European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 23, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                America by bus Oul by bean itry is sorting Jne. As and v far As of 3 Iet. Sol Wilh he or aver Erwill a Ruhe action in o find ahead Wever. Jaia Ridot is Lance get on As your or continuous to hour stretch. If such travel is your Bent however Don 1 wait too Long. Under pressure from Tare wars on Many air routes and increasing Long distance Usa of the automobile As gasoline Price have dropped bus travel in America is ailing badly. Greyhound Lor example says that it carried Only 33 million passengers last year compared with 54 million in 1980. Among lha results Are ewer buses plying Lewer routes and the gradual demise of such facilities As downtown terminals in favor of pickup and drop off pulp oils near interstate highways. Based on my experiences and on talks with trailways and greyhound officials and other travellers Here Are some questions i hat arise if you Are considering rambling by bus. What sort of tickets Are available probably the biggest unlimited mileage bargain is the Coupon Book sold by trailways for $10 a Day with a 15 or 18-Day minimum depending on the City in which you buy it in s in Days in new York. Additional Days Are also $10 each. For each leg that you travel you write your Point of origin and destination on a Coupon and have a ticket agent validate it greyhound s Best unlimited mileage Deal is its Amer pass. Which costs $189 for 7 Days. S249 for 15 Days and $349 for 30 Days with extensions of each pass at j10 a Day. Although its Price is higher greyhound has the distinct advantage of Many More routes including acceptability of the Amer pass by greyhound of Canada where trailways does not have Cross country routes on routes where both networks operate greyhound usually has More frequent service. Greyhound and trailways coupons Are accepted by Many connecting carriers but not by each other. This meant that Whan i slopped by Muskogee Oka to visit a Friend i had to pay trailways $27 for a fort Smith  ticket because my greyhound pass was unacceptable. This summer greyhound has offered a one Way Hocket anywhere on its system including coast to coast. Fora maximum of $59. Ii requires 30 Days Advance Purchase however which makes in unsuitable for impulse rambling. I used my Amer pass for 12 distinct legs. If i had paid the Normal one Way fare for each of them my total greyhound outlay would have been $557.45, instead of 1hes2591 paid for a 15-Day pass plus a one Day Extension. Had i not had a pass an alternative to paying one Way arcs would have been a Circle Lara of $365, according to re. Wilson greyhound s vice president Talfie. The Circle fare allows unlimited stopovers but routing must be determined in Advance Wilson said such a ticket would have been honoured on trailways or vice versa on Roules where greyhound did not operate or did not have a convenient connection. What should you take along most important travel Light you May have to do a lot of walking Between bus depots and places to spend tha night. Also Many depots do not have secure facilities Lor storing baggage while you walk about town. Solh trailways and greyhound ticket offices Oiler free system maps but the most essential tool for a bus rambler is a current copy of Russell s official National motor coach guide issued monthly by Russell s guides inc. 834 third Avenue be Post office Box 278. Cedar rapids Iowa 52406 Telephone 319-364-6138. A single copy costs $7.60 plus 50 cents postage. It contains timetables of most intercity bus operators in the United states and Canada and helps you to determine As you go along where it is practical to go and what connections Best suit your inclinations. Also useful is the paperback Usa by bus and  by Gary Hawkins pantheon books $9.95. It contains 27 itineraries a number of anecdotes and a lot of practical advice on places you might stay. Where should your trip begin it could easily begin and end in your Home City but Ponder this carefully. Why spend an entire Day for example travelling from now York to Pittsburgh when you can 1ly there quickly Lor As Little As $39 and gel in perhaps 400 extra bos Miles by starting to use your pass there. How should you Pace the trip some people Don t mind travelling overnight they contend that it saves hotel Bills and that there in t much to see on Many inlets Yalcs anyway. I avoid overnight bus travel because the sealing is much Loo cramped to stretch out oven if there arc cd passengers and i covet at least the oppor Lun by to see where i am going. Also if you choose buses that Are scheduled As locals they May either avoid interstate or at least gel off Thorn freq Cully for slops. To me the thrill of rambling by bus is to see towns and cities As Well As Countryside. If you Slop travelling by 3 or 4 . That usually provides ample Lime to find the most suitable accommodations which May involve consulting the local chamber of Commerce before it closes at 5. Where i had reservations such As at bed and breakfasts i sometimes arrived later. In smaller cities of historic interest such As fort Smith. Ark i allowed several morning hours to see the principal sights. I did not travel every Day two nights in Olios like Louisville ky., or Minneapolis is. Paul can be rewarding for a sightseer. What Are the buses and bus depot like the typical bus carries up to 43 passengers in reclining seats it is air conditioned and often so Cool you might want to Don a sweater. Federal regulations that limit smoking to cigarettes and Only in the last three rows Are Ollen unobserved. The bus will have a restroom bul frequently without water or towels and reeking irom a disinfectant called pol shot. Big cily bus Stalions. Although often in rundown neighbourhoods lend to be More pleasant than a Lew years ago How do you eat and spend the night sometimes Wilh difficulty. Bus depots Are riot necessarily close to restaurants or accommodations especially modestly priced places or Bolh. Unless determine in Advance that your needs can be met where you plan to Slop for the Day. You Are taking a risk i was Lucky. Muskogee was my Only Slop where the bus station though downtown was isolated from the essentials of itinerant travel fortunately thai was the one place i was met by a Friend with a car i fewer leave the driving to greyhound As Long As air travel was unaffordable Lor Lany americans greyhound profited. Bul s the Gap narrowed and air travel became s cheap or cheaper the bus company uttered. Time also worked against greyhound specially on the Long haul trips where the jus company once was dominant. A flight of new York to san Francisco is six ours compared to 80 hours by bus locked into an inflexible system by Gullion the company could not adjust a ares and was  maintain routes r  in Only one person made the trip each Lay Kumkoski said greyhound s break came in 1982 with fat deregulation of the bus Industry. The company has spent the last four years modernizing reorganizing and redefining philosophy " i greyhound today can drop unproductive ervice Cut prices add More profitable Aules and Market its service to attract iders in areas where the bus still is the West Way to travel. Five years ago greyhound could not. V operate from new York to Atlantic City ,. I today More tickets Are sold for Lucky. I break service than on any other route. More emphasis is placed on regional 4- i Favel Between cities where bus service is i fess expensive and sometimes More i convenient than the hassles faced by an airline passenger on a Short hop in the last year nearly All of the 127 Many owned terminals have been averted into commission agencies Somer Ember 23, 1986 major routes have been turned Over to franchises smaller bus companies that can operate at lower Cost. Less heavily travelled Roules in new England the South and the Southwest have been dropped. Greyhound has been divided Inlo tour regional companies based in new York Chicago aha la and san Francisco Wilh the Freedom and resources to ascertain and meet local transportation needs. Dunikoski said. Most recently greyhound has begun offering a maximum $59 fare to anywhere in the United states. The changes have earned the company Praise bul greyhound suit is in trouble. Greyhound is on the right track but the Industry is having tremendous problems said Kalherine sluts who follows greyhound As a securities analyst for Dean Witter. Greyhound s older equipment and expensive Union contracts can Hurt As the company moves to compete with the hundreds of smaller bus companies thai have sprung up since deregulation said Wayne Smith spokesman for United bus owners of America a Trade association in Washington. The Long haul trip is dead for All practical purposes. Going regional is what greyhound must do to survive Smith said. Will we survive i Don t know Dunikoski said. I could see us getting out of Long haul intercity bus travel  the stars and stripes Page 15