Given their unique product offering, Bolt Bus could fill up numerous NYC-NH buses every day. The market is clearly there: just look at the trains.

Many of my friends said they would love to live in New Haven but their jobs are in NYC. I'm almost certain they would commute from New Haven to New York if there were a fast, inexpensive, clean and friendly transportation option. Bolt Bus would be amazing and it would be used! Bring Bolt Bus to New Haven. I promise. You won't be sorry.

It should also run directly to Philadelphia and Washington. There is an enormous market for those trips as well.

It would beat metro north any day.

More transport options are always good

Yes!! (I recently took the DC2NY bus round trip and it was wonderful-> a connection to New Haven with one of the new sleek, cheap, efficient & bike-friendly bus companies would be great!)

*text removed here for inappropriate content. You think the Yale shuttle is bad wait til u get a load of this. How long will this trip take ? over an hour?

more than to nyc, we should be a stop on bolt bus routes nyc-boston and boston-nyc, in order to connect to points south.

Jo Jo,
bolt bus is a professional co ran by greyhound. I would expect the trip to take 1 hour 40 minutes?

I woukd most certainly make use of this bus (towards boston as well as ny) if services were availlable!

Metro North from NH to NYC already works fine for me, though the availability of wireless and outlets for those with laptops would make a Bolt Bus running that route competitive. Even better would be a route between New Haven and Boston!!! I constantly lament with the other carless residents of New Haven how nice it would be if there were an alternative to the very expensive but nice Amtrak or relatively affordable but uncomfortable Greyhound currently making this journey. A luxury bus would be a good compromise, especially if it can beat Amtrak's $110 round-trip by 30% or more.

I second Kira: This would get a lot of users on the NYC-BOS route, myself and my in-laws would use it monthly at least to BOS as a destination and en route to Portland. I'd also go to NYC more often. I am a supporter of rail, a) but the fact that the Big Dig fails to get me up to Maine without a crosstown trip (what other city does that?) and Amtrak will not coordinate any of their South Sta and North Sta trains for a straight trip means I'm driving more. and b) the Metro North is a shameful awful mess. It is staffed by great people, but the overall condition of the cars is 3rd world.

Time to get more mass transit options for this important city-to-city trip.

I would love to a route between New Haven & Boston and New Haven & DC. MetroNorth is a fine option for me to get to NYC, but Amtrak is overpriced to these other locations.

Hey Jess,
Bolt Bus is 20.00 round trip New York to Boston.
Crazy huh?

How about some convenient and reasonably priced options between New Haven and Bradley Airport? I'm sure it would do very well.

Ben,
Are you serious??? That's what I had heard, actually.
So for the record, New Haven residents, it is actually CHEAPER to go New Haven > NYC > Boston AND BACK (Metro North + Bolt Bus) than to just go straight from New Haven to Boston ONE WAY on the Amtrak. Does anyone else find that completely absurd?

I want this fixed too

Amtrak is bilking its NorthEast corridor ridership. It's absolutely insane that a one way train fare from New Haven to Boston is $45-$77. No wonder our highways are so clogged!

Now that Metro-North is charging $37 for a peak period round trip, I think the Bolt Bus would be a fantastic option.

Definitely would use this service

And New Haven - Philly Amtrak rountrip: $102

New Haven Philly on Metronorth to bolt bus : $56 roundtrip (36 Metro North. 20 Bolt Bus)

bet New Haven - Philly would be 30 roundtrip on bolt bus.

While I would still use Metro North for most of my trips, I would still appreciate having the option of taking the Bolt Bus. If nothing else, I think there is a reasonable chance that the added competition would improve Metro North service in much the same way that the presence a public health insurance option would improve the quality of private health insurance coverage.

If not Bolt, there is always FungWah, who currently provides service from Providence to NYC at $30/one way.
http://www.fungwahbus.com/Default.aspx

How about a bus route to Providence and Boston that doesn't make stops at the casinos?

Boston to New Haven, Please!

Owned by Greyhound ? that's interesting, they are a pretty reputable bus company ,they've been in business for a while. But why fix something that is'nt broke (aint) ? Reinventing themselves ? Subcontractors ? I go to N.Y.C. on occasion and might try it, i can chalk it up as experience. And kiss the ground when i arrive.
Hellacious ,horrific accidents happen involving these buses, maybe not that much in the # that travel the roads but ..man.
When this Bolt gets stuck in Fairfield and ur just sitting there like at a stop light, i'll get a cab quick

Another vote for a New Haven-Boston line. Please.

Bolt Bus New Haven to Boston and NH to DC, please!

If this was available, my friends and I would make very good use of it. Please oh please!

Sounds great

It would be great to have a stop in new haven

Sounds like a great idea--also service to Boston. There's no reason you shouldn't easily be able to get between New York, New Haven, Hartford, and Boston inexpensively and quickly by bus or train.

Stop right on the Long Wharf at Sports Haven. it's right on the way.

I'd like to take it up to Boston- amtrak is expensive. Does it go up there?

We really need an affordable service between new haven and Boston. Amtrak prices are awful and greyhound isn't much better.

new york, boston, and philly lines would all do really well - probably DC as well.

Yes yes yes! I would much rather take Bolt to NYC on weekend trips.

Yes, I want the NYC-New Haven-Boston route to be fixed

The first few times i went to NY was via Amtrak, it was comfortable. Then i went to Metro North as i started commuting more and was not of the business class of Amtrak
( costs, penny pinching)
After a load of trips on Metro my tush and back was feelin it. 90 minute trip every time.
Now i would jump on Bolt. I swear i'll sit still and behave , i won't get up and use the Leu,i'll sit in a catatonic state , and dream of just how long the trip would take in my car ?

The leather seats on Bolt Bus are awesome. Bolt should make stops not just at Union Station, but also in Westville, East Rock and the Green. Buses would be full no matter where they left from because people are always traveling to and from New Haven.

This would be great and weekend buses to Boston would be awesome as well

From New Haven to New York City, yes, but ESPECIALLY to Boston as there is no commuter rail from here.

Sounds like a great idea, the more mass transportation option the better.

Omg thank you...I always wondred how could mega and bolt busses go to hartford from nyc and not stop in new haven!! Please fix...tired of going to nyc to catch. The bolt bus to dc or philly...

I went to www.boltbus.com to check this out. I looked at the Boston-to-NYC price and it was so low that I said words I can't type here. Plus wifi? Plus electrical outlets? Wow.

Greyhound already has 10 daily departures from New Haven to NYC, why do we need Bolt Bus? Because the hipsters like it? Maybe Greyhound is not chic enough.

jcp, did you happen to look at the difference in travel times? and have you ever taken one of the greyhound trips you so affectionately defend?
love,
"not a hipster" juli

even a stop from new haven to stamford would be great working in stamford and taking metro north with their 38 dollar weekly pass or 12.50 round trip daily ticket is so over priced for their worn out seat ,and our wonderful Governor just wants to keep raising the price and after working 10 hours a day i have to stand up and ride the train to bridgeport before getting a seat on the way home. I say yes bring the bus.

It's true I haven't taken the Greyhound bus in many years. If you check out their site you will see they have new buses with wifi etc. Not the same old Greyhound trip. Cost is $20 one way. We do not know the Bolt Bus travel time because they don't have a New Haven - NYC route. The Greyhound times are between 1:50 and 2:50. Bolt Bus schedules 4:15 for NYC to Boston, Greyhound schedules 4:30. So, unless the Bolt Bus can fly over the traffic, the times will likely be similar.

I would love a better, less expensive way to get to NYC from New Haven. I know a ton of people that would make great use out of the service.

Boston would be great too!

Looks like Bolt Bus would be 1/2 the cost of the greyhound then.

The City of New Haven is committed to getting Bolt Bus to add us to their route. Working with area partners that share this goal, we are sending the company extensive demographic and marketing materials to show that New Haven would be a profitable addition to their business. We are asking the company to check out this ticket at seeclickfix to gauge community interest--so keep the posts and links coming!

Thanks,
Chrissy Bonanno
Deputy Economic Development Administrator
City of New Haven

This is a great sign! Hopefully having the City on board and working hard along with us will make all of the difference.

I vote for New Haven to Boston as well!

Thanks Chrissy,
Excited to see what comes of the conversation with the two companies.

By the way, this was the response I got from Bolt Bus when I emailed the director,
"Ben,

Thanks for your note concerning service to New Haven, CT. Unfortunately at this time we have no immediate expansion plans for Boltbus service in calendar year 2009. We’re aware of the New Haven market and think it would be a great opportunity for us to go into sometime in the future, it will be sometime in mid-2010 or later before we would be able to even consider an expansion of our services in the Northeast. The current economic situation and tight financial markets in the U.S. currently makes it very tough for us to consider any service expansion at this time.

Sorry, I wish I had better news for you concerning service into and out of New Haven.

Respectfully yours,

Jim Austin"

I recently traveled to Philadelphia for $45 RT using the Bolt -Metro North combination. It was uneventful and cheap.

Let's keep up the positive message to Bolt Bus and I'm sure we can get to the front of the line when they next look at expansion, and maybe push them to consider doing that sooner.

I agree with the commenters above. Having the Bolt Bus stop in New Haven on each of its trips back & forth BOS>NYC>WDC just makes sense. Even if this is only done when a reservation has been made, the market is much more than economically viable -- it's undeniable. Just look at the prices CT Limo commands!

This has been entered into the Aldermanic Meeting agenda for September 8th, 2009

A resolution will be read and voted on that has been submitted by Alderman Greg Morehead encouraging Bolt Bus to bring their service to New Haven

if you are interested in making a statement to the company, showing up in RED T-SHIRTS would be a great way to symbolize unity.

As the public may not comment at full Board of Aldermen meetings, this is the one way we can help show Bolt Bus that we are very serious about this issue.

Additionally, I hope the press attend - and I can imagine that if enough people respond on here that they are interested in showing up wearing red, then someone will send out a press release

As there is no formal group pushing this (it's only ad-hoc on here), I would imagine that Econ Develop would be excited to take the initiative to do so. Since someone posted, I'm sure they'll get the notification

Who's in to show up in red? I'll be there!

It's great to hear that the issue will be discussed at City Hall. I don't know how open BoltBus is to suggestions regarding the particulars of the route, but it might be nice if the bus stopped at Harlem 125th St. on its way to Midtown Manhattan. This would let people access Upper Manhattan and the Lexington Avenue subway lines. The bus has to pass right through this area anyway since it can't use the FDR Expressway.

If the bus ends up being dedicated for NH-NY service, it might consider stopping in east Midtown rather than the usual BoltBus curbside near Penn Station. Avoiding the drive across Manhattan could significantly reduce the travel time, particularly during peak traffic times. Travel between East Midtown and New Haven would just make a lot more sense than travel between Penn Station and New Haven.

I am happy to post this to TGWNN as I am certain members would come out. Many TGWNNers posted comments in support.

I am happy to post this to TGWNN as I am certain members would come out. Many TGWNNers posted comments in support.

Thank you, Janna!

This also appeared in today's Yale Daily News. Please leave comments there as well! http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/city-news/2009/09/03/city-may-try-lure-boltbus/

Love the Red Shirt Idea.
Wish I was around. Wear two for me.

I've been begging Megabus to add New Haven, but BoltBus would be great too. This would be amazing. The stop should be at the New Haven train station. It's not too far from I-95 but is also walking distance to the green, Yale campus, etc.

Mega bus looks like a good option also.
I've never ridden one. How is it?

I LOVE the red shirt idea. I will certainly be wearing mine. Thanks to Janna and Doug for promoting Alderman Greg Morehead's resolution and the Board of Aldermen meeting. While public comment is not part of the BOA meeting, there is a public caucus at 6:45 in Meeting Room #1 on the second floor of City Hall prior to the meeting where the public can comment if recognized by the Majority Leader. I am sure that Alderwoman Katrina Jones would certainly recognize supportive comments by red clad supporters.

PS--Alderman Morehead cited support of SeeClickFix users in his submission letter as a reason why the BOA should weigh in on recruiting Bolt Bus. Kudos to you!

Hey Chrissy,
Thanks much for responding here.

Do you have the Alderman's resolution per chance?
Would be great to see it. This may be the first piece of SeeClickFix birthed legislation by the way. :-)

Bolt Bus, please please consider stopping in New Haven on the way to and from Boston. I think you will definitely find a lot of people here who would use your service, because transportation to Boston from New Haven is ridiculously overpriced and takes hours! At least make this stop on some of your routes! Bolt Bus - we need you!

Great idea. A Bolt Bus line from NH to NYC would make alot of business, especially if it's cheaper or comprable to the Metro North.

I'd love to use the service, especially to Boston but I'd welcome a NY connection as well!

Most people I know would welcome an affordable and reliable way of getting to Boston. New Haven's location is perfect to go to Boston often, but at the moment this is highly impractical without a car.

I've seen BoltBus 3 times this week as it passes New Haven by on it's way to Boston or NYC.
While I'm not a fan of using the poor PIrelli Tire building as a giant billboard, maybe we could lobby IKEA to let us put a "HEY BOLTBUS STOP HERE!" sign on the building. That would certainly get their attention!

Fantastic idea, Pedro. Who do we talk to about it? City econ development?

great idea to have a sign, not a great idea (in my mind) to ask a business to give up their #1 advertisement.

perhaps, if that is the way to go, Market New Haven would be able to purchase a billboard and ask BoltBus to stop here, promoting New Haven as a cultural midway point between New Haven/Boston as well as a transit-oriented-city

6:45 pm meet in front of city hall wearing your Red Shirt, and we'll go as a group to the public caucus hearing

City votes in favor on Bolt Bus resolution:

http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/city-news/2009/09/09/city-votes-lure-boltbus/

A crowd of red shirts expressed their support. See attached photo.

"Bolt Bus Encouraged to Stop Here," NH Independent, 9/9/09:

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2009/09/buses_encourage.php

A different take on this from: http://capntransit.blogspot.com/2009/09/greyhound-is-not-government-agency.html :

Capntransit's call to action is "show that the business model is profitable and you might get Bolt Bus to come"

So who's up for it?

Can Bolt Make Money Here? Prove it and it might help.

Is price the only difference people see between Bolt and Greyhound? Greyhound has 8 daily departures from New Haven to NYC. That is not sufficient? Maybe the energy should be put into convincing Megabus to stop in New Haven since they already stop in Hartford. They are more likely to serve smaller markets.

Price, Outlets and Wireless.
They are also really comfortable which I'm not sure about with Greyhound.

What's the deal with Megabus? Anybody ridden.

Traffic people, TRAFFIC!

have any of you noticed that one of the worst sections for traffic in the WHOLE country is between NYC and New Haven on I-95??? I mean WTF, why has this been the top seeclickfix for the last 2 weeks?

Train= no traffic
Bus= sit in traffic for an extra hour to two hours

Mike,

I think people are not impressed with 80 miles taking 1.75 hours on a train. FWIW it was only 1.33 hours in 1920's (my dates may be off). Additionally, people enjoy the Wi-Fi.

This is a good short term solution until we get real train options.

Doug, I have never had a drive into NYC or from NYC to New Haven go smoothly. I take the train because I know it will always be under 2 hours and I'm willing to pay a few bucks more for that. I95 is a huge mess, has anyone seen the recent backups coming into New Haven from NYC, its a huge mess and for years to come it will get worse.

I agree with Mike about the traffic. I wonder how often Bolt Bus is on schedule.

Are there other train options in the works?

Mike,

I appreciate your willingness to take the train. There is no wi-fi, so the product does not compare very well.

I wish we had better trains with Wi-Fi so that I could do work in/out of NYC trips. But we don't have that right now. This is another option. This is not supposed to remove the train schedule. Bolt Bus is operating on other routes that have similar paths to the trains, and yet somehow it's still popular and in business.

Could there be a reason? I won't know until I have that option from New Haven to NYC. I think that I'd rather take a bus with wi-fi than train without and with uncomfortable seating.

This isn't a "shut-down the train and give us the bus!" issue. It's a "bring us an additional option" issue.

I remember being informed by Metro North that the new M-8 railcars would have 120V outlets for plugging in laptops, etc. This is a small but very useful amenity that would bring the train's quality of service closer to that of BoltBus. As for wireless, if it's possible to offer it on a bus, the economics of scale should make it even cheaper to provide service on a train with ~500-1000 riders. I don't know why Metro North isn't going to offer wireless on the M-8 cars, but maybe we should start writing them letters and pestering them to look into it. This would be an additional expense, but compared to the astronomical costs of Metro North's track maintenance, railcar maintenance, bridge inspections, electricity bill, generous employee benefits, etc., etc., the wireless should be down in the round-off error of the balance sheets.

Maybe the campaign to bring BoltBus to New Haven should emphasize the importance of the New Haven-Boston link, which is so poorly and expensively served by Amtrak and Greyhound? I see the New Haven to Boston BoltBus service as potentially being even more important for New Haven, given that New Haven already has decent service to NY and in light of the two cities' similar economies and heavy concentrations of medical research and biotech start-ups. The freeways between New Haven and Boston are also a bit less congested than I-95.

The NH-NY link also suffers from the fact that there are no freeways running down Manhattan that buses can use, forcing them onto avenues for 100 blocks or so.

I don’t mind taking Metro-North to NYC, but lately I’ve found myself driving to cut both costs and time. We’ve driven down for the past two weekends and I was shocked at how fast it was. Even with traffic we got there in about 1 ½ hours each time. I understand that a lot of people would rather just take the train in, but having another option couldn’t hurt.

I myself am looking forward more to the Boston option, since I’d love to go more often but am deterred by the high costs.

I absolutely agree with Jason S. The Boston-New Haven route should be emphasized, instead of the New Haven- New York, which is already served by relatively convenient and inexpensive Metro North. Megabus is also a good option, especially because they already stop at Hartford.

definitely agree we should be focusing on the NH-Boston portion - i find that to be financially prohibitive

I agree on the NH-Boston Run since the NH-NY run is serviced by Metro North & Amtrak already. What about NH-Phili or DC?

Success?

"TransportAzumah, a New York–based private bus company, has offered to start a Friday–Sunday express service from New Haven to Boston and New York. Owner Joel Azumah said this service, which may later include an additional stop to Providence, R.I., would seek to fill a demand present in areas routinely passed by express services. Azumah said his preliminary plans come in part as a response to increased pressure from the Board of Alderman to provide a new low-cost transportation option such as the BoltBus, a coach service owned by Greyhound Lines. Azumah said he is currently drafting a tentative schedule for the service to show the New Haven community, adding that if feedback is good, the line should run in time for Thanksgiving break."

http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/city-news/2009/09/15/briefly-alternative-boltbus-proffers-additional-ne/

Thanks for the update Mark.
Do you have more info about the operator TransportAzumah and the offerings?
Wireless, cost, etc?

Ben, I put together some more info about TransportAzumah for you:

http://capntransit.blogspot.com/2009/09/new-haven-bike-n-wifi-bus-update.html

Thanks Cap'n
Do you know why he is only proposing weekend trips?
Is that just to test the market?
-Ben

I don't know why, but I'm guessing that that's when he thinks there would be the most demand, so it's the best pilot project. His email address is easy to find, though.

I think the only concern with Azumah is posts like this complaining about service:
http://blog.silive.com/advanceupdate/2007/05/commuters_at_the_breaking_poin.html

Hopefully he will deliver quality buses with Internet in the Pilot so people lobby for his service full time.

New Haven to Boston service to begin Thanksgiving, according to this report (posted on Design New Haven):

http://capntransit.blogspot.com/2009/09/transport-azumah-to-inaugurate-new.html

http://downtownnewhaven.blogspot.com/2009/10/20-new-haven-to-boston-rt-bus-fares-now.html

Thanks SeeClickFix

Acknowledged by Economic Development.

Thank you for acknowledging, Economic Development. Keep up the good work!

According to JAzumah's comment at http://downtownnewhaven.blogspot.com/2009/10/20-new-haven-to-boston-rt-bus-fares-now.html and http://www.transportazumah.com/NHVPHL , Azumah will also offer $20 service from New Haven to and from Philadelphia, PA.

Runs on both the New Haven CT - Boston MA and New Haven CT - Philadelphia PA services have been loaded through January 3, 2010. We suggest that New Haven CT passengers book as soon as they know that they are traveling as the seat allotment is shared with through passengers from Philadelphia PA to Boston MA.

JW was right .
I know many who would use this service. What do we need to do to make it happen?

This weekend I was driving to Union Station and saw a Bolt bus on Church St between North and South Frontage Roads. It stopped for a minute on that block and then turned left and entered onto the ramp that leads to I-91 and I-95. Could they be trying out a possible bus stop?! That would be a great place for it too, close to downtown!

See above, DE -- book your bus to Philly or Boston soon, since the runs are filling up!

Another person wants this fixed!

jesus people, posting on here is not the way to get things rolling. I dont know if you people are aware but the city/state officials have a ton on their plates right now and private sector matters are not priority... give Bolt/greyhound a call! call them everyday! email them too!

Knowing how small this town is I bet its just a small handful of people that log on everyday and click this as an item that needs to be fixed. I'll go even farther out on a limb and guess that the majority live in east rock and dont venture very far away from their safe white neighborhood.

we clog this site up with garbage like this and people stop using it. internet access...

John - there was a resolution passed by our alermen supported by many people wearing red, and TransportAzumah has agreed to start weekend runs to Boston.

Additionally, Boltbus saw the picture of supporters wearing red at the aldermanic reading (which was organized using this site) and thanked us for our support via their twitter. i just don't agree with your thought process. i think results matter and there are clearly good results.

"TransportAzumah, a New York–based private bus company, has offered to start a Friday–Sunday express service from New Haven to Boston and New York. Owner Joel Azumah said this service, which may later include an additional stop to Providence, R.I., would seek to fill a demand present in areas routinely passed by express services. Azumah said his preliminary plans come in part as a response to increased pressure from the Board of Alderman to provide a new low-cost transportation option such as the BoltBus, a coach service owned by Greyhound Lines. Azumah said he is currently drafting a tentative schedule for the service to show the New Haven community, adding that if feedback is good, the line should run in time for Thanksgiving break."

http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/city-news/2009/09/15/briefly-alternative-boltbus-proffers-additional-ne/

Great news about TransportAzumah. I usually drive, but before I had a car I would have regularly used a bus service to get from New Haven to Boston and back. NYC less so -- MetroNorth works fine for me for that route!

What about Bolt Buses between New haven and Boston??? Any fans out there? Come on- voice your support!!! It'd be a great and inexpensive alternative to Amtrak and Greyhound/Peter Pan.

yes!

You know what would really be great? Extend CT DOT's Shoreline East Commuter Rail to Westerly RI, where MBTA's Providence Line from Boston could extend past Warwick to Westerly, providing a connection. I'd bet ridership would really escalate, but both states' transit agencies would balk at the cost of implementation.

It's bad enough that one cannot use the lower-cost Metro-North commuter rail lines to make a direct link with NJ Transit rail lines at NYC's Penn Station, as all
M-N trains terminate at Grand Central Terminal- 1.5 miles away. Only Amtrak runs through NYC via Penn Station, at up to double the cost.

From a local standpoint, CT's various bus systems offer little or no connections with train stations- with the exception of Bridgeport, Norwalk, and Stamford.
No wonder we must rely on our cars, parking lots, and taxicabs- costing 2-3x more than bus service.

http://www.transportazumah.com/NHVBOS

"SERVICE CANCELLED"

What happened?

When will GoToBus begin providing service to Boston and Philly?

Yikes,

Transport Azumah, can you let us know if this is specific to New Haven.

A lot of people were hoping that you were a reasonable alternative to Bolt Bus. I believe that the Captain Transit post stated that we should not be limiting our search to Bolt Bus as there were responsible alternatives like your service.

I hope that this promise of service has not disrupted a reputable company like Bolt or Mega Bus from entering our market.

Some more information about your intentions going forward would be appreciated as I feel that your injection in this conversation has affected the potential for us to have better transportation which as Captain Transit points out is the ultimate goal.

Thanks,
Ben

I was hoping to get a ticket for next week. What a joke.

200 people sign up for tickets, with no advertising and in the first week of operation, and the company just pulls out?

At least they did a service by proving how high the demand actually is.

I would have taken the new service this weekend too. This is really unfortunate.

If you're on Twitter and want Bolt Bus to pay attention, try this:

@BoltBus still not running to New Haven. #Unfixed despite 287 votes and 1 gov't resolution. http://seeclickfix.com/issues/7425 #NHV #bolting

Hey Mark,
I got a response back from Bolt Bus on Twitter: "@BenBerkowitz We are trying but some things are out of our control."

I wonder what that means? Is the government preventing Bolt Bus from making stops here?

Hey Mark,

That was not my impression. Was somewhat of a confusing tweet. They have sited poor economic conditions for raising capital for buses previously. Maybe that was the point.

-Ben

Does fungwa pick-up in New Haven by the way?

MegaBus pulled out of Hartford back in September. I miss them. Greyhound sucks and is expensive. GotoBus is a 12-seat van that only runs on the weekends.

contact BoltBus if you want anything to be done-
https://www.boltbus.com/contactus.aspx

Get the cars, buses, trucks off the roads. Use and continue to improve trains.

I agree with head shaker 100%, having driven to Baltimore dozens of times I have to say that sometimes its a quick 4.5 hour drive(same as train) and sometimes its an 8.5 hour hellride.

The real problem is the trains cost WAY too damn much, there are not enough people using the trains therefore they need to have higher fares to cover the cost(as well as taxpayer assistance).

How do we solve this problem?

I would love to see Bolt run New Haven to Boston and New Haven to DC as well. We're an obvious stop on the Eastern corridor route.

To J (and other interesed parties):

Increase use of cargo trains instead of putting everything into tractor trailers that clog 95. Prices would go down if the commuter trains were used more often because they would not need to drive up the price to make the same profit. As it is, MetroNorth can bring you from New Haven to NYC and back for under $30. Gas and parking would cost you at least that, and you can doze, read, or whatever.
For others who were concerned with getting further south than NYC, you can take a train to Grand Central and the S line from GCS to Penn Station to continue on. They run about every 5 minutes, so it significantly reduces the walk.
On a bus you're just as, if not more, cramped as in a car. And it will not get you there faster than driving. The cost will not be significantly lower than a train. (Maybe $10 each way instead of $14.)

Just my 2 cents.

Yes, MetroNorth to NYC with crossover to Penn Station to the bus works well, but a direct superBus from New Haven to DC would be awesome (smoother & cheaper). Still hoping..

Rather a Bolt bus to Boston. I know lots of folks who go back and forth between Boston and New Haven, but can't afford the pricey Amtrak tickets. The commuter train to NYC is already affordable and convenient.

I commute to NYC overnights Mon- Fri. and need to arrive before the earliest train. I would buy a five day/week ticket if it could get me into NYC anywhere close to 3A.
Sign me up- BOLT.
I know of others who would do the same if you added a Ffld county stop.

I haven't read through the numerous comments but a BB going to NYC and Boston would be great for the greater New Haven area

I agree. I get tired of going all the way to New York to catch the bolt bus. It can do a lot of travelers good especially with their great deals. They could really take a lot of profit from the commuter trains to NY especially if one needs WIFI, plug in's that actually work, place your bicycle underneath at anytime unlike the train that rejects individuals with bikes only for certain trains, and its extra features. Yes we need a bolt bus from New Haven to New York!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! More convenient. Better quality. More features and better service especially as a commuter.

I think that it should run to Boston also, from New Haven

BOLT
Please consider overnight/early morning service into NYC stopping in greater New Haven area. I too would purchase a weekly/monthly pass with your service.

I can imagine BoltBus being a little hesitant of operating in and out of New Haven because of our very small bus terminal. Currently, Greyhound and PeterPan operate out of a terrible setup in the surface parking lot at Union Station.

I think that if an actual Union Station bus terminal by the current Union Station is built, with a possible separate building, nice modern look, etc. we can easily attract BoltBus for routes to/from at least Boston and New York, as well as other bus companies (e.g. Fung Wah, etc.)

bolt bus, fung wah, and similar bus companies run from random street corners in most cities, so i don't think a building with a "nice modern look" would attract them at all.

I agree that a new Bus Terminal would not attract Bolt Bus and the other Low price ones. They are low priced because they do not pay fees to use the Terminals. These low budget Operators are becoming more popular across the USA. Europe has many of them along with many low budget Airlines - Ryan Air being the biggest

Yeah, if anything, Bolt Bus could stop somewhere right by Yale... which is where most people, I assume, would use it anyway.

I frequently take the Amtrak from New Haven down to DC, and wish the Bolt Bus stopped in New Haven. It is crazy that this bus runs right past New Haven on its DC-Philly-NYC-Boston route and does not stop in New Haven.

Would love to have this service especially if I had somewhere to park in New Haven and then catch the bus.

You have to understand, the reason companies like Bolt Bus and Megabus are successful is because they DON'T make those stops in places like New Haven. And let's be real: I-95 is I-95. SOMEwhere along the way, you're going to encounter a traffic tie-up.

Connecticut limo and other services stop to much to the way to the airport. It becomes a 3 hour ride. We should have a faster and more comfortable ride.

As I wrote 7 months ago, Greyhound does 10 daily departures from New Haven. Since Bolt Bus is apparently the same company, they might add a New Haven stop if the demand was there. I.e. ride the Greyhound in great numbers and the bolt will follow.

I think that a better route from New Haven would be to Boston, rather then New York. If we can get both, that'd be great! But for New York service, we already have Metro North.. I don't know if it's more expensive or not, I don't know prices.. but there is no commuter service to Boston or anything.

"Would love to have this service especially if I had somewhere to park in New Haven and then catch the bus."

Hopefully, right above the bus station. If you notice, the new "Phase 1" Parking garage at Union Station is right on top of the bus station and car rentals. Plans for this call for the lower floor to be built with high ceilings so that it can hopefully occupy the buses, but I don't what'll happen with this.

BoltBus responded to a message I've sent them saying that they would like to start service in New Haven, but at the moment - all of their buses are being used.

What we've got to understand here, is that BoltBus doesn't just have a whole bunch of spare buses sitting around, so when some new buses are ordered in the future, then we might see some service.

It would be nice if the Fung Wah Bus would stop on their way to/from NY/Boston.

it's just crazy that they have this much potential for business and no word directly from them....

Juli - as I posted above, BoltBus answered directly to me via email, and I'm sure they'd do the same for you if you ask politely.

Once again -

"BoltBus responded to a message I've sent them saying that they would like to start service in New Haven, but at the moment - all of their buses are being used.

What we've got to understand here, is that BoltBus doesn't just have a whole bunch of spare buses sitting around, so when some new buses are ordered in the future, then we might see some service."

Megabus just expanded with a Philadelphia to Syracuse route. Would Megabus consider a NY-New Haven-Boston route, or a Boston-New Haven-Philadelphia route, perhaps?

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Boston to NYC route should have a stop in New Haven, CT for sure!!!!

Diane

boston to ny runs
I commute when trains do not run
forced to use car gas insurance repairs depreciation......
would definitely prefer to pay to get on a bus and read, sleep ...,.
why not charge the same fare and ad a stop in NH.
bolt would be growing their business without adding to there expense.

New York to Boston runs on BoltBus are all sold out every day, there would be no point of a stop. Both New Haven to NY and Boston routes would have tons of ridership, and I'm sure that we'll see BoltBus pulling into New Haven someday.

Post by LS -
This weekend I was driving to Union Station and saw a Bolt bus on Church St between North and South Frontage Roads. It stopped for a minute on that block and then turned left and entered onto the ramp that leads to I-91 and I-95. Could they be trying out a possible bus stop?! That would be a great place for it too, close to downtown!

- That's awesome!! I'd say that 55 Church St would be an excellent terminal for buses (and is already for CTTransit) because of the heated bus shelters, the busy environment, theres a Rite Aid, D&D, it's downtown

Sorry admin - my post is test

Service began on the New Haven CT - Boston MA route on Friday, September 24, 2010. TransportAzumah carried 13 passengers this weekend on the service. The website to book seats is http://www.NewHavenToBostonBus.com. The vehicles used will be a bus or van, depending on the number of bookings. There are currently two stops available: New Haven-State Street Station and Elm Street just south of College Street at the bus shelters. The pickup in Boston is across the street from 290 Congress Street. The fare is $25 each way.

More service will be added if the initial scheduled trip performs well.

Thanks, Transport Azumah!

How is the schedule progressing this past week?

It is picking up slowly. The Yale Daily News ran an article on it this week. Sundays are shaping up to be the best days out of the bunch.

Try advertising on CTTransit.

It looks like NHV - Boston service has been expanded for Thanksgiving. Thank you Transport Azumah: http://www.transportazumah.com/NHVBOS

You should call it the "Smart City Bus", given that Boston and New Haven were just named the two "smartest" cities in the United States, ahead of 3rd place Silicon Valley.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-10-24/ranking-americas-smartest-and-dumbest-cities/

How is the new service going?

there should be a bus to new york but also a bus to boston. to not have either is an outrage

Ridership is up and down. Our focus will be to advertise more aggressively in Boston as well as Greater New Haven.

I think the biggest issue is getting people used to a reservation system. We are putting in a new reservation system next week to make booking much faster. We control capacity because we try not to oversell trips. Our next step is to get into South Station.

I never use it, because I might as well use the train where I have more flexibility and comfort (and assurance) for $10 more.

The TransportAzumah's New Haven to Boston bus now stops at UConn as well.
http://downtownnewhaven.blogspot.com/2009/10/20-new-haven-to-boston-rt-bus-fares-now.html

According to TransportAzumah's Facebook page, service has been suspended to September 2011.

http://downtownnewhaven.blogspot.com/2009/10/20-new-haven-to-boston-rt-bus-fares-now.html

I'd also like to see some direct service running between Boston and New Haven again..

Yes that would b great the bolt bus to run from new haven to new york city

MegaBus has just announced service from New Haven to Hartford and Boston! Check it out on their website.

http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-megabus-0713-20110712,0,2817991.story

Yay - NH Register piece. http://www.newhavenregister.com/articles/2011/07/12/business/doc4e1c9ea21fca6032304371.txt
1000 free seats available!

that promotional code is not working

This is awesome! Does megabus have interwebs and outlets?

Article on the inaugural ride http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/bus_service_begins/

Aprendi mucho

Looks like there are now two lines to Boston. According to a post at http://downtownnewhaven.blogspot.com/2009/10/20-new-haven-to-boston-rt-bus-fares-now.html, the Transport Azumah service resumes September 16, 2011 -- the schedule from New Haven to Boston is 9am (Fr/Sa/Su) and 4pm (Fr/Su). The schedule from Boston to New Haven is 1pm (Fr/Sa/Su) and 8pm (Fr/Su).

Are any of the companies interested in starting a bus line to Philadelphia or New York?

Just saw Bolt Bus in NHV. Come on Bolt Bus.

this would be a game changer!!! wait, this has 390 votes????!!!! get here already!

Most transformative solution by far but also huge capital outlay:

High speed rail between NY and New Haven. Apparently the tracks between New York and New Haven don't allow trains to go that fast. The Acela crawls this portion. So fixing that is big public commitment / $$$.

Well worth it in my opinion.

Would like this to be metro north, not just Amtrak (which apparently plans to bypass new haven in its new high speed plan) Amtrak prides itself on not being on time and they are wicked expensive,despite federal subsidies.

Sometimes people knock metro north but I love those guys and gals. They are always on time, and their people are nice and they work hard to keep prices down. They are making efforts to make it easier to take bicycles on board.

Another cool option is high speed ferry to Manhattan from New Haven.

New London has high speed ferry to Long Island, way eastern portion of Long Island, and that was because New London was hurting for econ dev. at the time (and really deserved it -- a cool city that needed the boost)

The New London high speed ferry is of course mostly for leisure. It connects to the leisure areas of eastern Long Island. Another one goes to Block Island.

High speed ferry from New Haven to Wall Street would take about an hour or a little more. about 75-80 mile trip. The drawback to this is unlike MetroNorth, Amtrak and buses, what alternative fuels can ferries use? They use gasoline or diesel, right? They could use fuel cells I suppose. but that would raise the cost. Fuel cells are not cheap.
Natural gas -- can they get the speed they need on natural gas?

The upside of trains and boats is they drain I-95 of some more cars. Bus helps that too.

Don't mean to dilute the focus on the Bolt Bus, but thought same crowd interested in that might appreciate these ideas too

By the way, everyone knows, right, that the minute the NY commute is substantially reduced New Haven is going to explode economically with commuters moving here. As we all know, there are commuters going to NY every day from new haven as it is, and it is grueling for them. they are young and they just plow ahead.

the minute the commute goes down to an hour or less, Wowza. New Haven will change overnight - influx of new residents getting rental bargains at first, then rents locally will rise very quickly. NYC is such a giant market that even in economically poor times this would be the case. Rents would equal stamford and greenwich, which are high

sorry,I am going so off topic.

Megabus has a NHV-NYC ticket for $7 on Saturday 6AM, returning for $5 on Sunday 6PM. Looks like they are adding more.

Cheaper than a London subway fare.

Fill up these runs, and maybe Megabus will add more. Then we can close this ticket for good.

That's awesome Mark! Keep us updated here.

Why can't the trains be as affordable?

It looks like Megabus now has a daily bus run at 6PM from NYC to NHV. Tickets were $5 every day, last time I checked. They also have the NHV-NYC run on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday early.

Either Mega Bus or Bolt Bus should run a "semi-local" service between New Haven and Boston, with additional pick up points at Old Saybrook, and New London. Both of these towns are a quick hop off, hop on from Route 95. New London is Amtrak's 3rd busiest station in Connecticut, and yet it has no other options to get to Boston (other than a SLOW local Greyhound Bus that runs via both CT casinos taking far too long to reach Boston).

This will no longer be necessary once the one-hour express train from New Haven to Grand Central in NYC starts running.

That would be amazing Res

Don't hold your breath on anticipating the Express Train. Bolt Bus drives right by New Haven. The bus can start immediately. What's the hold-up?

mega bus runs a couple NYC-NH bus now

So per 'drodriguezz11220' i'm going to close this issue.

actually mega bus discontinued the service due to poor ridership #s

Excellent idea, I would support it and use it! Boston too!

I hope this happens. I'd love to have this as an option especially if WiFi is available and you can have someplace safe to be picked up and dropped off.

I would definitely be in favor. We need express buses from New Haven to Philly, DC, New York, and maybe even Providence and Boston. I'm in favor of anything that makes things easier for those uf us who would rather walk or bike to places than drive.

Westchester, Long Island and Jersey Transit all provide more options than Connecticut commuters have. Why not encourage or subsidize to at least give it a try. There are a lot of commuters to NYC before the trains run and a lot of jobs being filled by non Connecticut commuters because of the lack of transportation, compared to NY and NJ. Wake up call to state economic development.

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Metro north increasing fares again, not the service. I commute to NYC before the trains even run and the highways are busy with other commuters. C'mon State of CT increase the options to NYC for commuters who work there and bring home revenue to CT. Perhaps Bolt Bus can provide the service State of CT fails to provide. Look at the Westchester Beeline and Jersey transit. HELP the CT Commuters safely get in and out of NYC

I agree. There are too many missed opportunities when the cost of a round trip ticket is almost $40. Families and individuals alike need other options.

I am member of Org. here in NH called Move New Haven. We have been and are looking at ALL the Transportation issues we face. There has been tremendous progress done for CT Transit riders. We meet regularly at the Library on Elm St. You can contact Doug Hausladen in City Hall for dates and times. It is attended by DOT workers, Dept. of Trans employees etc. Great organization! Please, join us!

Might give both Metro North & Amtrak a run for their money if Bolt came to New Haven. Much like when Southwest Airlines comes to a city.

This issue was recategorized from Uncategorized to Uncategorized.

I agree.

Of course I want to, because this car ride is costing me too much, moreover, it will lessen the problem with global warming in New York state, because I read here https://dailygazette.com/the-problem-of-global-warming-in-new-york-state/ about how this is a major problem and buses could lessen it as much as possible, I think less people will ride their cars and this would partially solve the warming.