‘Private jets on wheels’ make it easy to travel Texas’ fast lanes

[TexasTowelie]

Alex Danza got an unusual birthday present last week: three 45-foot buses with no interiors.

The president and founder of Vonlane LLC didn’t actually take possession of them. After leaving the assembly line in Canada on Friday, the skeletal motorcoaches were driven to Virginia to be outfitted in a manner befitting a private jet.

“That’s where the magic happens,” says Danza, who just turned 42.

The three new buses will be deployed in January as part of the next chapter for the 15-month-old company.

The motorcoaches will double Vonlane’s fleet and allow it to serve the Dallas-Houston-Austin triangle popularized by a fledgling Southwest Airlines decades ago. Vonlane will add an Austin-Houston route as well as increase its runs from Austin and Houston to Dallas.

Read more: http://www.dallasnews.com/business/columnists/cheryl-hall/20150821-private-jets-on-wheels-make-it-easy-to-travel-texas-fast-lanes.ece

[yeoman6987]

1. I love this. Progress is a wonderful thing.

Keep it up!

[hobbit709]

2. Friend of mine goes to Dallas and back often on Megabus. A lot cheaper.

3 hours there, 3 hours back.

[TexasTowelie]

3. I've made that run on Megabus before.

One of the issues initially was that Megabus did not have the proper permits in Dallas, so their station was in Grand Prairie along I-20. There is no public transportation in Grand Prairie so while the bus ride was cheaper it was easily offset by having to pay taxi fees. The new stop in downtown Dallas is off of Pearl Street and it is easy to get access to DART rail and the bus system at that stop.

I also used to take Megabus when I was in Brenham and went to Austin. They bought out the old Kerrville Bus Lines and then in November 2012 they started using the double-decker buses. There were a lot of problems though. The first time they arrived in Brenham nearly three hours late on a Saturday morning and I nearly missed my trip to Homecoming in Georgetown. Their drivers were also unfamiliar with the route so I was frequently providing assistance with navigating the US 290 mess and getting to the parking lot at UT. Then there was the fact that the riders have to stand outside in the elements and 30-45 minute waits were not unusual.

Finally, they dropped service to all of the small towns between Houston and Austin in May 2013 which left me stranded. Considering that Prairie View and Brenham are both college towns it impacted a number of people. After they dropped service along US 290 and also along US 59 in east Texas I have not used them since and probably won't again.