GoBus will try to prevent overbooking its rides, though it could still happen.
When Julie Weller bought a ticket for the GoBus last year, she was unaware that her ticket wouldn’t guarantee her a seat — or her safety.
Until recently, the GoBus has been taking advantage of a gray area in motor carrier regulations that allows them to sell more tickets for the bus than there are seats.
As a consequence, extra passengers are forced to sit in the aisles for the duration of their trip or wait for the next bus, which often doesn’t come until the next day.
“I was treated like a filthy animal,” said Weller, a sophomore studying strategic communication. “It was so degrading.”
GoBus offers passengers transportation from Athens to Columbus, Cincinnati and Marietta/Parkersburg, W.Va., for just $10 one-way.
Weller, along with others, spent almost four hours on Feb. 15, 2013, sitting in the muddy, wet aisle on her way to Cincinnati. Her bus was the second to arrive after the original bus was packed full.
Lt. Kelly Weakley, who oversees motor carrier enforcement and licensing and commercial standards for the Columbus and Jackson districts for the Ohio Highway Patrol, said that whether or not the practice is legal, “It’s not safe to have people seated in the aisle in case of an emergency.”
Carolyn Conley, transportation services manager at Hocking-Athens-Perry Community Action, which runs the GoBus, said the organization is aware of the issue and has taken steps to alleviate the problem.
“It’s hectic,” Conley said. “It’s not safe. We never wanted it to happen in the first place but sometimes you don’t realize you have a problem until it’s right there staring you in the face.”
On Feb. 1, 2013, a new rule written by HAPCAP banned the GoBus from allowing more passengers to ride the bus than there were seats.
However, that rule was not officially written into the contract between HAPCAP and Lakefront Lines or Greyhound Lines until this month.
Greyhound does not set a limit for how many tickets can be purchased through its website for a certain bus, so it’s difficult to know how many people plan to take the GoBus at any given time, Conley said.
To help fix the problem, Conley said HAPCA now sets a limit for how many tickets can be bought through them, and it leaves 10 extra seats available for extra passengers that have paid through Greyhound or that pay cash to the bus driver.
Still, there’s a chance that tickets can be oversold, Conley said.
In that event, riders can get refunds. In rare cases, GoBus might even pay for a cab to take riders where they need to go, Conley said.
“Safety is our No. 1 priority, and we’re always looking for ways to make our services better,” Conley said. “We want it to be a good experience for our passengers.”
@CarolineBartels
cb536511@ohiou.edu
