Number of Times I've Taken Greyhound

I have honestly lost count of the number of times I have taken the Greyhound. If I were to total up since I was young to know, it would be even harder to remember. As of since I went to college until now, maybe around 30 times? That's just an estimate. Maybe too much? or too little, well it's around there.

I should have made an excel sheet with a record of the times I rode the bus and how much I spent on each ticket fare. I would record every time I purchased a ticket and even the number of hours each trip took. I could be able to estimate monthly usage, average hours, and even see how much money I save or spend on traveling home.

Now that I think of it, I really should have done that. Now I don't even know how many times I have taken the Greyhound nor do I know how much I have spent traveling with this bus company. Either way, I only have a year of school left, so the total times of upcoming traveling will be about another 10 or so. Hopefully I get rides from friends in the future.

Greyhound Databases

I think Greyhound should really keep a database filled with their travellers. When we purchase tickets, we can basically put whoever's name we want and when we board the bus, the driver doesn't look at the name, so you can hop right on. If that's the case, then why do they require our name when purchasing the ticket? I mean, safety is a big issue for travelling and I would say for Greyhound, they are on the moderate level of demanding safety.

There can be a lot of debate about this issue, but I personally think it would help to have some type of database with their clients' information. Kind of like what airlines do. This would help because they can remember who their most frequent travellers are - like me, and offer some incentives or benefits. They should give free round trips for every number of miles you travel or times you travel. That would attract a lot of customers.

I brought up the database topic because in class we were doing things with Linux, and I was able to pull up old files I have saved in any Syracuse University computer. I thought it was very neat and helpful. Greyhound does do everything on the computer, thank goodness they are technology savvy. So I thought , I'm pretty sure every time we buy a ticket and they enter all the information in order to print out the ticket, that it is saved somewhere is some database they have. I guess they can pull up transactions just as how we can pull up our old documents. It sounds OK after all......

Greyhound drivers and their microphones

So this week's lab in my IST 195 class, we talked about audio and audio editing. We did some audio editing with a program called Audacity and it involves us using a headphone and microphone set attached to it. After doing this lab, I immediately thought about Greyhound, and their audio technology.

When all passengers have settled down in the bus, the driver starts the engine and starts the road trip. Many drivers introduce themselves and tell us the rules and regulations of riding on a Greyhound bus. There would also be some drivers who get lazy and not say anything at all. You can easily tell which driver is friendly and professional and those who kind of aren't.

Well when the drivers do introduce themselves, they usually speak through the mic attached to the bus in the front next to their steering wheel and such. Right when he/she is about to speak, it usually makes a big beeping sound, and then their voice. And as they speak, you hear a lot of static. When I did my lab, I heard my own recording and a lot of the background noises and static interrupted my message. I thought this really related to the driver speaking through their mic because of the technology we used was similar and the outcome was the same. Overall, I believe that better equipment will produce better quality, and since cheaper equipment was used, cheaper quality we got.

Getting to Know Greyhound

Today, or this week's lab was about getting to know our computers. We had to make a PowerPoint which taught people how to build a basic computer. We also included the basic components used and what each of them did. I have heard of many of the terms, but until I did some research, I did not actually know what their main functions were. I even learned other functions it possessed.

In relations to the Greyhound bus company, I would say I know the Greyhound pretty well. I am a frequent traveler who uses their company a lot. I know the rules of buying the ticket and rules on the bus. I would say I got to know them well when I started college. Obviously, since I had to take the bus most the time and it was the same destination back and forth.

I know their refund policy, bus policy (when you are riding), luggage/baggage policy, and even my way around both bus stations. (NYC & Syracuse) Although I have ridden the Greyhound to other cities, I wasn't familiar with anything. Maybe it was because I was young, and was a long while until I rode the Greyhound again. However, the service seems to be the same and quite reliable since a lot of people are still traveling with the company.