This weekend I took a ride on a Vamoose Bus from Bethesda, MD to New York, NY.
Overall, the experience was positive, and if their price remains competitive, I will probably ride them again. The ride to New York was great, even though the bus was 100% full, we made good time and the traffic was light.
On the way back to Bethesda, the experience was different. The bus was about half full, and for some reason we took back roads through almost all of New Jersey. I'm guessing the driver did that because of traffic on the highway, at least I'm hoping that was the reason!
What's worse is that we stopped for fifteen minutes at a rest area in Delaware. Why? I bet that everyone on the bus would have rather made it to our destination faster than spend time at the rest area.
So all in all, the trip took about five and a half hours, way longer than I expected. Obviously they have no control over traffic, but the rest area stop was a waste of time in my opinion. Thankfully it was only fifteen minutes!
Otherwise, the Vamoose buses were nice and clean. The seats comfortable but for me at six foot two inches, a little small.
Sixty dollars round trip is not a bad price. I'd like to check out other options and see if there are any buses with bigger, more comfortable seats too. While I was waiting to board the Vamoose Bus, I took this picture of a megabus:
There is also the boltbus. Both boltbus and megabus leave from Baltimore though, not Bethesda. That might actually be easier, as I could get on a MARC train at Garrett Park, and then go to Baltimore to catch the bus.
