Ever notice that people seem to hate the bus? Like, irrationally? You sit in a room in conversation discussing going somewhere and that one person says, “So long as I don’t have to take a bus, I’m down,” yet no one seems to question why. And who really knows? Maybe people just constantly relive their previous education where licenses were far away and walking by yourself was out of the question; maybe because in every high school movie about bullying there seems to be one pivotal scene that takes place on a bus. In reality, though, is the bus really that bad? And if there was a cheap and accessible way of traveling on a comfortable bus as opposed to, say, taking an extensive train ride, wouldn’t you do it? The answer to that is yes. And that’s where Wanderu comes in. Calling themselves the “simplest way to find and book bus and train travel,” we scored an interview with co-founder Polina Raygorodskaya who’s here to tell you not only how to save money and find modern comforts in travel, but who’s trying to clean up the bus’s bad name.
HC NYU: So what inspired you to create Wanderu?
PR: When I was running my PR firm after college I was traveling by bus frequently between New York and other major cities, especially Boston. I loved traveling by bus because it was convenient [and] on demand, but most importantly the buses had plugs and WiFi so I could turn the bus into a mobile office during my trip and not feel like I was losing a day’s worth of productivity.
In 2011, my co-founder Igor Bratnikov and I were part of a campaign to get cross-country using only ride-shares to raise awareness for national parks and forests while promoting sustainable transportation. We documented our trip through images, videos and a blog on GreenXC.com. During the journey, we got stuck in the Jefferson National Forest in Virginia after our planned rideshare cancelled last minute. Stranded, we tried desperately to find a bus that would take us in the direction of Indianapolis, our next destination. There was one problem: we were in a small town outside of any major cities and there were no buses anywhere near us. We looked up the closest city and tried to find a bus from there to Indianapolis but we would need to take more than one bus and were not able to figure out which ones to take. After spending hours searching we were forced to rent a car for that leg of the trip but it left us thinking, how is it that we can find anything on the internet nowadays except how to get somewhere using ground transportation? So, we set out to develop a search to help people find a way to travel by ground transportation between any two points in the country.
HC NYU: What sets you apart from other companies that serve to give customer traveling deals?
PR: We are the only comprehensive travel site for ground travel focused on helping people find the best trip at the best price. We have partnerships with all of the major providers including Greyhound, Megabus, Boltbus, Peter Pan, New York Trailways and many more. Our search allows consumers to type in their exact address and find stations that will get them to the destination that they need to go. Our routing system combines various operators, schedules and routes to get people to the exact destination that they need to go, something that has never been available before. We also show transit directions to get to and from the stations.
HC NYU: Do you find that people, particularly this generation, are hostile to the idea of taking the bus?
PR: Actually it is quite the opposite. The people in this generation (millennials) are much more likely to take buses than the previous generation and they are the reason that bus travel has become the fastest growing form of transportation. It is older generations that don’t realize how “cool” bus travel has become. The plugs and WiFi allow people to stay connected their entire trips, get work done, and watch movies! And who in our generation doesn’t like being driven around? Much better than having to drive yourself and getting stuck in traffic and wasting hours of your own time.
HC NYU: How do you think Wanderu will help to change the hostile attitude that does exist?
PR: Wanderu simplifies bus travel booking making it easier than ever to connect to any destination, find directions to and from the station and book bus and train travel on the go.
HC NYU: What plans do you have for the company in terms of growth?
PR: We continue to expand all the time adding new regions, new partners and even more options for travel. We currently have approximately 70% of the U.S. covered and will continue to expand throughout.
HC NYU: Do you plan to stick to just buses, or are you branching out to other modes suchas, say, car services?
PR: We plan to continue to add offerings to make travel for easier for Millennials. We aim to be the site that they turn to where they can find offerings catered to them.
Check out Wanderu here as well as the below links which are useful guides they’ve compiled for popular cities that host live updates daily about the cheapest traveling prices out there!
New York to DC: http://www.wanderu.com/cheap-bus-tickets/new-york-ny-to-washington-dcNew York to Boston: http://www.wanderu.com/cheap-bus-tickets/new-york-ny-to-boston-maNew York to Toronto: http://www.wanderu.com/cheap-bus-tickets/new-york-ny-to-toronto-onNew York to Albany: http://www.wanderu.com/cheap-bus-tickets/new-york-ny-to-albany-nyNew York to Chicago: http://www.wanderu.com/cheap-bus-tickets/new-york-ny-to-chicago-il