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100 Years on a Dirty Dog: The History of Greyhound (2013)

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Re: 100 Years on a Dirty Dog: The History of Greyhound (2013)

#3
Interesting story. Failed as a car salesman, the Swedish entrepreneur created an option for inter-city travel where none existed.

> Wickman decided to start transporting workers between Hibbing and Alice, a mining town two miles away. Cramming 15 passengers into his eight-seat “touring car,” the 27-year-old charged 15 cents a ride. On his first trip, in 1914, Wickman collected a grand total of $2.25.

This is the car he used for the first few rides [0].

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hupmobile

Re: 100 Years on a Dirty Dog: The History of Greyhound (2013)

#4
The last time I rode a Greyhound was in 2003 to go pick up a car I was buying. It was still in the "Dirty Dog" era, and it was memorable for the acute hearing the driver had, able to pick up someone in the 12th row listening to music without headphones, and his subsequent yelling at them to turn it down.

I think they're heading in the right direction these days. I have seen reviews that say the buses are clean, generally on time, and pretty nice with leather seats.

Re: 100 Years on a Dirty Dog: The History of Greyhound (2013)

#6

Freight is also a good part of their business much like the airlines. No mention of that in the article. http://www.shipgreyhound.com/

Ah, yes. I once left my mother-in-law's suitcase behind in the Harrisburg suburbs, discovering this only once I got back to Maryland. My brother-in-law kindly dropped it at Greyhound, and we had it the next day.

Re: 100 Years on a Dirty Dog: The History of Greyhound (2013)

#7
Forty-odd years ago, I rode Greyhound a fair bit. It was before deregulation brought airline fares down. The buses were reasonably clean, not that smelly unless you sat way back by the restroom. I wouldn't care to do it today--the 20-year-old back can tolerate what the 60-year-old back can't, or anyway would rather not.

But it wasn't that bad. I would stand at the end of the line for a bus. The worst outcome was sitting next to the person nobody else wished to sit next to. The best and more common outcome was that the bus would have filled up before I boarded, and Greyhound would bring out another bus--I could ride in a nearly-empty bus.

Re: 100 Years on a Dirty Dog: The History of Greyhound (2013)

#8
post #7

Forty-odd years ago, I rode Greyhound a fair bit. It was before deregulation brought airline fares down. The buses were reasonably clean, not that smelly unless you sat way back by the restroom. I wouldn't care to do it today--the 20-year-old back can tolerate what the 60-year-old back can't, or anyway would rather not. But it wasn't that bad. I would stand at the end of the line for a bus. The worst outcome was sitt…

But it wasn't that bad

I rode Greyhound a few times in the year before the pandemic. Cincinnati to Indianapolis. Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Chicago to Madison. My experience was the same as yours: It's not as bad as everyone makes it out to be.

I think people just have a worst case scenario in their minds that keeps them away. I understand that. I feel the same way about airplane travel over the last decade or so.

Re: 100 Years on a Dirty Dog: The History of Greyhound (2013)

#9
post #7

Forty-odd years ago, I rode Greyhound a fair bit. It was before deregulation brought airline fares down. The buses were reasonably clean, not that smelly unless you sat way back by the restroom. I wouldn't care to do it today--the 20-year-old back can tolerate what the 60-year-old back can't, or anyway would rather not. But it wasn't that bad. I would stand at the end of the line for a bus. The worst outcome was sitt…

But it wasn't that bad I rode Greyhound a few times in the year before the pandemic. Cincinnati to Indianapolis. Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Chicago to Madison. My experience was the same as yours: It's not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. I think people just have a worst case scenario in their minds that keeps them away. I understand that. I feel the same way about airplane travel over the last decade or so.

It’s run of the mill vilification of anything associated with poverty

Re: 100 Years on a Dirty Dog: The History of Greyhound (2013)

#10

Freight is also a good part of their business much like the airlines. No mention of that in the article. http://www.shipgreyhound.com/

It's not as good of a deal as it used to be. It used to be a great replacement for LTL freight for all the "this doesn't deserve a pallet but I can't reasonably ask the postal service to handle this" type items.
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