What it's like to take the new sleeper bus from LA to SF

Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/08/10/what-its-like-to-take-the-ne.html

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I want to try this.

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If this had been an option for those times I’ve had to do overnight long distance travel, there would have been a lot of shutting up and taking my money.

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I like this idea. I hope they do well.

… And so everything that we’ve designed talking about a hotel, from the …

Several years (decades?) ago a number of trains re-invented themselves in sort of this way - The Trans Siberian, The Ghan, and others. Those are a bit different because the trip itself is the thing, however one of the things the Ghan did was cast about for something to baseline themselves again, and they explicitly rejected ‘trains’ because you’re not just using this thing to get from place to place. Instead they looked at the experience associated with high end hotels and cruise ships.

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I have absolutely loved taking sleeper trains in the past. A little more expensive, but you’re saving an entire day of travel that just magically happens while you’re cozy in your little cubby.

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Everything old is new again: (updated for a new upscale market) http://articles.latimes.com/1995-09-19/news/mn-47564_1_green-tortoise

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We are finally catching up to South America and Asia! (although in fairness those bunks look more like rock star travel than even the cama suites on the buses in Argentina).

I love the idea, although I’ll caution that they were outlawed in Germany after a couple of awful crashes. Judges ruled that it wasn’t possible to be buckled up safely in a bunk. Considering there are no seatbelts at all on Greyhound or other US buses I doubt that will be an issue here.

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I’ve taken the bus from Boston to NYC a few times, and there’s definitely seatbelts. Nobody uses them, but they’re there.

The right solution for this distance is a fast train. That there is only one train from LA to SF, the Coast Starlight, and it takes 12 hours, is criminal.

The bus looks cool, but I’ll bet that after a year of operation it will be kind of shabby, with a a lingering sick smell.

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This is for people who don’t have camper vans and can’t just pull into a beach lot and pop the top!

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It takes a lot of energy to drive a Westy, and while I can stop and sleep – I am not making miles when I do it.

I drive the SF-LA routes so often that i dream of a self driving car where I can really sleep, or just be stoned and watch a movie.

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Oh – that’s new. It’s a couple of years since I rode the dog or mega bus. Glad to hear it.

Thanks for the update.

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I want to take this with a quart of whiskey / dozens hard boiled eggs / ipod.

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Once took a sleeper train from Guangzhou to Beijing that had a platoon of chain smoking soldiers on board who liked to spit. Alot. The smoked chicken was good but chewy and the cabin was cozy and somewhat smoke free. The hallways, restrooms and dinner car, not so cozy with the spit and all. While I could sleep if I wanted to I spent much of trip staring out the window into a world that seemed like another planet. I wonder if that would be the case on a bus like this. I hear LA is like another planet.

Amtrak is never on time on the East Coast corridor and flights are expensive so, here’s hoping the idea catches on. I’d give it a try!

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I guess that I’ve slept on pretty much every bus that I’ve been on.

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Before i got my car this year i took Greyhound buses a good number of times the past few years and only saw a single bus with seat belts. I was so confused by the presence of seat belts that i texted a picture to a friend, and their response was also disbelief.

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Jesus, you’d need a special exhaust pipe just for you.

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It’s nothing fart proof undies can’t fix

https://www.myshreddies.com/flatulence/mens/

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Yup. Although these new guys probably don’t stop at their hippy camp for pancakes and a sauna.

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