Ride report: Megabus, Los Angeles to San Diego

[tags]los angeles, san diego, bus, megabus, union station[/tags]

[Updated to include photos and strikeout of obsolete stop information.] 

Californians, we cannot let Megabus fail.

A test ride on Tuesday, taking a coach leaving Los Angeles for San Diego at noon, drew only three riders. What a shame. Megabus offers a ride of such quality that it will change the way people think of riding buses. Megabus receives the highest recommendation.

Megabus has an all-new fleet of MCI J4500 coaches. The seats are large and comfortable, and riders have their own reading lights and air conditioning vents. Riders can bring one piece of baggage, and storage is available overhead or in an underside compartment. The coaches have a stereo and video system.

Best of all, Megabus has an unbeatable value. Tickets, if bought early enough, are as cheap as $1.50, even to far-away places such as Tempe, Arizona and the Bay Area. And with express service, buses may actually go faster than the time shown. The L.A. to San Diego trip, scheduled for 2 1/2 hours, arrived a half hour early.

Megabus has done many things right. Fares are lower than rides on many local bus services, the fleet is all new coaches and operated by an industry-leading charter company, and even the selection of bus stops is mostly in busy locations. San Diego, though, is a major exception.

Follow these stop signs outside to the pickup point. 

In Los Angeles, Megabus picks up from Union Station. It maintains a discreet presence, so much so that it almost desires not to be seen. The bus stop in on the upper level parking deck, directly across from the tracks. It is accessed by walking through the courtyard connecting the Amtrak counter with the Metropolitan Water District headquarters. At the headquarters, the bus stop is up the ramp. There are several Megabus bus stop signs to lead the way.

The bus, number 61407, arrived a few minutes early and left on time. Only three passengers rode on this trip. Another bus, which had arrived to L.A., had five people. All were very pleased at the service. One MWD employee walked out to inspect the buses and ask the driver questions. She also said her colleagues are very curious about the buses and are planning a Megabus weekender to Las Vegas. Those just might be Megabus’s bread-and-butter services.

Many thanks go to a fellow passenger, Highland Park resident Arthur M., who also checked out the service. He had also brought information for trying out local bus services in San Diego.

This is how the interior cabin of the bus looks. That’s Arthur in the aisle. If you’re in Highland Park or thereabouts, chances are you’ll see him at community events. And now, for some more views of the Megabus.

This is the “cockpit.”

Megabuses have lavatories. They do not flush, and there is no sink. Wet wipes are provided on the counter.

Megabuses have mini video screens. These remained off during this trip. The radio was playing at a soft volume.

And Megabus is off. The driver chose to take the road most traveled: a straight shot down I-5, then switching to I-805 in north San Diego. A shortcut would have been to go all-HOV along I-110 and I-405, meeting up with I-5 in Irvine. But traffic cooperated in what is often a slow voyage through southeast Los Angeles County. In Orange County, I-5 has a very well-designed HOV lane that considerably sped up the trip, even though the lane was full of cars during noontime.

The bus crossed the San Diego county line in just an hour. Damn, this is fast, especially for such a colossal bus. The only slowdown occurred at the wide I-5/I-805 junction, slowing the trip down about 10 minutes. But the 805 trip was free and clear. The bus arrived at 2 p.m., half hour before schedule.

The bus arrives half an hour early in San Diego. There’s Arthur again.

Why I-805, which is a beltway through east San Diego and not I-5, which runs along the coast to downtown? Because not everything can be perfect, or the Megabus braintrust could not find a better bus stop than – get this …

… the Goodall’s bus yard.  Goodall’s is the Coach America and Gray Line franchise for San Diego. It’s a small, ramshackle yard with large and small buses awkwardly sandwiched together and — to pre-empt commenters from making the joke — not a single chimpanzee to be found anywhere. And the yard is in the middle of a residential neighborhood!

Note: This picture is provided for visual context only. A day after this photo was shot, Megabus moved its bus stop to downtown San Diego.

This is the Goodall’s bus yard near City Heights. The bus dropped off people in the street. The blue canopy with the bench is the passenger waiting area. A notice on the door of the building warned Goodall’s employees not to let in Megabus passengers.

The bus stop is located in what can best be described from an Angeleno’s perspective as somewhere between the neighborhood of City Heights and the middle of nowhere. It’s enclosed by three freeways. The only quick way to downtown is an automobile or taxicab that can take SR-94. Otherwise, it’s a long, unnecessary walk to Market Street to Metropolitan Transit System Line 5. A shorter, equally futile walk is to a community shuttle, Line 965, that allows you to transfer to a bus into downtown at a dressed-up shelter above SR-15.

Megabus left too late, and a return trip was made via the 5:50 p.m. Amtrak Pacific Surfliner leaving San Diego. It’s also good for a baseline comparison.

The Amtrak trip cost almost 10 times more. It did not lack ridership. More than a hundred people boarded in San Diego, with about another hundred or two hundred boarding elsewhere along the line. The riders were mostly young families and surfers.  The trip took 3 hours. The trip arrived on time, but the train was held up three times to allow other passenger trains to pass. Amtrak is just as comfortable, but Megabus wins for cost, speed and cleanliness. Amtrak is clean, but the Megabus fleet is brand new and still has the new coach smell.

A short exploration of San Diego’s buses and trains is forthcoming in another post.