The SmartWay Commuter Bus parks behind Squires Student Center. The new SmartWay Connector Bus will pick up from the same location and provide service to Lynchburg, VA.
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A new form of transportation will make traveling easier for students and residents going to Washington, D.C. and beyond.
The Smart Way Connector, a bus service that has been running to provide transportation for NRV residents to Roanoke, will begin offering a new service that will connect Roanoke to the Lynchburg Amtrak station. The service will run from Roanoke to Lynchburg every weekday, and extended service will be provided on the weekends for NRV residents traveling to the Amtrak station.
NRV residents will be able to use the Lynchburg connector during the weekdays by traveling on the NRV-Roanoke connector and then transferring to the Roanoke-Lynchburg shuttle. The new shuttle service is expected to provide an easier form of transportation for Virginia Tech students traveling home for the weekend or for breaks. Tech sophomore Jackie Florio believes the new service will make traveling home to New Jersey easier on her and her parents.
“The Amtrak system would definitely help me out because my parents don’t like to drive eight hours to pick me up,” Florio said. “I would most likely take the train if we got that service.” Florio also said that traveling via Smart Way Connector and Amtrak would likely be cheaper.
“The bus is only four dollars, and I think that the bus to Richmond is $60 and airfare from Roanoke to Newark, NJ, is about $300 dollars for going there and back.” said Florio. “I’m pretty sure that the train is far less expensive.” Tech student Nikita Chadha also believes that Amtrak travel would be simpler for her travel home to the Washington, D.C. area.
“I think that this would be convenient for students who have to travel long distances,” Chadha said. “I would definitely use this form of transportation – taking the Amtrak would be a more comfortable and direct way of getting home.”
A version of this article appeared in the Jul 14 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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Megabus from Christiansburg to DC is great. Comfortable seats. Inexpensive and the Wifi works most of the time. The drivers are nice. Megabus goes twice a day. Why do we need anything else?
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The Megabus leaves at strange times, and doesn't actually go to Union Station, but to some place several blocks away. It'll be nice to have a simpler option.
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There is a shuttle from Union Station to the Mega Bus stop during evening hours. Once in DC you can connect to Baltimore, New York, Toronto, Philladelphia, Pittsburg, Secaucus and more. So --for instance --to go from Christiansburg to Toronto, there is one stop in DC, and the cost is about $65 each way.
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Because Amtrak goes to other places, in addition to DC. So Newark, NJ for example, which would be useful to one of the students interviewed for this story.
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Because Amtrak goes to other places, in addition to DC. So Newark, NJ for example, which would be useful to one of the students interviewed for this story.
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Kids from NJ also have the option to take Megabus from Christiansburg to DC to Secaucus, for about $45 - $50 each way.
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