Sleepbus CEO Tom Currier bunks in for the inaugural trip to LA from SF (Photo: Sleepbus)
A startup in San Francisco has launched lie-flat seat service…on a bus between downtown San Francisco and west Los Angeles.
Fares on the new Sleepbus are $65 each way (currently discounted to $48). You can bring up to three bags (plus a bike if you want). There’s an attendant, free wi-fi, in-seat power, coffee and a bathroom onboard. And fog or rain won’t slow down this bus.
The southbound bus leaves San Francisco’s downtown Caltrain station at 11 p.m. sharp, and takes about 6 hours, 30 minute to arrive at the Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles. The bus unloads as soon as it arrives, but Sleepbus says passengers may continue sleeping until “check out time” at 7:30 a.m. The northbound schedule is identical, picking passengers at the Santa Monica Pier North Parking departing at 11 p.m. and arriving in San Francisco the next day at around 5-6 a.m.
Each bunk has a privacy screen (hopefully a thick one to block snoring sounds) and fresh clean sheets from Casper (the popular online bedding company).
Sleepbus’s Tyler Gothelf told TravelSkills that the first trip to Los Angeles departed April 18th full from SF, and that seats are sold out on four runs over the next week. So far, he says, the company has sold 180 tickets.
Reminds me of the crew rest area on this Boeing 747!
There’s the current “pilot” version of Sleepbus (Photo: Sleepbus)
Sleepbus has rented a rig from an Illinois company for the “pilot phase”, but Gothelf says the company has intentions to switch to Google-style double decker buses in the near future, with bunks upstairs and a lounge downstairs.
Given the hassles of flying the California corridor, what with warnings of longer-than-ever TSA lines, frequent flight delays or cancellations at SFO due to low clouds and fog, traffic hassles on both ends, this might be a good option for some– especially those on the techie neighborhoods that surround Sleepbus endpoints.
And an added bonus is that you could actually sleep on the bus both ways and avoid overly inflated hotel costs in both cities. (SF is now the most expensive city for business travelers in the country.)
Sleepbus Facebook page here.
Departing SF on the maiden voyage to LA on April 18 (Photo: Sleepbus)
In addition, let’s say you need to take a last-minute trip to LA for a meeting. If I booked a trip to SFO-LAX today departing tomorrow and returning the next day, that would run me a whopping $457 round trip. Sleepbus (if it’s not sold out) would run $130.
Check out the UK version of the Sleepbus– the MegabusGold.
If I did it, I’d be sure to pack my Mack’s earplugs and Bucky eye mask. Maybe I’d sleep like I did on my recent Qantas flight to Australia. Or maybe not. But I’m curious.
Would you try Sleepbus? Why or why not? Please leave your comments below.
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If you share a bed, can 2 “ride” for the price of one?
Thanks, Craig! Good to hear from someone who’s actually been on this rig. Anyone else? Please let us know. This has been a crazy-popular post so people are definitely interested.
Looked it up. Fastest Southern Pacific service I could find took 9 & 1/2 hours.
Don’t know how much of an issue this would be to a night train, as it’s after business hours and provides superior comfort, including food service.
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China, too.
Well, this is one way to avoid the tedium of the I-5. You have to go all the way to the Texas Panhandle to experience its equivalent.
SleeperBus has been brilliant in its choice of a L.A. pick up spot. The hugely popular Santa Monica hostel sits just above it and the Venice Beach ones a just a few minutes away. Importantly, It’s also several blocks from the new downtown L.A. to Santa Monica via USC Green Line, which opens soon.
Not sure if I would try it, but much of the I-5 should allow a deeper sleep than most flights.
It would probably become too expensive then.?
It’s funny you say that…because I’d have to agree that a night train would be a far superior option.
It’s not competitive time-wise using the Coast Route tracks, but the State could always buy it from Union Pacific and make some upgrades.
Another one rides da bus!!
Can’t wait till there’s windows next to the beds, guessing it’s not safe, but it’ll remind me of train travel. Even if it’s night travel, it’ll feel less claustrophobic.
You’re terrible!
I don’t see a restraint to keep everyone (actually, half of everyone) from rolling out of bed if the bus goes around a sharp corner.
I don’t think there’ll be that much congestion from 11pm to 6am…
So we create new companies, build new busses, and further congest our freeways just because we can’t figure out to make a fast, reliable train connection (with optional lie flat sections) like the rest of the world…
Argentina too. Most long distance busses there have a first class section featuring flat beds.
I’m waiting for the inevitable merger of SleepBus and BangBus!
What is “San Francisco’s downtown Caltrans station?” I’m guessing you mean Caltrain?