Midwest Day-trips on a Megabus

Saving Money by Taking the Bus

In 3 weeks, my husband and I are going to take a vacation. Not a big vacation- just a day trip. We've done day-trips before, to Nashville, IN or Columbus, IN, or Parke County, IN. I thoroughly enjoy them- they involve lots of one-on-one time with my husband (in the car), no packing, and are relatively inexpensive, when gas prices are low and we go to these smaller cities. A day-trip to a bigger place, such as Chicago or Cincinnati, however, is a different story. The driving time is longer. Tolls may be incurred. We have to pay for parking. Attractions cost more. Big cities make for more major trips. When we want to take the adventure and not break the budget; what're we to do?

We're doing an experiment. we're going to use public transportation- a foreign concept to us Indiana-dwellers. There's a midwest inter-city bus service called megabus.com that has a few trips every day between Indianapolis and Chicago. How much would a trip from Chicago to Indy cost us, just in transportation, in our car? Google maps says it's 360 miles round trip to Union Station, not including driving elsewhere. 360 mi/30 mpg * $3.20/gal = $38.40. Parking at least once in downtown Chicago, probably a couple times would be upwards of $25, at least. I think we go through a toll road on the way, incurring even more costs. These conservative numbers, added up, approach $70, and that doesn't include eating out or going to any attractions! Now, to megabus.com. Their pricing policy: