Over the past year, Tesla has tweaked its self-driving vehicle software — Autopilot. Now, it appears the company is preparing to use the autonomous feature to reduce traffic in large cities by offering it on a bus — or something similar to one. [More]
buses
Passenger Arrested For Hijacking NYC Bus After Driver Told Her To Stop Smoking
By 2.23.16
As comfortable as it would be if the entire world was your living room, it’s not. We all have to abide by certain rules in public about behaviors that wouldn’t fly outside the home — wearing real pants, not having your butt stuck to the couch, etc. — including no smoking on New York City buses. And as one passenger learned recently, no stealing them when you’re told to behave. [More]
Ford Partners With Startup To Launch On-Demand Bus Service In Kansas City
By 2.11.16
Residents of Kansas City will have another option when it comes to tooling around town next month: Ford has partnered with Boston-based pop-up bus company, Bridj, to launch an on-demand bus service in the city.
[More]
19 Passengers Injured After Megabus Double-Decker Rear-Ends Stopped Truck
By 4.13.15
Taking a long bus ride can be uncomfortable enough without glass and people flying around everywhere inside. In the fourth Megabus crash in Indiana since October, 19 passengers were hurt when a double-decker bus driving to Chicago from Atlanta ran into a stopped semi-truck on the interstate. [More]
Megabus Adds Reserved Seats To Double-Decker Bus Trips, But It’ll Cost Ya
By 4.1.15
If you’ve ever taken a trip with a group or family on Megabus, then you know it can be a pain to get seats together unless you show up extra early. Now, the company plans to change that by allowing customers to reserve seats in advance — for a price, that is. [More]
You Can Make Almost $100K A Year Finding Ideal Bathrooms For Seattle Bus Drivers
By 3.4.15
It might be smelly work, but somebody’s gotta do it: Seattle officials are looking to hire a “Comfort Station Coordinator” in Seattle, a veritable Goldilocks tasked with finding bathrooms that are just right for bus drivers. And stench aside, the gig pays pretty well, at a salary of $97,000 per year. [More]
There’s A Bus In England That Runs On Human Feces – And Food Waste
By 11.21.14
If you’re looking to take part in an adventure not unlike one you’d see on The Magic School Bus, then you might think about hitching a ride on the bus fueled by bio-methane gas, which is produced using materials most of us can’t get rid of soon enough — fecal matter and food waste. [More]
Greyhound Driver Brings Bus To A Stop While Defending Himself Against Passenger Attack
By 1.23.14
It can’t be easy to be the driver of a bus going long distances. Those things are huge, after all, and there you are speeding down the interstate with a bus full of passengers who just want to be anywhere other than on a bus, sitting near the bathroom, trying to work out a persistent leg cramp. And when one of those passengers attacks you, well, driving gets even trickier. [More]
Passengers Forced To Sleep On Rest Stop Tables After Bus Is Stranded For More Than 24 Hours
By 7.17.13
Driving from Durham, NC, to New York City should take anywhere from 7-10 hours, depending on traffic and how frequently you stop to fill up, void your bladder, or just stand up and flex your knees. But for 53 passengers on a Manhattan-bound bus, that trip took nearly 30 hours, much of it spent stranded by the side of the road. [More]
MBTA Issues Cease-And-Desist Order Forcing Fung Wah To Completely Suspend Service
By 2.27.13
While budget bus carrier Fung Wah pulled 21 of its 28 buses from service this week after Boston officials raised safety concerns, it had continued to run a reduced route using charter buses. That didn’t fly with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. While the feds investigate the entire fleet, the MBTA has blocked Fung Wah from operating out of the city’s South Station. [More]
Fung Wah Pulls Almost Entire Fleet From Service Because Old, Cracked Buses Are Not So Safe
By 2.26.13
When you climb aboard one of those Chinatown buses to head from one city’s neighborhood of that same name to the another and feel like maybe your life is in the balance? You aren’t alone. Massachusetts officials found a whole slew of safety problems with the Fung Wah bus line during recent inspections, prompting the company to pull almost every single one of its buses from the road. [More]
Megabus Hero Grabs Wheel From Unconscious Driver, Steers Bus To Safety
By 8.29.12
The driver of the Megabus traveling from Philadelphia from Pittsburgh was, witnesses told various local media, “out of it.” She forgot to take her blood pressure medication, became ill, and lost consciousness. Dozing passengers were alerted to her state when two tractor-trailers boxed in the bus. Passengers rushed to the front to help, but one man happened to be in the right place and had the right qualifications. That was a Pittsburgh pastor who has driven a variety of large vehicles, and had just earned his commercial driver’s license. [More]
Waiting 3 Hours In The Heat For Our Bus, Megabus Only Answers Via Twitter
By 8.14.12
Megabus serves as an alternative to Greyhound or Amtrak travel, but has a distinct disadvantage over its competitors. Passengers have to queue up outside to wait for their buses instead of inside air-conditioned bus stations. Or at least some kind of shelter. Kenneth found himself waiting outside for three hours, fifteen minutes for an absentee Megabus. He tried to call the company to find out what was going on, but no one was picking up the phone. The Twitter representative did pick up the computer, though, so that was something. [More]
Greyhound Has A Strange Understanding Of The Word 'Refundable'
By 8.14.12 — Updated: 9.8.16
Noa bought Greyhound tickets that were sold as refundable. Unfortunately, the bus line was using some other, little-known sense of the word “refundable” that actually means “we will charge you extra for a refund, but not actually grant a refund if this route is discontinued.” It didn’t make a whole lot more sense to Noa, either. [More]
NTSB: Cheapo Buses 7 Times More Likely To Kill Passengers
By 11.1.11
The last decade has seen a huge increase in the number of people opting for discount long-distance buses that pick passengers up at curbside over more traditional bus services operating out of terminals. But a new study from the National Transportation Safety Board says you’re seven times more likely to be involved in a fatal incident when you go for that lower-cost option. [More]
BoltBus Hell Trip: No AC, Windows Shut
By 7.22.11
Passengers on a BoltBus from New York City to Boston enjoyed an experience akin to traveling inside a self-cleaning oven with wheels yesterday as the air conditioning was off and the windows wouldn’t open. Outside the temps were in the 90’s. Inside, it was broiling. [More]
3,900 School Buses Recalled For Fire Risk
By 4.11.11
The wheels on the bus go round and round. The starter cables on the bus rub against the power steering hose, rub rub rub. 3,900 Bluebird school buses have been recalled for a defect that could result in a fire. The affect buses are model year 2004 through 2006, made from June 26, 2003, through December 9, 2004. Recall notices will start to go out to owners May 11, but if they don’t feel like waiting they can call the NHTSA hotline at 1-888-327-4236. [More]
Guy Wins Race Against NYC Bus On Big Wheel
By 4.7.11
If you’ve ever ridden the bus in New York City, you know it is a damn slow experience. But, unlike a taxi, it’s a couple of bucks, and unlike a subway, it’s above-ground. So people put up with it. But exactly how slow is an MTA bus? Mark Malkoff decided to test it out and he videotaped himself racing a bus, down 42nd st from 10th to Madison ave, on a child’s Big Wheel. Turns out the guy who makes the wheels on the bus go round and round, all through the town, has some catching up to do. [More]
