Las Vegas bus service dropoff?

[tomfuller]

When is the Greyhound scheduled to leave Green River? It is at least half a mile from the Green River platform (no shelter) to "downtown" Green River.

If you need a cheap place to stay in Green River, I like the Robbers Roost motel.

As for a place on Fremont, I like the Golden Nugget which has an indoor pool with a slide that goes through the shark tank.

The upstairs buffet is great and is cheaper before 3PM.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

well, we're in (as in, mostly committed to this trip on the SWC) and finding out that the Greyhound station is actually near Fremont street, was good info, it means we will find an inexpensive Fremont St. area hotel for the first night. This is because of the relatively late arrival time...and the fact that it will be nice to just disembark and walk a short distance to the hotel, now that I know we won't be accosted at gunpoint. Then the next morning we will head up to the Strip for 2 nights before flying back home. The bus ride out of LAX seemed like there was a lot of time allotted, but that must be for the hour McD's lunch. The only suspense now is will there be delays out of Chicago.. another reason to have an inexpensive hotel for the first night.

The bus ride takes a long time time because it's a Local. Technically you would be backtracking along the SWC route to Barstow. To avoid this, you could get off Amtrak at Barstow and book a Greyhound from there to Las Vegas.

On the way back you could consider the Green River option instead of doing the SWC again. The scenery on 555 has some really good spots that are not run by train.

When is the Greyhound scheduled to leave Green River? It is at least half a mile from the Green River platform (no shelter) to "downtown" Green River.

If you need a cheap place to stay in Green River, I like the Robbers Roost motel.

As for a place on Fremont, I like the Golden Nugget which has an indoor pool with a slide that goes through the shark tank.

The upstairs buffet is great and is cheaper before 3PM.

Here's the schedule: http://extranet.greyhound.com/revsup/schedules2/pdf/555.pdf.

If you want to do 555 and the CZ together, better to do it eastbound because you can sleep overnight at Green River and the next morning at 8:00 AM ride 1307 to Las Vegas.

If you were to do this eastbound, 1302 misses the scenery and 1312 doesn't arrive at Green River until 11:20 PM. So if I were going eastbound, I would ride 1312 to Richfield, sleep overnight in Richfield, mext morning ride 1302 to Denver Amtrak and arrive just in time for the CZ connection to Chicago. Scenery's good along the whole length of 555, doing it at night would be a big miss-out.

I'm dealing with a similar issue with another route, JMO.

 

[Old MM]

Heart you (and everyone else here) for this fun and informative thread Hardcore.

Crashing now cause there will be new snow on the driveway in the AM....

so tired of shoveling snow!!!!

 

[the_traveler]

I've never heard of someone transferring from Amtrak to Greyhound at Green River

The reason is that in the CZ schedule is listed a Thruway connection from the CZ to LV at SLC. I assume you could also get Greyhound to LV at Grand Junction, Glenwood Springs and Denver. But because it's not listed, most people don't think of it.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

I've never heard of someone transferring from Amtrak to Greyhound at Green River

The reason is that in the CZ schedule is listed a Thruway connection from the CZ to LV at SLC. I assume you could also get Greyhound to LV at Grand Junction, Glenwood Springs and Denver. But because it's not listed, most people don't think of it.

I think Amtrak should totally allow this connection. The route is more scenic and the buses are better, plus it gets to Las Vegas faster if you're coming from the East. The SLC connection times are also poor.

 

[BCL]

Las Vegas is absolutely swarming with Las Vegas Metro Police. It's tourist driven economy with lots of people carrying lots of cash, lots of people overindulging in alcohol, and people who might be drawn to the assorted vices.

While some claim it's turning into a police state where people aren't allowed to have fun, they're very aware that someone getting robbed on the street or where people getting harassed is bad for the tourism economy. There have been problems, but the police are increasing the presence around downtown to try and alleviate these issues.

http://www.vegasinc.com/business/2013/sep/11/joe-downtown-martial-law-or-proactive-policing-off/

In response to the growing fear of violence and unrest downtown, Metro Police blocked off traffic to the bar-filled block, parked almost a dozen police cruisers on the street and made people walking outside dump their drinks.

Visitors complained that officers were overly intrusive. But business owners saw the police presence as a positive.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

We need more police presence here in Reno, because the downtown area has turned into a dangerous mess. The Truckee River Walk is lined with suspicious drunk gamblers. Vandalism and theft are rampant. At least shootings aren't very common, but it's still bad. Haven't been to Las Vegas in a while.

 

[Peter KG6LSE]

Dude, you're missing the point. Until October 2013, the SLC-LLV route 545 was operated with G4500's based from Los Angeles. And the G4500 is a horrible bus, I'm a Greyhound fan and I still think it's JUNK! At least they're out of service for rebuilds.

Station staff, well, the guys in Reno aren't too bad (except for one), though for a lot of stations, yeah I see what you mean.

you miss the point i was making ... the people ... I never mentioned the bus hardware .

I could care less how nice the bus is short of a 300 Grand RV if the folks at the counter are acting like they are from pluto .

Amtrak and every one BUT the airlines are making a mess of folks whom cant hear very well and have no way to Know where there ride is gonna leave .

PDX station King street and most of the greyhound places I have been have Really poor made PAs and the doof at the mic

has NO mic skillls ......... Keep in mind I Was a DJ on FM radio for a year . I Know bad skills when I here it and no you dont have to have john madden voice skills . but some Common sense on how to spaek in to a mic to come clear ..

greyhoud just does not care ..........and why shold they . you miss your buss they have you by the foot to buy a 2ed tix and sit for the next bus up to a day later .

at lest at LAX I can ditch South west for united if i was to miss my flight and at most its a few hours in SAFE with good food and * for once the TSA is usefull as to only let the flyers in the concorse * place to chill .

When I did the trip to LV i was in Iowa and It was a joke to sit for 8 hours IN the station and THEN get on a 9 H buss to a place where I did not feel safe .. remember I live in LA and I have been down town n most of the LA city and County when I was there and I have explored Chicago and Portland .

Citys don't phase me ...... but there was a bad karma on that station .

It was soo bad that I few outta LV to denver to catch the train there .

for what its worth I could have forced silly ARROW to make me transfer some where on the SWC route .

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Peter, sorry about your bad experience with Greyhound, however I must insist that the biggest problem with Greyhound is certain horrid bus models and these problems are much bigger than any other problems you could face. For example, sitting in a station for 9 hours, while bad, is not as bad as riding a bus with the axle falling off then crashing.

The biggest reason this is so bad is because everyone suffers from it, it's not just the passengers. The drivers suffer danger from driving it, the company suffers losses from crashes and repairs, the mechanics have to keep duct-taping them together, other drivers suffer is the axle falls off and the bus swerves around the highway, the manufacturer suffers because no one wants to buy that model anymore, everyone suffers for a bad bus model!

I would like to add I have not experienced a single "station horrior" with Greyhound, my station time is always smooth and easy. I don't know why people keep complaining about ticketing problems, never happened to me and I rode 18 Greyhound buses in 2013, not to mention many rides over many years before.

Also, saying you wait till the next day in the station, that's very rare, most Greyhound routes have at least two runs a day. I don't know what to say to you except I might have just taken Greyhound and studied Greyhound for long enough to turn knowledge into power. I do have Greyhound's System Timetable and know pretty much every route, before every trip I always look through the timetable and route to minute detail, so that could help a lot. JMO?

 

[Old MM]

So... about the whole "axle falling off" thing...... :blink:

 

[Ryan]

I would like to add I have not experienced a single "station horrior" with Greyhound, my station time is always smooth and easy. I don't know why people keep complaining about ticketing problems, never happened to me and I rode 18 Greyhound buses in 2013, not to mention many rides over many years before.

So what you're saying is that since if it didn't happen to you in 18 whole rides, it couldn't have possible happened to any of the other of millions of passengers?

 

[tp49]

I personally have experienced several station horrors on Greyhound. It does happen. It's also a major reason I refuse to use them as a transportation option. However, other folks are entitled to their opinion.

 

[Ryan]

However, other folks are entitled to their opinion.

Just so I'm not misunderstood, I'm not begrudging anyone their opinion. But "it ever happened to me, so therefore it doesn't happen" isn't an opinion and makes about as much sense as a square wheel in light of stories like yours.

 

[tp49]

However, other folks are entitled to their opinion.

Just so I'm not misunderstood, I'm not begrudging anyone their opinion. But "it ever happened to me, so therefore it doesn't happen" isn't an opinion and makes about as much sense as a square wheel in light of stories like yours.

No misunderstanding on my part. I was agreeing with you That was directed to the inevitable all Greyhound stations are safe retort that might follow.

 

[Ryan]

No misunderstanding on my part. I was agreeing with you.

Same here!

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

tp49 posted: "I personally have experienced several station horrors on Greyhound. It does happen. It's also a major reason I refuse to use them as a transportation option. However, other folks are entitled to their opinion."

I still don't understand, Peter did not explain clearly what exaclty these station horrors are. I assume this is what people are complaining about. Please correct me if my assumption is wrong:

1. You're taking a Greyhound with transfers.

2. You're bus or train is delayed.

3. You miss your connection.

4. You try to rebook your ticket for the next schedule but the ticket agent makes you buy another ticket.

5. You pay for another ticket and then wait in the station a long time for the next schedule.

6. You're mad at Greyhound.

Well, my way of dealing with this stems from #4.

4. "You try to rebook your ticket for the next schedule but the ticket agent makes you buy another ticket." This should not have happened. When you miss a connection, you get to ride the next schedule free of extra charge. You don't have to buy another ticket.

5. If the ticket agent refuses to rebook you without extra charge, you can just leave him and ask to see the manager. If you miss your connection, you can ride the next schedule free of charge.

6. If there is no manager present, just board the next schedule with your original ticket. Explain to the driver that you missed your connection. He should and will let you on. That's what I do sometimes.

Edit: These connection woes are still very rare, Greyhound's OTP exceeds 90% and if you build your own itinerary around the System Timetable instead of listening to the stupid Trips computer, you'll have veyr little chance for missing connections.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

So... about the whole "axle falling off" thing...... :blink:

Sure, I'll explain, but be prepared for "bus geek" mode! :giggle:

Obviously, this has to do with bus models. The particular model with axles falling off is the G4500, but I won't mention it too much. These had multiple crashes caused by the tag axle falling off. Without going into further geek mode, I will concern the Las Vegas topic of this thread.

Up until October 2013, the junk were used on the Los Angeles-Las Vegas (556), Salt Lake City-Las Vegas (545), and Phoenix-Las Vegas (553) routes. A long time ago the junk were also used on the Denver-Las Vegas (555) route, but that route was long and mountainous, so Greyhound had to put their best equipment on it instead of using junk. That's why, before October 2013, I would recommend anyone to ride Denver-Green River-Las Vagas (555) instead of the other buses to Las Vegas.

However, all this changed in October 2013, when Greyhound took delivery of many new coaches and upgraded the other three routes. The junk on three routes that ran to Las Vegas were taken out of service for a total rebuild, which is expected to correct most of their issues, including the axles and engine fires.

Currently, if you ride from Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, or Phoenix, you'll probably ride a new bus unless you get one of those unlucky junk still left over. That's very rare and those leftovers are the ones in better condition. These leftover will also get rebuilt in a few months.

But do note that those new buses are not as comfortable as the old Big Grey Dog elites from Denver, which were rebuilt earlier with the same modern amenties (Wi-Fi, power outlets, leather seats, more legroom). So if possible, still try to ride the Denver-Green River-Las Vegas instead of the other three. Not to mention this one has the best scenery.

And if you're still worried about the axle falling off, don't worry about it anymore. I was only pointing out that Greyhound can't do anything about customer service when they are spending millions to rebuilt the crappy buses that had broken axles.

Since I have all these lined up anyway, I might as well show you:

If you ride a Denver-Green River-Las Vegas, you'll probably ride this (no that's not me!): https://www.flickr.com/photos/koyah7d/6794537825/sizes/l/in/photostream/.

If you ride from Los Angeles, Phoenix, or Salt Lake City, you'll probably ride this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/crown426/5369434956/

And the broken junk that was recently suspended: http://www.flickr.com/photos/labanex/1030008138/sizes/o/in/photostream/