Students looking for a ride home this Thanksgiving can purchase bus tickets from the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) today and tomorrow between 3 and 6 p.m. in the Findlay Commons in East Halls.
USG will charter round-trip bus service for interested students and provide five route options, including Baltimore/Washington D.C., Long Island, New Jersey/New York City, Monroeville/Pittsburgh and King of Prussia/Philadelphia.
The buses will depart from East Halls at 7 a.m. on Nov. 23 and return Sunday before classes resume.
USG is providing the service in collaboration with Fullington Trailways, an agent of Greyhound that offers daily bus service from State College to selected locations.
USG vice president Pat Daley said the student group will purchase the buses at a student discount, making the service cheaper for students than the bus services operated directly by Fullington.
However, the price difference is minimal for most locations. A round trip ticket to Pittsburgh through Fullington costs $43, while a student riding with USG would pay $42.
Students riding to New York would save $18 though -- a ticket purchased through Fullington costs $88, and a ticket through USG costs only $70.
Fullington also does not normally offer service to Long Island.
Unlike services provided directly through bus companies, USG can only guarantee one charter bus to each location. Daley said the number of buses offered by USG to each location will depend on the number of students interested in the service.
Each bus can hold up to 55 passengers; therefore, USG will not charter additional buses unless each bus has at least 42 passengers.
Daley said USG would offer multiple opportunities through November for students to purchase tickets.
USG has yet to finish the paperwork, Daley said, but the organization plans to sell tickets in the HUB-Robeson Center as well as create other purchasing dates in Findlay Commons.
Students will be notified of any cancellations 10 to 14 days prior to the buses departures.
Fullington and USG aren't the only options for public transportation out of State College.
Erika Huang (freshman-political science) relies on Dragon Coach whenever she returns home to New York City. She said she probably wouldn't use USG's service because Dragon Coach offers her round-trip transportation to New York City for $60.
However, Dragon Coach only offers bus service to and from New York City from State College. The company terminated its service to Pittsburgh this month.
Students interested in purchasing a ticket through USG either today or tomorrow must first fill out an online form at www.clubs.psu.edu /up/usg/bus/index.html, and bring a copy to the ticket table before reservations can be made.
