Greyhound Terminal

[ACG]

I've went to DC from Philly via the Chinatown buses many times... no problems (just smart to stay away from rush hour). The bus to DC also makes a stop in Baltimore.

[dontforget]

I've went to DC from Philly via the Chinatown buses many times... no problems (just smart to stay away from rush hour). The bus to DC also makes a stop in Baltimore.

My sister once picked up a Chinatown bus from the Baltimore area at the Baltimore Travel Plaza. She was heading north.

Not only was it a shady area, and she waited for a late bus, but it was north of the Ft. McHenry tunnel requiring the person dropping her off from Baltimore to pay $2 toll each way to get back home. [There's a reason why a lot of Baltimore activity is south of that tunnel, and the area between Baltimore and DC has more economic activity, without toll divisions]. Technically one can avoid it by going on US-40 but you go through Baltimore's hoods that way.

It's like if the PHL Airport was on the other side of DE River in South Jersey (requiring most of the Philly market to pay toll to reach it). Example magnified, but its true to this small extent.

And the Greyhound Baltimore downtown also requires Baltimore residents cab fare to reach there, which isn't much better.

The Boltbus and Megabus services in Baltimore pick up passengers in the real downtown proper however.

Regarding I-95 tolls, I still don't understand why there is the toll between the MD and DE borderlines. Note: its quite easy to avoid it taking local roads between Newark and Elkton by the Univ. of Delaware exit, that all the Newark and Elkton locals do.

I mean if there is no toll between PA and MD (York County, Baltimore County) via I-83, none between PA and DE (SE PA and Wilmington) via I-95, some law of the transitive property should state no toll between DE and MD. Instead its a $4 each way! It's not like there is a river or some water way separating these states at these points. What it does is further isolate Philadelphia from Baltimore as distinct markets, rather than conjoining at that area. Specifically it screws Cecil County, MD out of some opportunities.

Cecil is already tolled by being separated from Harford County, at the Susquehanna River.

[ACG]

The Boltbus and Megabus services in Baltimore pick up passengers in the real downtown proper however.

Yeah, but to take Bolt or Mega to Baltimore or DC you have to go to NYC first and buy 2 sets of tickets (PHL->NYC, NYC->DC, DC->NYC, NYC->PHL) which is not the way I choose to travel. I have only passed thru the Travel Plaza during daylight areas... def not an area I would want to hang out, but not scary. My feeling is, if I have traveled 2+ hours to come down and visit you, you can be there on time (early and wait in your car for me) and buck up the couple bucks for the toll.

The only other options are much more expensive than a toll... rent a car or Amtrak.

[robot]

If someone asked me where is Philly's true underbelly, i couldn't think of a better spot.

The bus station is truly the underbelly of philly. I recently took a bus from there to atlantic city. Three different people on the bus were listening to headphone music but instead of having the phones on their ears, they were wearing them around their necks and listing to their music that way.

Also, why are there so may gypsy cabs outside the greyhound terminal. Very strange.

[eldondre]

The bus station is truly the underbelly of philly. I recently took a bus from there to atlantic city. Three different people on the bus were listening to headphone music but instead of having the phones on their ears, they were wearing them around their necks and listing to their music that way.

Also, why are there so may gypsy cabs outside the greyhound terminal. Very strange.

are gypsy cabs the same thing as hack cabs? we don't have too many gypsies here in the states but I imagine a gypsy cab is unlicensed because gypsies were unable to attain licenses since they rarely ahd much, if any, rights in the country they happened to be in. hacks are peopel who operate without a license and are quite common in Philadelphia if you live in an area that isn't wealthy (cabbies pay a lot of money for medallions and frequently won't go to the nether reaches of Philadelphia). I've always noticed a large amount of regular cabs as well there, so I'd imagine if there are hacks, peopel are probably having problems getting to their home, perhaps in a distressed neighborhood.

[robot]

are gypsy cabs the same thing as hack cabs? we don't have too many gypsies here in the states but I imagine a gypsy cab is unlicensed because gypsies were unable to attain licenses since they rarely ahd much, if any, rights in the country they happened to be in. hacks are peopel who operate without a license and are quite common in Philadelphia if you live in an area that isn't wealthy (cabbies pay a lot of money for medallions and frequently won't go to the nether reaches of Philadelphia). I've always noticed a large amount of regular cabs as well there, so I'd imagine if there are hacks, peopel are probably having problems getting to their home, perhaps in a distressed neighborhood.

Yeah same as hack cabs. If you hang outside the bus station for more then a minute you will get approached for a ride by a hack cab. It's pretty out in the open. I never really see that at 30th street station.

[eldondre]

Yeah same as hack cabs. If you hang outside the bus station for more then a minute you will get approached for a ride by a hack cab. It's pretty out in the open. I never really see that at 30th street station.

there's probably no demand for hacks at 30th st. In my experience, hacks are at least as expensive but they operate in underserved areas. "car services" can be cheaper, they also operate in underserved areas, but are legal car companies providing a tax service illegally. I usually complain about the way the system is run which results in poor pay for the cabbies and poor service for outlying or poor/dangerous neighborhoods but people on here don't care so long as the cabs look nice. I've also never heard anyone refer to them as gypsy cabs, but i know people use the word gypsy quite often in europe. I suppose in some ways they are the same. while one might be operating illegally because they are treated as a second class citizen, another may be operating illegally because medallion prices are too high to serve those areas and the government doesn't care because their customers are seen as second class citizens.

[robot]

there's probably no demand for hacks at 30th st. In my experience, hacks are at least as expensive but they operate in underserved areas. "car services" can be cheaper, they also operate in underserved areas, but are legal car companies providing a tax service illegally. I usually complain about the way the system is run which results in poor pay for the cabbies and poor service for outlying or poor/dangerous neighborhoods but people on here don't care so long as the cabs look nice. I've also never heard anyone refer to them as gypsy cabs, but i know people use the word gypsy quite often in europe. I suppose in some ways they are the same. while one might be operating illegally because they are treated as a second class citizen, another may be operating illegally because medallion prices are too high to serve those areas and the government doesn't care because their customers are seen as second class citizens.

For some reason everyone I know calls them gypsy cabs. Illegal taxicab operation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[giraffe42]

For some reason everyone I know calls them gypsy cabs. Illegal taxicab operation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So I read that article to the end and the very last part made me

Unlicensed cabs are also found among the Amish of rural Pennsylvania. Old Order Amish do not drive, but will hire a van or taxi for trips for which they cannot use their traditional horse and buggy transportation. [2]