posted
Hello from England. Last May I took the Zephyr (in a sleeper) from Osceola to Reno, and then an Amtrak bus/train/bus combination from Reno via San Jose to Grover Beach,CA, just down the road from San Luis Obispo. (When planning the trip I picked up a lot of tips from contributors to this website so thanks to all of you). A great time was had by all, and I will be going back to California later this month, and this raises the question: in the Amtrak timetables it states that Amtrak buses in California can only be used "in conjunction with a rail journey" and "cannot be used for local journeys". I understand the rationale of not carrying local passengers just a few miles on a long distance service (we have the same on coach services in the UK)so this is fine if you are travelling to or from LA. But does this mean that if you want to go from eg Grover Beach to Hanford, San Jose or Santa Barbara you have to "cheat" and book a ticket to the first train station beyond, thereby including a rail element to be able to use the bus? Does this only apply in California? These are 200 - 400 mile round trips but in the US you probably have a different definition of "local" to us Brits! Grover Beach only gets one train each way per day so could somebody explain the practicalities of this to me?
Posts: 395 | From: england | Registered: Sep 2002
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posted
Based on my experience in Northern California, Amtrak bus services do require a rail segment on the itinerary. I have observed instances where exceptions were made, but I would not recommend trying it. I suggest looking for other transportation alternatives, or adding a rail segment to your ticket.
posted
AKA "The Perata Law". Essentially this law prohibits Amtrak from being a 'bus company' within the state of California. At one time Amtrak used to just sell 'bus service', (ie:OXN-BFD) exclusive of train travel. Amtrak, as we all know is a railroad not a bus company. Local bus companies, who were NOT getting government funding, felt this to be a bit unfair. Almost as if the government was funding their competition. They did not object to bus service sold in conjunction with rail service, but objected to only bus service. Most bus routes for Amtrak have a fare plan of NFLT or Not For Local Travel. Officially Amtrak is prohibited within the State of California from selling this service. I said 'officially' What you might be able to purchase at your local Amtrak ticket window could be something entirely different. As long as a rail segment is purchased, (ie BFD-WAC or LAX-GDL....are you reading between the lines dear reader???) feel free to travel on the Amtrak bus. A bus connection must have a rail segment attached to it. Who's to say that you didn't travel LAX-GDL in the morning and now want that SBA-SLO bus in the afternoon. The poster of this message does not encourage anyone to break the law. You are responsible for you own actions. By reading this post you absolve TheAmtrakMole from any liability resulting from your own personal actions in regard to compliance with Perata Law from this moment in time and for all perpetuity whether such actions are brought by yourself, your family, your heirs, your estate or anyone acting on your behalf or by your power of attorney. The AmtrakMole accepts no personal responsibilty for the actions of anyone else should they not OBEY the Perata Law, nor accepts any professional responsibilty as the AmtrakMole is not in anyway connected with the National Railroad Passenger Corporation. Information is provided as entertainment only. All Rights Reserved. The AmtrakMole. No trees were harmed by this e-posting.
------------------ ---The Amtrak Mole ---All your PCs are belong to trash
[This message has been edited by TheAmtrakMole (edited 09-11-2002).]
[This message has been edited by TheAmtrakMole (edited 09-11-2002).]
posted
AmtrakMole - thanks for the background info. Note the airlines impose penalties if you violate their ticketing rules (i.e you can lose all of your accumulated frequent flier miles), and I don't know if there is a similar arrangement with Amtrak's Guest Rewards program...
Posts: 874 | From: South Bay (LA County), Calif, USA | Registered: Aug 2000
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Are Amtrak busses neccessarily better than normal busses? Having not ridden one (lucky and proud Northeasterner that I am), I don't quite understand your preference for the former over the latter.
One possibility to look into: Though policy prohibits buying a ticket for local travel on an Amtrak bus, a railpass may provide a convenient loophole. If you expect to do a lot of traveling during your stay, you might want to consider getting one.
Either way, we look forward to having you here. Enjoy your trip.
Did you know that Amtrak specifically doesn't own any buses but uses the buses of various companies such as Coach USA which in turn is owned by Stagecoach whch is based in England.
I don't have my Amtrak California operating timetable handy as I could then add some more company names.
The buses in California are in the Amtrak California color scheme of blue and white.
Others may want to add to my comments.
---"Ken" Ruben---
Posts: 16 | From: Culver City, CA, USA | Registered: Mar 2001
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Are Amtrak busses neccessarily better than normal busses? Having not ridden one (lucky and proud Northeasterner that I am), I don't quite understand your preference for the former over the latter.
One possibility to look into: Though policy prohibits buying a ticket for local travel on an Amtrak bus, a railpass may provide a convenient loophole. If you expect to do a lot of traveling during your stay, you might want to consider getting one.
Either way, we look forward to having you here. Enjoy your trip.
Sorry about the blank, hit the wrong button. Thanks for all your comments and suggestions. I had an idea that it was probably something to do with local bus companies worrying about what they perceive as unfair competition and on purely local trips I can sympathise with their argument. It's not a case that I think that Amtrak buses are necessarily better, it's just that in some areas they would fill a gap in the timetable. It just seems such a waste of resources in areas that have relatively little public transport, at least by UK standards. It's astonishing to think that in the States cities the size of Phoenix, Tulsa, Nashville and Las Vegas have no passenger trains. In the UK the biggest town without service is (I think) Ebbw Vale, just over 40,000 and that's proposed to have it's service restored in the next few years. Anyway, I'll be in your wonderful country on Tuesday and if the weather is as good and the people as friendly as the last time I was over there I'm sure looking forward to it.
posted
**The Perata Law went into effect on January 1, 2000. Whatever laws may have been in effect in the early 60s, well, not being a geezer , I would not have the faintest idea about.
------------------ ---The Amtrak Mole ---All your PCs are belong to trash
[This message has been edited by TheAmtrakMole (edited 09-14-2002).]
[This message has been edited by TheAmtrakMole (edited 09-14-2002).]
posted
**The Perata Law went into effect on January 1, 2000. Whatever the laws were in the early 60s, well, not being a geezer , I would not have the faintest idea about.
------------------ ---The Amtrak Mole ---All your PCs are belong to trash
[This message has been edited by TheAmtrakMole (edited 09-14-2002).]
posted
using Amtrak buses -heres something you could try, there is a company called Airport buses of Bakerfield they operate Nonstop buses frequently between LAX (airport )(not UNION STATION) and bakersfield and guess who owns them -right Coach USA same company that amtrak buses are operated by (incidenty I think they stop at the Amtrak station in Bakerfield as well) anyway one ride these buses in either direction
Posts: 6 | Registered: Apr 2002
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posted
It does ask the question, why use Amtrak buses instead of local buses (or Greyhound for that matter). Perhaps being UK-based, Mr Williams is using the USA Rail Pass which allows travel on thruway bus services (but not all for some reason).
However, I don't see how they could check that you've done the rail part of your journey if you book a bus/rail segment. Yes, the conductor collects the ticket stubs, but how long would it be before they put 2 and 2 together and realised that you've been on the bus but not the train?
In addition, I've never had my ticket checked on a thruway bus, not that I've been on too many.
So, disclaiming responsibility rather less admirably than TheAmtrakMole, what you do is your own business, but I'd risk buying a bus/rail thru ticket and not travel on the train. But then maybe I'm reckless.
Geoff M.
Posts: 2426 | From: Apple Valley, CA | Registered: Sep 2000
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What you might be able to purchase at your local Amtrak ticket window could be something entirely different. As long as a rail segment is purchased, (ie BFD-WAC or LAX-GDL....are you reading between the lines dear reader???) feel free to travel on the Amtrak bus. A bus connection must have a rail segment attached to it. Who's to say that you didn't travel LAX-GDL in the morning and now want that SBA-SLO bus in the afternoon. 
