Other than airlines, this is one of my least favorite ways to travel although I am glad it's an option for last case scenarios. The first thing we have to do is break down this category into two separate categories. Cross country, and local city buses. 

 

CROSS COUNTRY: Cross country options include Greyhound, Jefferson Lines, et cetera. I have not ridden on Blue Bus yet but I have heard good things. We will do that in a future episode. First, let's talk about the experiences I had.

 

For me, one of the scariest things is that the lift for the wheelchairs are high on the bus. You have to be lifted 10 to 15 feet into the bus. When you are in a heavy powered wheelchair and you can see the bus kind of bending forward and you are leaning forward at a 20° angle, You worry about if the lift can hold that weight. A fall from that height, on top of a 400 pound wheelchair falling on you, the risk of death is extremely high. 

 

The other thing is these lifts are not reliable. I have probably used this method of transportation 20 times In my life. I would say 12 out of 20 times the lift had broken down on my trip. The worst part is when this happens, the drivers take their frustration out on you. I understand the other passengers have somewhere to be, but they need a better system in place for when this happens. One driver literally told me," I don't know what to tell you" and left us stranded there in the middle of nowhere. We had to call customer service over 20 times and argue with them for them to finally send another bus 8 hours later to get me. That is absurdly unacceptable. 

 

I don't totally blame the bus companies. However, I definitely blame the lift manufacturer. If I was Greyhound I would demand refunds and have new lift systems put in place by a different company. 

 

It's also apparent the drivers are not educated in persons with disabilities, or how to properly use the lift equipment. It's very noticeable that they probably took only a four hour class on how to use the lift or how to treat people with disabilities. 

 

LOCAL CITY BUSES: In mid-sized cities, this is usually an okay way to get around. Almost all city buses in the United States are now wheelchair accessible. In mid-sized cities, I have not really had an issue riding the city bus like here in Rochester, Minnesota for example. The drivers are friendly and the people are patient. This cannot be said the same for larger cities like Los Angeles. 

 

In larger cities, all I can say is be careful. There have been times where I was waiting at a bus stop and the driver would see me waiting and just drive right by because he doesn't want to deal with me. 

 

One time in Los Angeles, a bus stopped to get me and one of the patrons on board was shouting," don't let him on!" At first I thought that person was talking about somebody else. Once I was on the bus, that person started saying how much of a waste of society I was and things of that nature. Luckily I had two muscle bound friends with me and they stood up and got in a person's face and told them to knock it off. The driver ended up pulling over and my friends escorted that person off the bus. It would have been a much scarier situation if my friends weren't with me. 

 

I was going to College in Minneapolis and I took the city bus every day to school. One day a man got on the bus drunk. He sat directly behind me, didn't say anything, and out of nowhere hit me really hard in the back of the head. Again, one of my friends was with me and they got into an altercation. The driver pulled over and the police were called and the man went to jail for assault. 

 

These stories are not meant to frighten you, but to be aware of your surroundings. If you visit a big city, make sure you have a friend with you before going on a city bus. If the city has an option for a subway or light rail, if possible, take that whenever you can. You can read about my experiences on subways and light rails by clicking on the travel tips.