom (the buses have 5 less seats than a normal bus to increase legroom and eliminate the middle seat in the last row), cup holders, WiFi, power outlets and a small lavatory (with a flushing chemical toilet and hand sanitizer).

Overall I thought the seats weren’t very comfortable. They were on the hard side and the seat cushion leans forward. They also appeared to be showing their age with some having some visible tears.

As I said before I think they're as nice as the seats on the California cars and nicer than most coach airline seats… but I wouldn’t want to spend more than a few hours in one.






*WiFi:*

I go into this more in this thread but BoltBus/Greyhound use a WiFi system called BLUE and it's great. In addition to letting you go online to surf the web, you can read the news, listen to music, play games and watch movies. The best part is that all of that content is stored offline on a hard drive located on the bus. That means that that all that content is available even when the area the bus is driving through has poor cell reception. The only problem is that the internet speeds leave much to be desired when compared to AmtrakConnect.





*Bottom line:*

I'm definitely going to make BoltBus a part of my travel options. The price for the trip was a bargain, the buses were reasonably comfortable and we arrived at our destination early in both cases (and the schedule is faster than Amtrak).

I would still prefer Amtrak Cascades over BoltBus because the scenery is better, the seats on the Talgo's are more comfortable and I can get up and walk to the cafe car and grab a beer whenever I feel like it... but that's not enough of a difference for me to justify paying $72 when BoltBus was just $29 for the same trip.


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## railiner

Thanks for sharing your experience with us. Nicely done....


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## Swadian Hardcore

Ah yeah, I just rode in those old Premier LS seats, it was HORRIBLE! :angry: I sat 2.5 hours in a D4505 with those seats from Reno to Sacramento, they offered very bad bottom support, poor lumbar support, and poor neck support. Caused hip pain, unrest, and anger from this GREYHOUND bus fan!

Yeah, you know something's wrong when a Greyhound fan's whining about Greyhound, but the old rebuilt 102DL3  on the way back was LEAGUES better than that D4505 with the terrible seats.

From this trip, IMO from worst to best, Greyhound D4505, Amtrak California Car, YARTS D4500CT, Amtrak Comet, AC Transit D4500, Greyhound 102DL3. Why don't I like the Comet that much? Small windows and cramped, awkward feel.

More on the Greyhound thread.....http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/topic/46644-greyhound-seats-and-fleet-questions/page-23. More about the railcars on the rail discussions coming up, trip report with many pictures also coming up!


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## rickycourtney

Swadian Hardcore said:


> Ah yeah, I just rode in those old Premier LS seats, it was HORRIBLE! :angry: I sat 2.5 hours in a D4505 with those seats from Reno to Sacramento, they offered very bad bottom support, poor lumbar support, and poor neck support. Caused hip pain, unrest, and anger from this GREYHOUND bus fan!
> 
> Yeah, you know something's wrong when a Greyhound fan's whining about Greyhound, but the old rebuilt 102DL3  on the way back was LEAGUES better than that D4505 with the terrible seats.


Yeah that's the thing, those seats look great... but they just aren't comfortable.



Swadian Hardcore said:


> From this trip, IMO from worst to best, Greyhound D4505, Amtrak California Car, YARTS D4500CT, Amtrak Comet, AC Transit D4500, Greyhound 102DL3. Why don't I like the Comet that much? Small windows and cramped, awkward feel.
> 
> More on the Greyhound thread.....http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/topic/46644-greyhound-seats-and-fleet-questions/page-23. More about the railcars on the rail discussions coming up, trip report with many pictures also coming up!


I'm glad you got to experience the Amtrak California Comet cars. They have comfortably seats and they are worlds better than a commuter train Comet, but there's nothing you can do about those "gun slit" windows.

I look forward to reading your full report.


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## Swadian Hardcore

What are those televisions doing? Did they play any movies on line-haul? I hear passengers got mad with Peter Pan when they played a soap opera with loud audio on a J4500.


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## rickycourtney

Swadian Hardcore said:


> What are those televisions doing? Did they play any movies on line-haul? I hear passengers got mad with Peter Pan when they played a soap opera with loud audio on a J4500.


I believe that all of Greyhound's coaches assigned to BoltBus have the video monitor. I saw a picture of a MCI D4505 (#0901) and it also had the monitors. I think the plan was to play a welcome/safety video on the monitors as the bus departed a station (like some airlines do) in lieu of making the driver do one over the intercom. (It was probably seen as classier to have video.) 
I actually found a copy of the video from 2010 posted to YouTube:



That being said... they video wasn't used used on my trip and the driver did a wonderful job giving friendly, understandable, concise and helpful spiels.

I especially liked his one when we got to Seattle. Something to the effect of...

"Ladies and Gentlemen it's now 10:10 pm and we are arriving in Downtown Seattle where it's 63 degrees* with light rain falling. Please remain seated until the coach comes to a complete stop at our final destination. As you depart please check around your seats and overhead bins to make sure you don't leave anything behind. Thank you for choosing BoltBus and I hope you'll travel with us again soon."

Sounded more like an airline pilot than a bus driver.

*I noticed as I walked out that the drivers cluster on the Prevost X3-45 has a clock and thermometer, a nice touch for the driver's spiel and something you can't get from a video.


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## Swadian Hardcore

What did that Prevost smell like? Did it have the same heavy-flowery smell of the D4505, the light fruity smell of the 102DL3, or something else?


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## rickycourtney

Swadian Hardcore said:


> What did that Prevost smell like? Did it have the same heavy-flowery smell of the D4505, the light fruity smell of the 102DL3, or something else?


Haha. I don't even know how to answer that.

The coach had a light perfume to it... But I'm pretty sure that was coming from an air freshener in the bathroom.


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## Swadian Hardcore

rickycourtney said:


> Swadian Hardcore said:
> 
> 
> 
> What did that Prevost smell like? Did it have the same heavy-flowery smell of the D4505, the light fruity smell of the 102DL3, or something else?
> 
> 
> 
> Haha. I don't even know how to answer that.
> 
> The coach had a light perfume to it... But I'm pretty sure that was coming from an air freshener in the bathroom.
Click to expand...

I'm glad it didn't smell bad. I'm pretty sure all Greyhound-owned coaches have that air freshener, maybe Greyhound Canada doesn't. But the G4500 still smells like plastic even with the air freshener. Pretty sure they took the air frashender out of the spare coaches though.


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## rickycourtney

I'm gonna make a guess here and say that the air fresheners probably get replaced as a part of the servicing these coaches get. I imagine the cleaning crews empty the trash, pump the lavatories, refill the hand sanitizer and replace the air fresheners as necessary.

The different smells might be explained by which shop last replaced the air freshener last (maybe different shops get different scents from different vendors) and how recently the air freshener was last changed.

The first BoltBus coach I rode on appeared to have just been serviced (the trash cans were empty and the lavatory was spotless.) The second clearly had been on another run that day but was still clean (no trash on the floors.)


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## Green Maned Lion

Smells like plastic? It's probably hazardous to your health.


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## Swadian Hardcore

Green Maned Lion said:


> Smells like plastic? It's probably hazardous to your health.


That whole G4500 body is made from fiberglass over a web integral steel body. The same way J4500's, E4500's, and H3-45's are built. And rumors are going around that Bolt got 12 rebuilt G4500's for use in the Northeast.


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## Steve4031

If


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## Swadian Hardcore

If what?


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