Hi Everyone.

I saw my husband on Saturday at Franklin (a NYS facility) and boy did I have a horrible ride! I have to board around 10 p.m. on Friday for a Saturday visit (6 hour ride). The lady taking the money charged some people $25, some $40 and some $50. The bus smelled like urine when we got on, and only got worse, and the driver couldn't stay in the lanes. When I woke up in the morning I heard we almost hit a tractor trailer! On top of that, one of the passengers got left at her facility!!! NYC has a few bus services that go to several facilities...Prison Gap and F&M are the two that I have traveled with. Right now they are all in a price war. Two weeks ago the prices were $50 to my facility for adults, now next week it's $25. Every week something different. I heard that a few weeks ago the owner of one service called the cops on another service for not having the proper licences and the bus was seized upstate! Everyone was stranded overnight until the bus was returned the next day! They go to the other service's pick up sites and steal their customers. This is horrible behavior and people like me who just want to go on a visit are caught in the middle. I wish I could just go Greyhound but I would have to spend the night upstate. These rides are often overly uncomfortable and/or dangerous and I travel with a toddler. It is a shame.

-Faith

Faith,
That sounds like a nightmare, I hate the travelling part as well I have to fly from London to San Fran and then get an internal flight I really need to think about learning to drive would make more sense!

Faith

I'm sorry for this crappy bus ride !!!

Maybe you should try to find some people in the NY area and carpool ?? It would certainly be safer and nicer.

Good luck
Phil

Sorry to hear about your traveling conditions. I to have taken Prison Gap before and know what you mean. Our bus broke down before and people were stranded at two facilities because of it. Now I know stuff happens but what pissed me off was the owner and the driver knew that the bus was not in good condition and that there was lots of snow upstate. The driver knew that if he turned off the engine it would freeze over and he did so anyway. Needless to say I had to get a ride back with someone who drove up there and had to pay him more money to get me home. All the other people were stuck up there for hours alot with children. I vowed to never bring my son up there if it's snowing.It good to hear that they have lowered the cost though.

FaithII,
What bus service were you riding on that you are posting about?
David

*Moved to the NY State forum*

Fed X,

The bus I took on the last trip that I described was F&M. I decided to try them out because I was disappointed with Prison Gap. My husband wanted me to come up this weekend for father's day but after the horrible time I had, I need a break. I wouldn't mind paying more for a little professionalism.

-Faith

I always drove but i have heard a lot of people complain......The one service i have heard that was pretty decent was Flambouyants Bus Service. I had a friend that rode with them quite often.....I think they have a website
Good Luck
Debbie

Although I have never taken a bus, I have also heard good things about Flambouyants. I have also heard that it depends on what facility you are traveling to. With some routes being used more you get a bit more professionalism.

Phil, many do not like to car pool because our husbands and men often discourage that. Being to famaliar with another isn't good.Recently there have been some arrests that were initiated by another visitor. The men and there visitors then get charged.

I will keep my ear to the ground and also check with others what services are better than others and then post again.

Does Flambouyant have a web site or anything like that?
Contact info?

Thank you all for your replies and advice. I'm definately going to check out Flamboyant. I don't really want to car pool on a 6+ hour ride. I don't like to drive on long rides and for someone to be responsible for all of that driving and no sleep for 24 hours may not be good either.

I NEED BUS SERVICE FROM NY TO HUNTINGDON P.A, IF SOMEONE KNOWS OF A COMPANY PLEASE HELP ME. THANKS

I went upstate this past weekend and Flamboyant and F&M are the same company. This trip wasn't so horrible, but I made reservations and they weren't going by them, so I almost didn't get a seat. Only one bus went up and it was packed to the max. My daughter had to sit on my lap for 6 hours there and 6 hours back. The trick is to get out there early and stand at the curb until the bus pulls up. Going by reservation would be so much better. In any case I got there and saw my honey.

SnDaZ93, I PM'd you back.

Listen...United Brothers IS THE BOMB!!!! I go to Groveland and they charge $40. The bus was CLEAN, FRESH SMELLING and AIR CONDITIONED!!! AND....the coordinators were actually NICE!!!!! I couldn't STAND that heffa on Prison Gap!!! NASTY attitude! OOOWEEEEE!!!!! Their number is 917-731-4286.The guy's name is Corky. He's a NICE GUY!!!! They even have a little contest on the way back. 1st prize is a free trip and 2nd prize is $10 back. And Corky will let you know in a NY minute "NO SH%ITTING on the bus, and if you're "friend" is visiting, NO CHANGING your pad on the bus. TELL the coordinators and they'll tell him we have to stop. Let me tell you all a funny story....the last time I went up, coming home....my stomach was TORE UP!!!! From that nasty ass artificial food in the vending machine. I couldn't take it anymore. So I told the coordinator "we need to make a special stop, I can't hold it anymore". So when we stopped, I ran like hell to the bathroom and farted up a storm!" lol, but I sure felt a little better getting back on that bus!!!!! But seriously though....United Bros. is da BOMB!! They leave from Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan. OH!!!!!! And CORKY TELLS YOU WHERE TO SIT. So you don't have to worry about all that coordinator saving seats for her click b.s. Gotta run. Hugs to all, Lisa

Originally posted by lisac117
. And Corky will let you know in a NY minute "NO SH%ITTING on the bus, and if you're "friend" is visiting, NO CHANGING your pad on the bus. TELL the coordinators and they'll tell him we have to stop. Let me tell you all a funny story....the last time I went up, coming home....my stomach was TORE UP!!!! From that nasty ass artificial food in the vending machine. I couldn't take it anymore. So I told the coordinator "we need to make a special stop, I can't hold it anymore". So when we stopped, I ran like hell to the bathroom and farted up a storm!" lol, but I sure felt a little better getting back on that bus!!!!! :D :D

too bad he doesnt go to odensburg

You know what? Come to think about it, I swear I can't think of too many bus companies that go upstate from NYC. Let's see, there's Prison Gap, United Bros., Flamboyant...I know I've gone to Happy Journey or whatever it is and Grits tours (with JJ - anyone remember him?). And I think that's about it. And to think compared to living upstate and needing a bus to go to a facility up there, we're supposed to have it good. Lol.

Faith, I live in New York and have a loved one in Franklin. Can you tell me a little about what it's like there? Feel free to PM me.

I would say that there are nicer people running Flambouyant, but a month ago, I went to Riverview and the bus broke down in watertown. We were stuck at the side of the road until the sheriff's took us to the next rest stop, where we waited in a diner for about nine hours for another bus to come get us. The coordinator and driver had no contact with the company and I had to keep calling on my cell phone or God knows how long we would have been out there, because neither of them were checking on if or when another bus was coming to get us. It was the worst. Flamboyant has older buses than Prison Gap, so the choice isn't always clear cut on which is better.

This is terribble! There needs to be regulation but who gets tor egulate...sigh.... I wonder if a group could be formed, families and friends, who would stick together about bus conditions, one by one they can rip you off, if they have 47-50 people standing there calling police (before the bus leaves the station to check on licenses and so on), calling the board of health AND wanting their money back whilerefusing to travel on an unfit bus, maybe, just maybe, they would shape up.

(don't mind me, I'm in a rabblerouser mood cause I didn't get to see my guy this month...(state bus cancellations...'weather' and all that.) LOL But it is awful and I feel reallyb ad for people who have to go through this crap from these transportation systems!
Hope something can be done to clena up these companies that prey on the families and friends of loved ones inside.
Caprione

I guess these companies figure they are providing a service and they know that we are between a rock and a hard place ... the last time I rode with Prison Gap I swore it was my last ... I came all the way from Maryland to visit my family in NY and then make my way upstate via their service. I had a reservation but of course my name was never called. There were about 20 of us left standing there in the cold ... they did manage to get another bus. It looked like one of those buses where they take you from one terminal to the next at the airport -- no way did it look like it could make it upstate. The wind was whipping thru the thing - I don't think the heat worked at all. The guy managed to get us up there and at the facility I go to there is no "hospitality house" and the regular driver knows this - if we get there early he will go to get some food or even Walmart. Not this idiot - he made us get off the bus and wait outside for a half-hour in a friggin' snow storm. Thank God for another nice bus driver from another company (Manny's Transportation Service) whos saw us turning into icicles and let us get on his bus to wait until they opened the doors to let us in. I dreaded getting back on that bus for the ride back to the city ... we made it back but I promised myself that was my last time with Prison Gap ... so regulation of some sort is definitely in order but where do we start?

Hmmm, where would you start? Good question and, I guess, my responsibility to try answer since I brought it up! lol

Of course this is an 'ideal' pattern for resolving or getting action on something like this but if enough of you got invovled, I think the companies would deem it necessary to listen and try to correct things. If it's just a 'few complainers' go at them one at a time they will keep brushing you aside.

I guess you would need someone from the area willing to ask other riders to start looking at the matter with the intention of trying to change things rather than just venting with each other or complaining one on one with the companies.
Once a few people put their heads together, I think they'd need to start documenting things. With written documentation of some of the messes that have been happening and some of the hazards people have been placed in the group could approach the transporation systems. (Waste of time but needs to be the first step because , if not, the companies will just say " they never made any complaints to us')
Companies who said they really wanted to improve thigns could start handing out 'evaluation forms' the end of each ride for people to make their comments,g ood or bad and return to the company, same time, copies of those forms could be kept with the group to see how/if anythign improved over a set period of time. (My guess is the companies won't do anything like that but it could be worth asking them.)

By documentation I mean specific situations written out by those who experienced them and then get a notary to notarize the written, signed statement. Around here msot libraries do that for free.
Once therwe is a stack of that, I letter to the companies invovled, including copies of the documentation could be sent out with CCs to ...geez, I don't know...maybe transportation department or health department or Attorney General or civil liberties unions.....
When/If the bus companies don't respond, then you would have what you need to move to a higher level with the matter.
Then there's the media, getting reporters (undetected) on a couple of the worst busses, etc If you don't get the responses you want from higher ups.

This is all off the top of my head. I know it won't change nothing overnight but if there are some who want to work on it, over time they might be able to get things changed.
From my experiences with advocating, it has to come from those invovled, at least at first, and not from outsiders or other businesses.
Caprione

Lisac117,

Was your coordinator a fat light skinned chick? I got to Wyoming on Prison Gap and I think you may have had the same coordinator as me. She is a b@#$% for real. I hate riding with her. I'll check out United Brothers. Thanks for the link.

Oh, my, goodness!! What am I gon do??!! I knew from years ago that Prison Gap stunk, and it seems here in 2003, but now 2004, they stink worse!! How am I going to get to see my husband in Wyoming CF??!! Based on what you all say, oh my goodness -- I don't even know what to say for yalls testimonies are a nightmare. The LAST thing I want to do is get stuck somewhere, be on a bus that has broke down, be on a bus where it's so croweded -- what I really wanna do is tell my husband to "do what you gotta do and I'll see you the first day of the last month of your incareration." Unfortunately, he's not trying to hear that, and I don't blame him in a way b/c it's me -- his wife -- whom he wants to see. He's been there a month already and I have not been b/c I am petrified of being stranded in ten degree weather. We are in the dead of winter, it snows up there every day, and people are drudging their children thru this?? But it's really not bad for the children -- to them, it's a fun busride to see daddy, so circumstances are not even an issue for them. Oh to be a child again -- no worries. But since I'm not, since I'm 43 and grown as hell, my only worry in this world, is how in the hell am I going to get from NYC to Wyoming CF. H-E-L-P!! Cries with no help, b/c a few of us are in the same predicament.

After I swore I was never taking Prison Gap again, I had to go back on that and ride with them this past weekend. The time before that I went to another company, Manny's, and while they were okay, I think Prison Gap works a little better for me (that horrible trip I had notwithstanding). Manny's only had stops in Queens (neither near public transpo) and one in Brooklyn (which I'm not really familiar with and didn't want to chance it at 2:00 in the am), so I wound up having to bum a ride to the bus at one of the Queens stops (thank God for my sister) but it was just so inconvenient. With Prison Gap, I can hop on the LIRR and get there without bothering anybody. This past week the owner for Prison Gap was right out there with us in the cold waiting - the bus arrived on time (a little early even), it was clean and warm, the coordinator handled the business (for the most part - a first timer missed her stop upstate but the driver took her back), the driver knew not to leave us standing out there in the frigid cold waiting to get into the facility (the facility I go to has no "hospitality house" and you can't get in until 8:30 on the dot) and b/c the weather was not so nice the bus wasn't packed out so I even had a seat to myself this trip. I'm no fan of the busses period but even though Prison Gap has had it's issues, they edge out a lot of the other companies b/c they do go to most of the prisons upstate and they basically know the ins and outs of the NYS system.

I spoke with Corky (United Brothers 917-731-4286) and he seems to be a down to earth individual. He begins taking reservations on Monday. This weekend will be my first trip to see my husband. We're supposed to get snow, but out west and up north, that's a daily thing. I'll let you know how my trip was when I get back

What facilities does United Bros. go to? I like that they assign seats according to the order that you call so at least getting a seat is not an issue ... yea, it snows where my husband is from October til April so I just know to dress warmly and pray that the bus doesn't break down! :) Have a great visit and let us know how the ride is ...

I'm just learning of them myself. The best thing to do is call them so you can get the info directly from them. Actually, b/c I'm really not fond of travellingin bad weather I may cancel. Of course my husband is hoping I make it, but I know what he look like, I got pictures at the crib, and b/c he's so much a part of me, I feel like he's always around me anyhow. So, if I don't make it b/c of the snow we're expecting, I'll be alright, and b/c he's a -- as he puts it when he's in society -- A GROWN ASS MAN -- he will be alright too! (smile)

Just stoppin in to tell about my ride up with United Brothers (contact info ~Corky ~ ~917~731~4286). He's got a seating system so there's NO overbooking and NO seat saving. If you call after he's booked a full bus he got a standby system and he'll let you know you're on standby. He runs the book himself, not the coordinator. Speaking of coordinator, his coordinator is an alright lady -- no power-crazy, stank-tail chick there, and I feel she coordinates so well that she should be on salary. She accounts for everyone after a stop because Unity Bros. are NOT trying to leave anyone. Might I mention Saturday morning two people on the OPG bus got off at a wrong facility (Wyoming) and when they realized it and went outside, their bus was gone!! See, that's that bullshit. So the lady who works the hospital center drove them in her car to their correct facility. The weather wasn't bad so the ride went smooth. Corky drives the bus himself and he does Groveland/Livingston and Wyoming/Attica EVERY FRIDAY NIGHT FOR SATURDAY VISITS. With more air freshener than the law allowed and no pee drops on or around the toilet, the bathroom was and remained fresh and clean. Corky picks up then brings you back to a convenient stop in Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan and we made no stops going and one food stop returning which is good b/c they just wanna get you where you're going without all the extra. HOWEVER, if somebody has to do #2 or change your sanitary, he will pull over with a smile and a laugh so you can handle that in a public bathroom. Someone in an earlier thread mentioned contests on the bus during the ride back home. Four people get a chance to win and I was one! Winners get a non-transferrable coupon worth ten bucks off a future ride so the next time I go I'm goin for $30 instead of $40, providing, of course, I don't lose my coupon. Comfortable ride, clean environment, movies, alert driver so no swerving on the road. Also, cordialness on the bus seemed to be contagious b/c I heard no arguing, cussing, cell phones ringing or the like -- just talk, smiles, laughter, and when the movies are playing -- quietness. I'd really like to take my husband that last January food package this weekend but b/c his visit falls on Sunday I'm choosing FedEx to get it there rather than spending that $50 with OPG to get me and the package to the facility. I love my husband as much as the next, and I go thru my fair share of bullshit in this prison game trying to meet NYS DOC requirements fars what my husband can and can't have. I don't need the bullshit on my ride there an back too! I'm not bashing Prison Gap, I'm just not up for the bullshit, that's all.