Midwest HSR Network: Being Mimicked by New Private Bus Line?

Check out the new map at megabus.com:

Isn't this pretty much the Midwest HSR network?

http://www.megabus.com/us/stops/index.php

Only if the buses travel on their own high-speed lanes and have the right-of-way at the crossings.

Well - you have to start somewhere.

Bus service at least gets some people to realize that they don't have to drive and that there are alternatives.

You're right, but the way roads are currently funded, they're more or less a commons. You pay more gas taxes when you buy gas, and those taxes in theory at least pay for some roads. Once you've paid, you can travel on any road, even of it's the Long Island Parkingway. Did you know that they don't let trucks drive on the LIE during commuting hours? They get funnelled off into parking lots.

I'd prefer to see a technology like the RUF ( http://www.ruf.dk ), which is a monoraill system that operates like a public highway AND light rail at the same time. But given that the guy isn't done inventing it, I"m not holding my breath.

villager wrote:Check out the new map at megabus.com:

Isn't this pretty much the Midwest HSR network?

http://www.megabus.com/us/stops/index.php

Megabus is a trademark of Stagecoach, a British (Scottish) company. They have some very cheap buses that compete with the National Express network (equivalent of Greyhound). They also run the local buses in many towns and areas.

They are also trying a Megatrain (very cheap fares for certain trains) on the Southwest Trains system that they are the franchisees for. These are the trains that run out of London Waterloo to the south west. I have not yet tried their Megatrain but I think some trains from my area are available.

In some countries a bus network can open up the market for public transport before building a rail line. I have seen this being done in Australia where the southern suburbs of Brisbane were gradually opened up. When I was there 20 years ago the train ended at Beenleigh but now it goes as far as the Gold Coast.

I have experience of only one leg of that MidWest network. I have travelled from Chicago to Milwaukee and reverse both by train and by bus (Greyhound). The bus was very slow on parts of the route and on entering Chicago in the evening it was so slow that I feared I would lose my connection (the Capitol). With the train there were no problems and it was a pleasure to speed past the cars on the road.

Megabus fares seem to be very low, and one wonders if they are just using the tactics they tried in Britain - price their competitors out of the market and then raise their fares. They did this in a number of cities where they destroyed the municipally owned bus company by running very cheap or even free buses until the incumbent was out of business. They have an unsavoury record in Britain. I loathe the fact that they run my local trains.

In Britain I think they are trying to put National Express out of business.

Stagecroak ought to be put out of business for their crooked practices.

And if anyone can show me a bus that can run on US highways at 125-150 mph, safely, then do so. I'd never ride one.

RussNelson wrote:Did you know that they don't let trucks drive on the LIE during commuting hours.

No, I didn't know that, and since I personally have often seen hundreds of trucks on the LIE during Rush Hour I tend to doubt it. Do you perhaps mean certain sections of the LIE (well, I would suppose mainly from Van Dam west through the Midtown Tunnel?) - that I could see due to daytime restrictions on commerical traffic into Manhattan.

Hi All,

Taking trucks off the LIE during rush hours is rather interesting. As I remember it, at NO time are trucks allowed on either Southern State Parkway, or Northern State Parkway. So, how does on get a truck out to Montauk during rush hours ? As I remember it, there are Supermarkets all along the way, including the Hamptons, that need perishables during all sorts of hours. I guess the LIRR is elected to do the job.

Irish Chieftain wrote:Stagecroak ought to be put out of business for their crooked practices.

And if anyone can show me a bus that can run on US highways at 125-150 mph, safely, then do so. I'd never ride one.

If there are not so much trucks and vans and car around on interstates buses can do so.... *lol*

Such speeds are only possible for cars - and in nearly all parts of the world such speeds are not legal....

Sir Ray wrote: seen hundreds of trucks on the LIE during Rush Hour I tend to doubt it. Do you perhaps mean certain sections of the LIE

Hmmmm. I'm just repeating information I got from NYSERDA. They're working on a project which will supply electricity and heat to the tractors while they're parked, so they can turn their engines off. They're charging less than the fuel cost, and that also reduces emissions.

But maybe I mis-heard or misunderstood the information about the LIE? If so, I apologize.