Interesting Stuff

Bungled Bronco Bus Binge

We found some wild BLOG ACCOUNTS of the three bus charter convoy to the Fiesta Bowl which beat any of the sports stories and could rival the game itself for memories.

With entries like, “I am so glad bus 1 finally got home. We were on bus 2 and all we did was get in a wreck,” it is hard to NOT scroll through the blog to get more details.

Details like flat tires, smoke from beneath the bus, iced windows, SOONER cops, a driver quitting half way through the trip, passengers hitching rides. Check it out for the real story and be glad it didn’t happen on an airplane!

Comments & Discussion

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  1. That was some really funny stuff. Do you think it was true or did some people practice creative writing? I have done some checking and found that travel by bus is not very available any more. I have relatives in Kentucky I would like to visit but neither the train or the bus go there anymore. You either have to fly and rent a car, or drive cross country.

    What has happened to transportation in this country? It’s just criminal. There are lots of us old fogies who don’t want to drive, shouldn’t drive, and, thanks to TSA, don’t relish flying.

  2. Funny story!
    But I’m sure glad I wasn’t with you.

  3. Yep, quite a ride.
    Amen to Treva.
    My wife and I once took Amtrak from Boise to Washington, D.C.
    It was a blast. Everybody on trains was friendly (cuz they’re not jammed into a tube and thrown through the sky). You can get up and walk around whenever you want to, walk the length of the train for exercise, stop in the bar car for a shot, get decent meals, sleep when you feel like it, go to the restrooms whenever you want to … and no fear of falling 30,000 feet or running into the top of a mountain.

    We wanted to have a sleeping room the whole way and back, but could get one for only two of the three nights one way and one of the three nights the other way, beause they were sold out. Nearly all the seats in the other cars were full. So the brilliant folks who run Amtrak eliminated the Boise train, said it didn’t get enough passengers (Of course it didn’t; they wouldn’t add any more cars so it *could* get more passengers).
    Airlines have crammed in more seats, eliminated most food, blankets, pillows and anthing else that might make the trip a bit easier. Then add the NSA paranoia …

    And whatthehell ever happened to Greyhound and Trailways. We used to be able to get a bus from anywhere to anywhere. Now their routes are so limited that they’re about as useful as Boise’s alleged bus system.

    The nation keeps adding more people, but the big companies keep cutting services instead of expanding and improving to try to attract the thousands of new potential customers.

    But I guess as long as CEOs can run companies into the ground and then get multimillion-dollar golden parachutes when they get fired, they have no incentive to improve anything.
    (Hey, Guardian: Howcum a certain company we both know didn’t give us each a few million? Look into that, would you?)

  4. If this story is true: What a disaster! What a way to operate a charter bus company!

    Sounds like some calls (and some formal compliants) to either the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Office here in Boise (334-1842) or the Commercial Vehicle Safety unit of the Idaho State Police (try 846-7500) might be in order.

    To check on the status of any carrier go to http://safer.fmcsa.dot.gov/. Select the Company Snapshot link (middle column). Then fill in either the carrier name or, in this case, the US DOT number (750743) and click Search. Lots of information. A click on the Safe Stats Online link provides additional information such as when serious violations occurred and the nature of those violations.

  5. I love this site !!! And, Gordon, thanks for your Amtrak story. I am dying to go East by rail.

  6. The Bronco Bus Buddies ought to sell the rights to their story to Hollywood to insert a little added humor (not that it was funny at the time) into the movie about the team, and their spectacular on-field Fiesta Bowl success!

  7. Yep, it’s true. I received live coverage via a friend who called me from one of the many roadside locations Bus#1 (the Hotel California bus) lurched to a halt at.

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