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Riding the Bolt Bus
Dec. 10th, 2012 01:31 pmBolt Bus is an inter-city bus service run under contract by Greyhound. I've known they go from DC to NYC regularly but until today, I've never had the occasion to take it. My perception is somewhat mixed.
The fares are great: $10 one way from DC to NYC. Fares vary depending on the demand (which is a function of the time of day) for a seat so tomorrow's return fare goes up slightly to $17.
Sadly, there isn't a mobile phone app, unlike MegaBus. Their web site is mobile-friendly, but you have to fake purchasing a ticket to find out what your scheduling options are. I'd be much happier if they'd display their daily schedule separately.
The bus was spotlessly clean and very new. The downside is that the seats were relatively narrow and one's butt can't possibly rest on the faux leather surface so I was somewhat uncomfortable the entire tip, never being able to hold a proper posture without slippage & slumping and being crowded by my oversized seatmate.
There is onboard free wifi. It's not great speed or bandwidth (0.5 Mbps download, 0.08 Mbps upload), but it was enough for email and web browsing with my mobile phone. There are no seat-back service trays as one finds in an airplane however so use of a laptop --especially when there's no elbow room because of the narrow seats-- is damn near impossible. There are electrical outlets, a nice feature.
The next time I head up this way, I'll try the MegaBus for comparison.
The fares are great: $10 one way from DC to NYC. Fares vary depending on the demand (which is a function of the time of day) for a seat so tomorrow's return fare goes up slightly to $17.
Sadly, there isn't a mobile phone app, unlike MegaBus. Their web site is mobile-friendly, but you have to fake purchasing a ticket to find out what your scheduling options are. I'd be much happier if they'd display their daily schedule separately.
The bus was spotlessly clean and very new. The downside is that the seats were relatively narrow and one's butt can't possibly rest on the faux leather surface so I was somewhat uncomfortable the entire tip, never being able to hold a proper posture without slippage & slumping and being crowded by my oversized seatmate.
There is onboard free wifi. It's not great speed or bandwidth (0.5 Mbps download, 0.08 Mbps upload), but it was enough for email and web browsing with my mobile phone. There are no seat-back service trays as one finds in an airplane however so use of a laptop --especially when there's no elbow room because of the narrow seats-- is damn near impossible. There are electrical outlets, a nice feature.
The next time I head up this way, I'll try the MegaBus for comparison.
