BoltBus: Tech-friendly Northeast Travel
Friday, October 16, 2009 at 11:18AM 
For those living in Northeast metro areas from DC to Boston, you've surely seen the distinctive black and orange bolt bus fleet make its way back and forth multiple times, with the "Bolt for a Buck" sales pitch on the side.
Yesterday we made a roundtrip with Boltbus from Philadelphia to NYC and back. Why are talking about a bus on a tech blog? For starters, the bus offers free wifi. We tested the download speeds at the beginning, middle, and end of the first leg of the trip. The speeds, were, well, here they are: 40kbps, 83kbps, and 47kbps. Worth noting this was significantly lower than the speeds we could get on AT&T's 3G network at the same locations. The trip back (in a different bus) did better, averaging 239kbps. It's worth noting the first bus was packed, while the second bus was about half full. The number of people using the service on any given trip will greatly affect speeds. But hey, it's free! (or at least built-in to the price.) Also, there are regular AC outlets scattered through the bus.
And speaking of price, we paid $23.50 for a single passenger roundtrip, purchased seven days ahead of time. (If you find any of those elusive $1 fares, let us know). Buying your ticket ahead of time isn't quite as important as you might think. We were able to book a different one-way ticket home from NYC for $11 just about three hours before the trip.
Which brings us to the real reason we're mentioning BoltBus here: Web savviness. I tweeted that this was my first Boltbus trip, shortly after departing. Within minutes, there was a welcome tweet reply from Boltbus. When it came time to buy the different ticket home, the whole process can happen on the iPhone, with Boltbus having a slick iPhone/mobile website. Simply show your confirmation email on the device to the driver to board.
The bus itself, is new, clean, and offers plenty of legroom. The seats are not as wide as in a commuter train though, so you might have to get to know your seat buddy. At less than half the cost of other mass transit options, Boltbus makes an east coast getaway quick and easy.
Could the rest of the country experience bus travel like this someday? Well, here's a dirty little secret; despite its scrappy upstart attitude, Bolt is actually a venture of Greyhound and Peter Pan Bus Lines, so here's hoping they expand the service in the future.