New hours

Since the morning bus to St. Louis leaves at 10:10 a.m., thirty minutes earlier, the office will now open at 9:30 a.m. instead of 10 a.m. and remain open until 12 p.m. After that, the office will reopen at 3:30 p.m. and close for the day at 6.

9:30am - Noon
3:30pm - 6pm

and by appointment. Call 549-3495.

Interesting customer

One of the best things about my Greyhound job is the interesting people I meet at the ticket office. Like this morning, an SIU grad student in History, who planned a special route to Alton, IL, since Greyhound doesn't go directly there.

Bus to St. Louis, then Metrolink to Delmar, then hang out with friends for a few hours, then catch a local bus to Alton.

Turns out, this guy even reads my other blog. . . . I should have given him a discount! ;-)

City (Council) gets it wrong

I've had a chance to listen more closely to the comments made by Carbondale City Council members last Tuesday, concerning my request for a Special Use Permit for the Greyhound bus to stop at 215 N. Washington St.

The request was rejected, 5-1, with only Lance Jack in favor.

Voting against, Fritzler, Haynes, Wissmann, Pohlmann, McDaniel.

Wissmann intended to approve the request, with a revision requiring specific hours of operation. Pohlmann and Fritzler probably would have supported it, with Jack's "friendly amendment" to reduce the length of time before and after the bus arrived.

So that leaves Haynes and McDaniel, residents of the NE section of the city, who argue that having bus stop at 215 N. Washington would be bad for the neighborhood.

Have you ever heard anything more ridiculous?

Bad for the 200 block of N. Washington?!

Click on the links to hear what Corene McDaniel said, or to hear what Steven Haynes said.

I think I might make posters of each of them: so customers can see who is responsible for the hassle and inconvenience of having to drive or walk another 6 blocks to catch the bus.

Council halts plan for new bus stop - sez DE

Joe Crawford reports: Council halts plan for new bus stop.

Let the Bus Stop Here

Although I haven't been out drumming up support for letting the bus stop on North Washington, the situation is discussed at the ticket office.

Every time some issue or complaint is lodged about the inconvenience, I show them the nice article by Caleb Hale (.jpg) and show them a petition on the counter, which 81 have signed so far. Most Greyhound travelers would like the bus to stop at the same place where there's an agent to assist them, and a place to wait.

The merits of the City permitting the Greyhound bus to stop at 215 N. Washington St. will be discussed in detail at the City Council meeting on June 19. The agenda for the meeting is posted on the City's website.

We, the underprivileged undersigned

Hasty petition ....

As soon as I announced plans to move the bus stop from in front of the Amtrak station to 215 N. Washington St. some people commented against it, saying only "bums" use the bus, so a petition was created when the first two customers were international students going to St. Louis.

In all, 81 people signed, from many walks of life, but
predominantly students.

administrative
Amtrak agent
army
business
business
business
business
business
business
caregiver
carpenter
clerk/pca
cook
cook
cook
cook
director
disabled
dorm parent
driver
educator
employed
home maker
housewife
housewife
housewife
housewife
mom
professor
professor
professor
rental agemt
researcher
restaurant mgr
retired
retired
retired bus manager
security
social services
soldier
staff
student
student
student
student
student
student
student
student
student
student
student
student
student
student
student
student
student
student
student
student
student
student
student
student
student
student
student
student
student
sushi chef
taxi driver
teacher
truck driver
truck driver
truck driver
truck driver
unemployed
VA
vendor
worker

pages 2 & 3 are available here and here.

Jackson County Mass Transit

Today I got a phone call from Dava, who manages the Jackson County Mass Transit to ask about the local Greyhound bus schedule, and tell me about her agency's service. JCMT has 4 ten passenger vans, plus a mini van seats 6. (Soon to be awarded a new minivan.) for transportation within the county.

Service is entirely by request, from place to place, on weekdays. No evening or weekend service. For phone contact: 549-0304

Return of the Native

Author and Scholar Melvin Macklin stopped by the ticket office today. He's the author of Traces in the Dust, a history of the African-American community in Carbondale, Illinois.

His doctoral dissertation about "the similarities between holocaust children and slave children as expressed through literature" is going through some final revisions, and Melvin will be Dr. Macklin, Ph.D. and he'll be taking an airplane instead of taking a bus.

He agreed to do a reading of his poetry in December when he returns for a visit. . . . probably Flying -- on wings of verse! ;-)

Man missing after going to bus station

A Carbondale policeman stopped by to ask about a man missing after going to the Dallas, Texas, bus station:

"A Denison man who police said is mentally ill has been reported missing after he was last seen in downtown Dallas on Monday night . . . . The 47-year-old man arrived at the Greyhound Bus Terminal in Dallas, but he has not been seen since that time, police said.

. . . John Thomas . . . planned on taking a bus on Monday night to Carbondale . . . to visit his college campus, Southern Illinois University, police said.

"We know he made it to the terminal, but that's all we know for sure," Grapevine police Sgt. Todd Dearing said."

reported in Star-Telegram.com

Let the Bus Stop Here

The petition to the City Council to let the bus stop at 215 N. Washington St. (former home of the Cadillac Lounge) has about 60 names.

It will be presented to City Council at the hearing for a Special Use Permit on June 19.

Bag found

Never give up on your lost luggage, busdogs. This lucky traveler from Anna, Illinois, got his bag back after an entire year. He had completely given up on it, when he came to buy a ticket this morning.

Although he didn't have the claim tag any more, he could tell me there was a Bible in the bag with his name in it. . . . And so there was.

The man from Anna, today's Lucky Dog!

Hobo trashes the 'Hound

Some guy writing for "Hobo Traveler" about USA Busline writes: "DO NOT go into a local [Greyhound Bus] station and expect a friendly person to help you. They are an mean bunch of people. . . . Clients are questionable and not the best representation of the USA."

And that's totally not true. . . . or rather, it's not totally true.

For instance, the Carbondale Greyhound agent is quite friendly, often bring a smile to customers' faces.

Cheaper fares

The biggest savings available is 14 days in advance, whereas 7 days in advance is the most frequently purchased by the customers in Carbondale. The price breakdown is given on the Greyhound site.

Two people traveling together, who purchase their ticket at least three days before, can also save money with a Companion Fare.

Restrictions on these fares apply, including holidays and other heavy travel times. They're also non-refundable, but really are a great deal.