Poor Options For Transportation To New York Airports

The manager of Wisla Express, a company that ran a passenger shuttle from Central Connecticut to the New York airports, has been indicted on charges that he falsified drivers’ records after they worked more hours than federal regulations permit, The Hartford Courant reports.

Meanwhile, Connecticut Limousine, which has run airport buses and shuttles to New York airports for decades, seems to have settled a dispute with the Port Authority over unpaid fees, according to WTNH Channel 8. That’s good, I guess, but I  I stopped using Connecticut Limo five years ago after a particularly awful ride back from JFK.

If there is no safe and comfortable shuttle, we Connecticut residents must find another way to the New York airports for long-haul flights. The options are poor:  drive to New York, hire private transportation or hope Amtrak will get you to the Air Train on time.

Or take a connecting flight from Bradley. Or move to New York, I guess.

Megabus Restores Hartford-Boston Route

Megabus will restore service between Hartford and Boston on Aug. 17, with four trips daily, the Hartford Courant reports.

The company pulled out of Hartford altogether in 2009, abandoning it as a stop on the New York to Boston route. It returned in December 2010 with routes to New York and Amherst, Mass.

Now Boston is back, too. With the resumption of that route Megabus is giving away 1,000 free tickets. A new route between Hartford and New Haven will also start next month with four round trips daily.

The regular fares on Megabus start at $1 each way when bought well in advance, with fees bringing the total to about $2.50 round trip. It’s an incredible deal, but you have to plan ahead. Fares increase as the departure date approaches.

My sister has been a regular Megabus customer with trips between Washington and Hartford. The husband and I recently did a round trip to New York for a total of $4.50 and we just bought another at that price for Boston. The buses, by the way, are equipped with Wi-Fi.

Megabus Returns To Hartford

Megabus is returning to Hartford more than year after it dropped the city from its route between Boston and New York. When Megabus resumes service on Dec. 15, it will offer five trips daily to New York and two to Amherst, Mass., Don Stacom reports in The Hartford Courant. (Disclosure: Don and I go way back.)

LimoLiner Zips Past Hartford

I recently got an email from LimoLiner, offering a discount coupon on its luxury bus service. Too bad I can’t use it.

I really liked the LimoLiner when I rode it from Hartford to Boston last August, so I was eager to find a use for the coupon. But when I went on the LimoLiner Web site I discovered that the company ended its Hartford service last November.

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Making Buses Like Trains

How do you get people to ride the bus? Pretend it’s a train, a consultant told Connecticut transit planners last week, as Don Stacom reported in The Hartford Courant. (Disclosure: I have more than a passing acquaintance with Mr. Stacom.)

The message was that bus systems are more successful the more they resemble light rail, with frequent service, fewer stops, pleasant stations and rapid boarding. The state of Connecticut is planning such a busway, along a former railroad right-of-way, between New Britain and Hartford.

The rather poor reputation of long-distance bus travel in this country is already shifting a little bit, thanks to the introduction of luxury buses like the LimoLiner and the inexpensive but stylish BoltBus and Megabus lines. Because of this, I’m much more likely to travel by bus these days than I used to be.

But commuting is another matter, here in Central Connecticut. I tried like hell to ride the Connecticut Transit buses when I worked in Hartford, but the schedules made it very difficult. Express buses were too few and local buses took too long. I’d still rather ride a train, but I would settle for better bus service.

Megabus Pulls Out Of Hartford

Woeful news: Megabus has stopped selling fares to and from Hartford after Sept. 14 and is refunding fares already sold for travel after that date.

I heard about it from a reader who got an email from Megabus canceling her trip and promising the refund. There’s no notice of the change on the Megabus site, but the reservation system won’t allow bookings for Hartford after Sept. 14.

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Megabus Offers More $1 Seats

Megabus has expanded the availability of $1 fares between mid-September and mid-November, including on its route between New York, Hartford and Boston. My brother tells me that he and his two kids are going to New York for $6.50. You can’t beat that.

LimoLiner Bus Rolls In Style

LimoLiner seats

Planning a trip to Boston for a conference, I looked over all the options and decided to try the LimoLiner. The luxury bus service recently added a Hartford stop to its route between Boston and New York – and to make it even more convenient the Boston stop was at the conference site.

Here’s what I liked about the trip:

 - The seats. The plush leather seats are not quite as wide as a typical first-class seat on an airliner, but they are wider than a standard bus seat. There are only three seats across — one on one side of the aisle and two on the other — with cup holders and headphone controls between the pair of seats. That means extra elbow room and no shared armrests.  The seats are soft –  probably the most comfortable seats I’ve ever been in that moved.

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Double Trouble

What do you get when a double-decker bus breaks down? Twice as many annoyed passengers:

My brother took this photo Sunday evening at the Charlton rest stop on the Mass Pike. The Megabus passengers told him they’d been waiting there for three hours.

Luxury LimoLiner Bus Comes To Hartford

LimoLiner buses with wide seats, wi-fi, food service and an attendant are now serving Hartford, a fact I discovered from a huge billboard on I-84. (So much for my exclusive sources.)

The bus goes to Boston and New York, with a stop in Framingham, Mass. Fares to Boston are selling for $39 one way and $78 round trip. Fares to New York are $49 each way and $98 round trip.

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