Bolt bus?
 

Has anyone taken the "Bolt" bus? I'm thinking about taking it from NYC (36th & 11th) nonstop to Philadelphia (30th St. Station).

For my date and time: $9.00 pp

Amtrak: $100. pp

It seems too good to be true. Is there a catch?

One concern is that they only allow one bag per passenger under the bus. We will each have two bags. But they said that if there is room, we can place both bags under the bus.

What do you do if there isn't room for your second bag? (run for the train LOL?)

<run for the train LOL?>

YES! But I'm feeling lucky ;-).

Hope it isn't raining, because there is no cover waiting for the bus.

I've got an umbrella. ;-)

Since I'm not hearing any negatives, I will probably book it.

There are so many trains to Philly, I am surprised it so much. Do not be surprised if there is traffic on the NJ Turnpike.

This is kind of interesting--positive about BOLT.

https://www.oyster.com/articles/5306...get-bus-lines/

I have nothing against the busses, but not sure where you are seeing $100 for the train? Bought ahead, Saver fare is $39.

If you are looking for something in cost between Bolt Bus and Amtrak, you can easily take NJ Transit followed by SEPTA (trains are timed to connect directly in Trenton).

The difficulty with Bolt Bus is the unpredictability of traffic and occasional unreliability of Bolt Bus. I've seen many a Bolt Bus broken down by the side of the road.

NJ Transit costs $16.75 ($7.65 for a senior), SEPTA costs an additional $9.25. So it's slightly cheaper than the book-ahead Amtrak rates.

I have to mention that Greyhound also has buses that go between NYC and Philly. If you buy your tickets three or more days in advance, the cost is $10. No matter when you buy your ticket -- even ten minutes before departure -- you get to wait indoors, in a place with seats & a bathroom. If you pay in advance on an Express Bus -- there are seven of these each day -- you get a special place to sit in the terminal, as well as priority boarding. Express Buses are a direct, two-hour trip.

And, yes, I've had to sit near crazy people on the Greyhound; and I'm MORE than aware that the seats and bathrooms in their terminals are not the most pleasant places for use. But I can put up with crazy people for a couple hours, and the terminals facilities are FAR superior to standing outside on a curb.

As far as traffic, I've ridden Greyhound between these two cities about a dozen times, and have never been delayed more than thirty minutes.

There's no question but that Amtrak is FAR more pleasant than riding a bus. But I'll take the money.

Here is why I’m thinking the Bolt bus will work better for me than the train(s) or Greyhound:

The Bolt bus stops at Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station, where I need to arrive; the Greyhound station is a couple of miles from there.

Amtrak fares vary by departure time. I don’t see anything as low as $39. There is one fare of $49, but the time doesn’t work for me. As you’ll see if you click this link the fares during peak hours (when I need to travel) are more than $100 pp.

https://tickets.amtrak.com/itd/amtrak#

Doug, the problem with the NJ Transit to Septa is having to drag heavy suitcases up and down flights of stairs.

ekscrunchy: thank yo0u so much for that link!

Thank you all so much for your help!

Hi there --
I've taken the Bolt Bus from NYC to Philadelphia, for exactly the reason you list -- that it's next to the 30th Street Station.

The issues with traffic and rain and waiting outside are all variables. On the day that I went we had no problems getting to Philly and arrived perfectly on time, but the way back was crawling up the New Jersey Turnpike. But I didn't mind because this was my budget.

As everyone says, there's so many ways to get from NYC to Philadelphia and you just have to pick the one that suits your budget and timetable.

Another view on reliability:

One time I took Amtrak on the east coast, a train hit a backhoe. Huge delay. So it could happen no matter what your transportation is. I ended up taking septa for a portion of the trip, much cheaper than my original Amtrak ticket.

No catch on the bolt bus. They just sell a certain number of tickets at different prices. I like them more than greyhound. Fewer stops, usually less creepy, more convenient in terms of stations. I usually will spend more to ride the train though, because buses make me motion sick. I don't think they're any more prone to break down than greyhound, but I think greyhound has the bigger fleet so can recover faster from a breakdown. I've been more lucky with buses than trains being on time, but that's probably because I tend to take buses during low traffic hours, I.e. When there is no train.

If one concern is that you have heavy suitcases, then I think the earlier comment about the very real possibility that you will not be able to take it with you if you go by Bolt Bus is worth a second thought, particularly if time constraints limit your options. JMO.

Good luck!

If you're arriving at 30th Street Station -- I assume by Amtrak -- then the Bolt Bus makes more sense than Greyhound.

If you can't manage your suitcases, then you really should take a bus where you don't have to do that.

However, the transfer from NJ Transit to SEPTA requires only a walk along the same platform from one train to another. There's no up and down in Trenton.

Thank you all so much. Being able to manage the suitcases (or not) will determine whether we take the train -- or take our chances with the bus having enough room for the bags.

My heaviest bag is full of product to (hopefully!) sell at a conference that starts tomorrow in L.A. (where I arrived yesterday). If sales are good, I'll be able to fit one suitcase inside another, which would make things a lot easier!

My schedule is not iron-clad. It would not be a disaster if the Bolt bus was unable to take our suitcases and we had to take a train.

Thanks, again!

To follow up ...

The Bolt bus was fantastic! When we arrived (20 minutes before departure) the bus was already there. So if it had been raining, we could have boarded immediately.

We loaded our luggage into the hold. We had managed to combine suitcases so we only had one bag each. But it would not have mattered. The driver paid no attention to what was being placed beneath the bus--and it was half empty, anyway.

The bus was in excellent condition, and it had a rest room and instructions for watching free entertainment on your own device. We arrived a block from Philadelphia's 30th Street Station five minutes ahead of schedule.

$9.00 per person seemed too good to be true. But there was no catch!

For others considering it, members of our family have used Bolt Bus regularly for years into and out of NYC. It has been reliable and cheap, no issues.

Great to know..thanks for the update!!

Thanks for letting us know how it went!

Thanks so much for checking in with how things went.

Bolt Bus is available out here in the PNW (Vancouver BC/Seattle/Portland) so it was good to read this positive review!

Never heard of BOLT bus, now found out it runs from San Francisco also. To Hollywood, hmmm... Auditions, anyone? :D