photo by Rebecca Painter
Megabus offers reserved seating for trips, now including an additional 30 cities.
Megan Law, a sophomore dance major has found a cheap, ideal way to visit her boyfriend in Morgantown.
Freshman graphic design major Jesse Lauer also often takes advantage of the affordability of the same method of travel by bus to New York City.
They both have used Megabus, the discount line that offers a wide assortment of non-stop service that is usually cheaper than any other carrier on land, rails or in the air.
“I travel to West Virginia often, so it definitely saves me a ton of money,” said Law.
Megabus, popular among many college students, has recently expanded its reserved seating program to 30 new cities in North America. Pittsburgh’s Megabus stop is conveniently located in the Cultural District right in front of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center at 1000 Fort Duquesne Boulevard, just a short walk from Point Park’s campus. The destinations it serves are Harrisburg, Morgantown, Philadelphia, New York, State College, and Washington DC. Transfers are available to those traveling beyond those points.
According to a Megabus press release on Sept. 10, the reserved seating program will allow customers to manually select which seats they would like to have from a seating chart. Seats tend to fill up quickly, and this will be much more convenient for passengers, rather than arriving an hour early to ensure that their seats are next to family or friends.
“I usually travel with friends, and sometimes we end up getting separated because the bus is so crowded. It would be nice to be able to reserve seats so that we can all be together,” said Lauer.
Law has different reasons to look forward to the new seating method.
“I would definitely like to take advantage of this new system because I hate getting stuck on the second level of the bus; it makes me sick to be so high up. This way I could make sure that I get a window seat on the first floor,” said Law.
A Pittsburgh native Megabus driver, who chose to remain anonymous, drives to New York City four times each week.
“I love my job,” he said. “I get to meet people from all walks of life, but the bus is particularly popular for college students because it’s so affordable. I even use it myself all the time when I’m not driving, like my recent trip to Connecticut that totaled 33 dollars.”
He said that New York City is the largest Megabus hub in the country. For anyone who is looking to travel somewhere that isn’t offered as a direct trip out of
Pittsburgh, then riding to New York and transferring from there is the best bet.
Tickets can be easily ordered by going to megabus.com and entering in information on your location for departure, your destination, and the dates of both. Seats cannot be paid for by cash or check, but the website accepts all major credit cards. Trip prices start at just $1 and are cheaper when booked further in advance.
“They are comfortable, and you can’t beat the price,” said Lauer.
