Printable View
I'm surprised this was never mentioned in the media around here. When it first commenced, it certainly was. I was looking to go to Cleveland soon to visit a cousin and realized it. This is too bad...
http://www.mlive.com/business/ann-ar..._non-chic.html
Doesn't all of the MegaBus service to Detroit go through Ann Arbor? So, there is no more MegaBus service to Detroit anymore? Did I interpret this correctly?
Quote:
On May 6, MegaBus will no longer provide services from Ann Arbor to Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland or Pittsburgh.
It looks like buses are still running from Detroit -> Ann Arbor -> ChicagoQuote:
Originally Posted by iheartthed
Aggghhhhh I was going to visit my friend in Pittsburgh at the end of the summer for the Pennsylvania Pinball show! The way the article and release word things makes it sound like they were just discontinuing the Ann Arbor -> Pittsburgh route, but its basically "Yay you can only go to Chicago" now. I do not want to go to Chicago. That's where all the people I didn't enjoy moved.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dtowncitylover
I notice the Megabus has cut their service from Chicago to Detroit& back; the company may be in trouble.
The two times I traveled to Pittsburgh, I never went through AA, just Toledo and Cleveland.Quote:
Originally Posted by iheartthed
Getting out east without a car continues to be hard for us Detroiters. The Amtrak to NY from Toledo leaves in the middle of the night...
You know how the pseudo-free-market people say, "We don't need passenger rail--just run buses down the Interstates!"Quote:
Originally Posted by dtowncitylover
Yeah.
Good call. Because if/when the trains quit running, then we can convert them from "Rails To Trails".
If you don't want to drive, then why not fly? Flights to major airports in the Northeast are usually under $200.
If you don't have a car, you can rent one for $20 a day, and a tank of gas will take you to the Clevelands and Pittsburghs of the world.
How is flying is comparable to a $1-20 bus ride?Quote:
Originally Posted by Bham1982
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spartan
Because that's called megaPLANE Sparty....
Where are these $200 flghts and $20/day rentals you speak of? What year is it?Quote:
Originally Posted by Bham1982
Disregarding Spirit's B.S. [[with limited schedules), I have not purchased a NYC-DTW flight for under 300 in at least four years. It generally pushes 350-400.
I have a hard time envisioning sufficient demand to Ohio, or even the lovely city of Pittsburgh. Does Greyhound have such routes covered?
I love flying but it has to be justified. Going through security for a 60-90 minutes flight that may be delayed and paying "$200" for it is not justifiable.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bham1982
I actually love road tripping, but that assumes there's more people with me. If it's just me paying for gas, I'd rather take a bus or train.
Had to check a flight to JFK...$298 with a layover in Charlotte. Direct to LaGuardia was $329. Boston was $203 but with a layover in Philly, direct was $303. Dulles was $314, direct and up. I would say the average of all the flights I'm looking at is between $350-500. Flying, even close, is not cheap anymore.
Greyhound does have routes, but Megabus is geared toward the young, professional, and tourist crowds and that's who I encountered the most. I've never been on Greyhound but I am guilty of judging a book by its cover.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mackinaw
Yes but it stops at every podunk between here and Pittsburgh. It takes the better part of a day.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mackinaw
WHO rents a car for $20 a day? When I was in Detroit last year, the cheapest rental was $61 a day.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bham1982
Please let me know the source for cheap rentals.
Nice try. At least you can still get your taxpayer subsidized Amtrak direct train to Pittsburgh! Oh, wait, you can't. I forgot. There is no regular passenger train that ever leaves Michigan that enters the state of Pennsylvania [[or Ohio). Megabus is much cheaper. And Megabus pays taxes, it doesn't eat them. Also, since Megabus isn't locked into government worker contracts, they can alter their service to meet demand. For example, I would bet you that the Detroit-East Lansing-Grand Rapids run returns when MSU kids return in the fall. If Amtrak loses money on a run [[every single route in non-coastal states bleeds money), they just keep on keeping on. Don't let failure alter your plans! Please, also, don't forget that another interstate private bus carrier, Greyhound, does in fact serve even more destinations than either Amtrak or Megabus [[athough they are not as nice as Megabus, they are still cheaper than Amtrak, with much more frequent service). Greyhound is at this moment moving more Michiganders than Amtrak will move all week. And did I mention that they are cheaper, more frequent, serve more cities [[and sometimes multiple stations in a single city or metropolitan area?).Quote:
Originally Posted by ghettopalmetto
And, just to remind you, Ghettopalmetto, I am strongly in favor of passenger rail, where density and frequence of use justifies the investment. That ain't here. Amtrak service in the midwest serves a snobby few who look down their noses at buses. Liberals talk about the 1%. How about the .1%? I can justify spending tons of money on transit that serves a ton of people. Michigan Amtrak service would only be super popular if it were super free.
Greyhound employees are really cheering about Megabus transportation cuts. Corporations have ways to eliminate its competitors in the name of money.
Screw you, Megabus! Stay out of Michigan.
I'm going to go a bit off the thread topic here and I think there is some other thread
about traveling by Amtrak from the Detroit area to Ann Arbor. I would use Amtrak from Dearborn to Ann Arbor for the occasional day trip if it were practical. I enjoy being a passenger. I like trains. The fuel used per passenger is much less with trains as well.
I know that there are many, many daily Detroit area commuters to Ann Arbor as well but
these never seem to take Amtrak, they just blast along M-14 at or above the speed limit.
Once in Ann Arbor the bus systems are quite usable for getting around there, many people
use them there, so really there should be more demand for Detroit to Ann Arbor rail than
there is.
I've checked into taking the existing Amtrak runs for this. It was impractical. Amtrak's fares were expensive relative to car travel and that's with the higher price of gas and with
Detroit car insurance. Its trains were infrequent and always Chicago bound. Last but not least Amtrak fares had the bad habit of going up if you waited until the last minute to book.
Amtrak might work to go to Chicago if you can't take the plane to Chicago, but doesn't work for Ann Arbor commuting at all, for snobs or anyone else, and I do think there is more demand for it than what it seems based on actual Amtrak usage.
Greyhound is so successful, that is has been cutting stops left-and-right for the past ten years. But hey, let me know when they start maintaining the roads they use, and then we can start having an apples-to-apples conversation.Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeyinBrooklyn
Amtrak ridership is at record levels. The only reason ridership isn't higher is because there are so few trains in most of the country. For the paltry $1 billion a year that our federal government invests in passenger rail, I'd say Amtrak does a pretty bang-up job.
Megabus, on the other hand, doesn't quite have the ridership that you think they do. It's hard to pay taxes on revenue you're not generating.
Amtrak moves tens of thousands of people everyday. Mostly in the Northeast. You know, where Boston-Providence-New York-Newark-Trenton-Philadelphia-Newark, Del-Baltimore-DC is massively heavily travelled. Operationally, Amtrak is a wreck, as Amtrak itself admits. Rail stock and rail line infrastructure is very under-maintained. Again, Amtrak says that. Also, Amtrak runs on lots of freight-owned rail lines, which causes huge delays over which it has no control. Amtrak should be freed of it's unfortunate legal obligation to provide it's [[very limited) service to low density parts of the country. States and localities could then choose if subsidizing lightly used passenger rail in their area justifies spending their own money. The Obama administration should spend the money they are currently spending on pretend high-speed rail projects on crucial rail infrastructure & bridge maintenance. But that would be a responsible expenditure of federal transportation money.Quote:
Originally Posted by ghettopalmetto
AMTRAK unfortunately operates at a loss. Except for the NE corridor, AMTRAK operates over freight tracks. If they keep their schedule, AMTRAK trains get priority by the dispatcher. If they fall behind schedule because of a station delay [[loading a wheel chair, slow loading of baggage) then they are the dispatcher's "red headed step child" and every single freight train takes priority over them.
I have travelled via Amtrak twice this year in upstate New York. Both days had excellent weather. One day, Albany to Buffalo was 25 minutes late. The other time, on the same trip, it was nearly 2 hours late. Weekday, midday travel. My mistake in not taking the bus. I do enjoy rail travel. Just not sure my riding preference warrants the subsidy Amtrak receives.
By the way, my train car was never more than 1/3 full.
I took the train to Chicago once and unless you are going solo, you are better off driving. Tickets are $200 roundtrip and it literally took 7 hours to get there. They seriously need to find a way to cut the time a couple hours.
The removal of the Detroit-Pittsburgh service seems more of an indication of the partial failure of the Pittsburgh hub. The Wikipedia article on Megabus notes that 3 of the 7 original Pittsburgh routes were dropped in 2012. The removal of those routes [[and service cutbacks) made it impossible to connect in Pittsburgh without staying there overnight. The number of buses to Detroit was cut at that time as well. Although they did not sell tickets to connect, I had friends go from Detroit to both New York and Toronto through the Pittsburgh hub in 2011, by buying individual segments.
After the Detroit cut, the Pittsburgh ¨hub¨ only has service to DC, NYC and Philadelphia.
It should be noted that Megabus has expanded recently with service from New York to Chicago without a change of buses [[and stops only in Toledo, Cleveland and State College PA). They also now have service from Cleveland to Atlanta with no change of buses.
Looks like Snyder Orr and the car ass kissing corporation won another one
This is a good point. Along the same lines, one can't, through Megabus, buy direct tickets. If I wanted to go to Minneapolis, I would have to buy a ticket to Chicago and then a ticket to Minneapolis, the same with the way back. It would be nice if I could plug in Detroit to MSP and it would automatically transfer me through Chicago. I tried to set up a trip to Harrisburg, PA to see family and couldn't because the transfer time in Pittsburgh was overnight!Quote:
Originally Posted by rooms222
I'm with you dtcl!Quote:
Originally Posted by dtowncitylover
We've got my wife and a 2 and 4 year old and driving is almost always preferable to flying. We're leaving for Chattanooga on Monday morning. We'll be piling in the mini-van and saving a ton of money over flying. Flying isn't even that much faster because of the security check-in times.
I plan on taking a train to Chicago when my kids get a little older, I think it would be fun to ride that way.
. It's not. But what do people in Birmingham know about taking a bus? Just book a plane ticket, and why not first class while you're at it?Quote:
Originally Posted by Spartan
I’m traveling to Detroit from San Diego…
Greyhound is a 54 hour ride, 3 transfers, 30 stops, $216.00 – web price only, standard price is $255.00
Amtrak – forget about it – 3 transfers, 52 hours, $283.00, oh, and no checked baggage please
Booked an airline ticket – via cheapOair.com - $280.00, one transfer, one hour between flights
All prices quoted are one way
This is relevant why? Everyone knows airplanes are the best and most efficient way to travel cross country...Quote:
Originally Posted by SDCC
Some of us don't have the money for a flight from Detroit to, say, New York. Some of us don't want to put a ton of miles on our car driving to Cleveland or Pittsburgh. Some of us would prefer to take a MegaBus to some of these areas and have a friend pick us up. Unfortunately, you demonstrate your disconnect with the reality of others by saying "Just rent a car for $20/day" [[It's not that cheap) or "Just take a plane" [[I don't have $200 to blow on a flight). MegaBus was aimed at those of us who want to travel, but find the conventional means of travel to be cost prohibitive.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bham1982
Edit - Basically makes going to NYC or Pittsburgh much, much less likely for me these days, which upsets me a little bit. I have a very close friend in Pittsburgh, and another good friend moving back to NYC this summer, and I would really love to visit both, but...
Check out flights on Frontier to ILG [[Wilmington, DE), then take the Megabus from Philly or Newark to NYC. If you time things right you can get to NY for under $100. Maybe still too much, but a way to get to NYC much cheaper!Quote:
Originally Posted by motz
There is no such bus ride. Greyhound is around $100 to the East Coast.Quote:
Originally Posted by Spartan
Obviously you will pay a little more to fly to NYC or DC compared to the bus, but there are massive savings in time.
For closer trips [[to places like Pittsburgh and Cleveland) all you need is a tank of gas. A bus will never compete with this [[as we just witnessed).
Are you renting high end cars or something?Quote:
Originally Posted by Chicago48
I have never even paid $30 a day for a car rental. In California I paid something like like $12/day.
Go to carrentals.com.Tons of options in the $20 range.
We already know none of this is true. Megabus cancelled their skeletal service for lack of demand.Quote:
Originally Posted by motz
And again, how is renting a car more expensive? I don't get it. If you can't swing $150 for a flight or $20 a day for a car rental, and the only way you could possibly travel was relying on a $1 Megabus, then what's the point of travel in the first place?
Do relize how insufferable you sound?Quote:
Originally Posted by Bham1982
1) The point of travel is to have fun. Shelling out hundreds of dollars is not fun. I want to keep costs low.
2) Megabus was that ride.
3) Going from a $40 RT fare through Megabus to ~$300 plane ticket is not a "little more" to most people.
4) It's not just a tank of gas. It's 1 tank there. 1 tank back and 1 tank to refill for the workweek. 3 tanks of gas, in a short period that most people don't want to do.
I think the lack of demand came from Megabus not having a decent timetable to get people in Detroit to NY, Philly, or DC by the evening. I shouldn't have to spend 6 hrs overnight or 4 hrs in the day without a decent shelter to wait in in Pittsburgh just to transfer.
Most of the time, I can make the time to travel. I cannot afford to dry up my bank account just for travel. You wanna take a plane and rent a car, go right ahead, but some of us don't have that luxury.
Oh cool, the "Well if you can't afford $150, why are you even travelling? Poor people don't deserve to travel" argument. We don't really have any low-cost options beyond Megabus if your entire idea is to not drive. I don't want to take my car, or any car rental or not, when I travel to a place. Part of the idea, at least for myself, of travelling is leaving behind certain responsibilities I find annoying [[a car is a fine example). But whatever, I will just stay at home every day because us on the lower end of the wage scale don't deserve to travel :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Bham1982
$20 sounds pretty low to me. If you truly can't afford $20, and also can't afford Greyhound, you are going to be dining at the local Pittsburgh soup kitchen. Probably best to stay home if you are truly destitute.
Greyhound is $27. I don't see why that's an outrageous price.
I changed it to insufferable because that word escaped me when I wrote the post and it is more appropriate. $20 for what? A car? That's $20 per day for a car plus gas. NO. For a Megabus ticket, yes!Quote:
Originally Posted by Bham1982
Greyhound is still much more than Megabus. Look it up.
Like most people, I like to splurge when I'm on location traveling somewhere but like to keep transportation costs low. And obviously, money is not object for you, that's great.
Because I think a $27 bus ticket isn't outrageous, then "money isn't an object for me"? Alrighty, then...Quote:
Originally Posted by dtowncitylover
Greyhound is unionized. Their gas and insurance is expensive. Federal interstate safety regulations are cumbersome. How much lower to do you need bus fares to fall so you can take your dream vacation to Pittsburgh?
Maybe if they broke the union, evaded safety rules and hired a bunch of undocumented immigrants from Honduras and paid them under the table, you could save $5 or $10. Would that save your vacation from disaster?
Well that escalted quickly. I've already taken my vacations to Pittsburgh thank you. It's a lovely town, I'd recommend it. I'm not saying planes, Greyhound, or car rentals are bad ways of travel, but when the cheapest way to travel is now gone it hinders some people's ability to travel more often and spend more money in other local economies.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bham1982
A $27 bus ticket isn't outrageous, but that's not the cost of a Greyhound ticket to the east.
This is going to sound harsh but if you don't have the money to get a flight then you have no business taking trips. Stay home. My parents always taught me that. Nobody needs to go on a vacation.Quote:
Originally Posted by motz
That must've been an unfortunate childhood. I mean if you're dead broke, then yeah traveling shouldn't be a high priority. But to say if you can't afford at least the price of a plane ticket then you shouldn't go anywhere is quite elitist. Everyone should be able travel and vacaiton from time to time.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cliffy
Of course many people on Megabus weren't on vacation. I saw many young families, students going back to school, and I for one used it to go to Chicago for an interview.
It is pretty harsh, actually. People who are from lower income brackets, or people such as myself just starting out in a field, often times have fairly to very hectic lives. The ability to set aside, say, $20 a week to go on a trip while not breaking the bank is something lots of us do. When you take away low-cost options for travel, you're a) Making travel a middle-to-upper class only affair b) Taking away a very enjoyable, sometimes necessary option for relaxation for people. Saying "If you can't buy a plane ticket, don't travel" is the equivalent of saying "If you can't buy or lease a car, don't bother driving". Travel/vacations are a way for many people to get away from their stress, their worries, their troubles, etc. The ~free market~ should be able to recognize this and provide options while still being able to pull in some decent profits, but the free markets are about as broken as your "You shouldn't travel you stupid poor" argument.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cliffy
I don't think its elitist. Its just reality. I mean when I had no money, I didn't go on a vacation. Sometimes you have to set priorities in life in order to put some money on the side for a rainy day. I guess I was raised differently but then again money isn't a big concern for us now because we sacrificed. But a typical American in this country wants a new car, vacation, and other crap and thats why they are working until 80 years old. I'll get off my soap box or whatever box I'm standing on lolQuote:
Originally Posted by dtowncitylover
I think it's because of the whole Tracy Morgan ordeal. The bus lines are shutting down because their drivers are too tired. When we have drone-like buses that don't require drivers, that will be great. No more waiting on the next bus.
Megabus was obviously not able to make a go of it on the fares they charged. They needed either more riders or higher fares.Quote:
Originally Posted by dtowncitylover
Not only is long distance travel [[I'll arbitrarily define that as more than a five hour drive) problematic, but regional transit in SE Michigan is practically nonexistent. I'm retired, line in Ann Arbor and don't like driving but would enjoy visiting Detroit about once a month. Ideally that would mean getting into town in mid to late morning and returning in mid to late afternoon, allowing perhaps a trip to the DIA, lunch somwhere, or maybe a stop at John King's [[I won't even get into the subject of evening events such as opera or symphony). Presently there is no Megabus, a few Greyhound buses which are not well timed for day trips into town, and a couple of Amtrak trains, also poorly timed, and undependable as well, making any type of commuter travel, for work or pleasure, impossible. One has been hearing for years about an Ann Arbor-Detroit commuter train, but it always in the "future", and uses the same tracks which constantly delay the few Amtrak trains there are [[the first thing Amtrak should have done over forty years ago was get dedicated tracks but of course they did it backwards). Many years ago there were Budd rail diesel cars [[self powered passenger cars) in service from Jackson to Detroit, which would be cheaper to buy and run than full trains. Absent that, a truly well coordinated system of express buses, using existing freeways, might be viable and save on the infrastructure costs of trains, providing useful and dependable regional transit.
A2Mike, your post is just bubbling with truth. Aside from issues involving delays, Detroit-Ann Arbor rail [[through Amtrak) isn't frequent, reliable or cheap enough to be of significant value for commuters in the area. Without construction of a new, dedicated set of heavy rails or a light rail line, I don't think a non-Amtrak rail service could offer anything in the way of a fast, frequent, inexpensive rail trip between AA & Detroit. Even if such Magical Tracks were to just appear, I am still not convinced such a service would have enough passengers to justify even the operating subsidy [[let alone construction and equipment acquisition).
I am not opposed to AA-Detroit rail, if the technical details could be worked out, and the financial loss was both minimized and stable. Also, no commuter service linking the 2 cities is worth the bother or expense if it doesn't connect directly to the airport. Until such time, regular express bus service could be done for far less money, with stops in Detroit, Dearborn, airport, Ypsi and AA. That would also help demonstrate what actual demand there would be for rail service.
The current Amtrak schedule is set to get passengers to the hub in Chicago, not to get folks from Ann Arbor to Detroit; or vice-versa. This is why [[along with M-1). There are people [[this sites favorite anti-transit folks at MDOT, SEMCOG, or RTA) out there still pushing for a service to augment the existing trains along this corridor.
With the 1963 discontinuation of Railway Post offices [[RPO), the railroads were discontinuing trains right and left. Every single railroad could make a case for abandonment of its passengers trains because they were losing money. The 1971 Railpax agreement was that the newly formed AMTRAK would allow all of the railroads to discontinue their passenger trains. In return, the railroads would give AMTRAK all of their the most modern [[20-25 years old) passenger equipment and permit AMTRAK to operate over their rails. There was no money for new track or new equipment at the time. Was AMTRAK a great and wonderful thing? No, but it kept a skeleton rail network going instead of steady and sure abandonment of all passenger rail.Quote:
Originally Posted by A2Mike
I hope I'm not coming off as hopelessly parochial for citing my own situation but I'm sure many older [[and younger) people in the metro area, whether in Bimingham, Farmington, Dearborn, Wyandotte, St. Claire Shores or Sterling Heights, might enjoy day or evening excursions into the city, whether for sports, theatrical or cultural events, dining, and maybe even someday for shopping without the traffic, parking, weather, and other hassles and hazards of day and night driving, and I like your idea of a bus service as an index of support for possible rail service.Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeyinBrooklyn
How is all of this "coastal cities" discussion relevant? Looking at the Greyhound site, you can get a ticket from Detroit to Cleveland for $14, or Detroit to Pittsburgh for $25. That seems competitive to me. The Pittsburgh service does take a long time, but 3.5 hours to Cleveland isn't going to kill anybody.
If you leave Monday 8/18 and come back 8/25, you can get a round trip on Megabus from Toledo to NYC for $60 right now. The bad thing is their station is not downtown.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pale Justice
There are no railroads anywhere close to Farmington. Your Sterling Heights train would have you taking your charming excursion looking at 20+ miles of the ass-end of crappy factories. SMART service between Sterling Heights and Downtown is excellent.Quote:
Originally Posted by A2Mike
What is so bad about that? You will need a ride or drive to Toledo to catch it. There is a lot more stuff to do around U of T than downtown anyway.Quote:
Originally Posted by rooms222
As long as you get a ride, nothing. If you can't get a ride, if Megabus was downtown, you could take Greyhound to Toledo and then walk over to Megabus.Quote:
Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner
Or if there was actually train service, you can take the Erie Line to Toledo, then transfer to a TARTA bus to U-T to transfer to Megabus.Quote:
Originally Posted by rooms222
Actually Amtrak does offer service between Detroit and Toledo via the 6030 or 6048 bus. Takes a little more than an hour.Quote:
Originally Posted by mtburb
A while back while waiting for a bus at Fairlane Mall in Dearborn I had time to study
all of the schedules there. There was a bus that went by Fairlane to Monroe,
which has a bus system of its own, and there may well be a connection to Toledo
from there as well, but I don't know about it! [[A Monroe person can chime in now).
I was looking at bus maps online. SMART shows a route #140 to Wyandotte; from
Wyandotte one can take #160 to Trenton, Grosse Ile, and West Road. In Monroe
County the bus service is called Lake Erie Transit. It does not connect directly with
either Trenton or Toledo.
It's unbelievable that other than Amtrak Thruway and Greyhound service, there is still a lack of a transit connection from Detroit to Toledo-we already have one with Flint, one with Port Huron-and technically, one with Ann Arbor at Metro Airport.
Do TARTA and Lake Erie Transit buses have bike racks? If they did, then it is possible for one to board route #125 to Eureka Road, then transfer to #160 to Trenton, then bike to the Mall of Monroe [[or whatever furthest north LET's fixed-route system actually goes), then ride LET buses south to the southernmost extent to that system, then bike again to the closest TARTA gets to the state line and board TARTA buses to downtown Toledo.
In fact, SMART #110 actually had one AM rush-hour trip that actually extended into Woodhaven until that city opted out in 1995, while #830 used to continue south to Gibraltar until that city also opted out that same year.
TARTA does not go into Michigan. LETC [[Lake Erie Transit Commission) only has linehaul in the Monroe urban area. LETC does provide paratransit in the South tier of the county but it is difficult to find a link from Monroe to Toledo. Heck I am somewhat surprised there is one from Fairlane to Monroe! You sure they did not mean Monroe Street? There are two along Michigan.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dumpling
Is Continental Trailways still around? Haven't seen a bus in a while.
The only other two operating in Michigan are Greyhound and Indian Trails/Trailways. Trails operates mostly in the North and Greyhound in the South. http://www.marp.org/MDOT-intercity_m..._map_04-10.pdfQuote:
Originally Posted by Cincinnati_Kid
Quote:
Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner
I believe Miller now serves Benton Harbor-South Bend-Indianapolis [[not Kalamazoo as in the map). Baron Bus Lines does Detroit-Lincoln Park-Toledo-Fort Wayne-Indianapolis.
Indian Trails' online reservation system tries to find you routes that do not use Greyhound as a first choice.
Okay, so I checked the Fairlane Mall posted schedules. Only SMART is there, and
it can take you as far as Eureka/Biddle. Checking AMTRAK online shows two Amtrak
[[Metrocars?) chartered bus numbers leaving from the Dearborn Amtrak station at the
same time in the evening. My guess is there is in fact usually only one bus. Once
one arrives at Toledo, one can take an overnight train that will arrive in Pittsburgh
at about five in the morning. Sorry for the earlier error about a bus going to Monroe
from Fairlane Mall.