Seems odd to have a conductor on a bustitution. I have never been on a regular Thruway or a bustitution where there has been a conductor or T&E crew. The last Amtrak bus I was on was a normal scheduled Thruway codeshare with Cantrail. The Cantrail driver scanned the ticket. The one time I was on bustitution from point of origin was LA-Santa Barabara on a Starlight bustitution due to bridge work at Montalvo. There was no conductor on the bus, and I seem to recall someone just looked at the boarding pass when boarding the the bus. I think it didn't get scanned until I got on the train at Santa Barbara.