
SleepBus – nightly non-stop trips between LA and SF - smaili
http://www.sleepbus.co/
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joezydeco
Given how many accidents we see with drowsy Megabus, Greyhound, and semi-
trailer drivers swerving around in traffic and plowing into other vehicles we
really should ask: _is this a good idea_?

Do we have a guarantee that SleepBus drivers are fully rested for an overnight
shift?

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api_or_ipa
The obvious status quo is purchasing a redeye flight. The Bay Area is
remarkably well served by 3 international airports and LAX is enormous. Seems
to me that there will be lots of overnight flights at competitive rates to
compete against.

The other issue is cost. Each bus you purchase is a huge investment and
presumably unusable during the day for other operations.

The economics seem slim at a high startup cost. I'd be interested in seeing
how VCs react to this idea.

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david-given
The UK has a few sleeper trains, where you get a proper (if small) cabin with
a proper bed etc. They run from London to some of the major cities; I'm
particularly fond of the London-to-Inverness sleeper (the buffet car does a
killer haggis).

Cost wise, it's considerably more expensive than an Easyjet cattle-car class
flight.

But the big benefit is that it takes no working-day wall clock time. I can
leave the office in London after work, comfortably reach Euston where I board
the train and settle down in the buffer car with a drink and wifi; then I
arrive at Inverness at about 0700 the next morning, refreshed having slept
well. All the travel happens while I'm asleep.

Conversely, flying Easyjet takes waking time. I have to leave the office in
the middle of the day, get to the airport, wait, check in, wait, board, fly,
and arrive at my destination still during waking hours --- it eats most of an
entire day.

I can't tell how this bus would compare against an overnight red-eye flight,
because we don't have those (the UK's not big enough!). But I imagine that
having a bunk would mean that I could actually sleep on one of these buses,
unlike the fake sleep you get on planes. I'd definitely consider this, even if
it was more expensive than the plane.

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doug1001
very well said--"no wall clock time" as you put it. I've done the Euston/Kings
Cross -> Inverness and E/KC -> Ft William many times and i loved it. Inverness
has an airport and it's only an up-and-down flight, but what an ass ache to
travel to gatwick to catch this flight rather than a 15-minute tube ride to
the train station.

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nikolay
Great idea... but its success depends on the cost. The homepage points to
Wix's Facebook, Twitter, Google+.

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aoiwelle
My wife has tried many times to book, is there any transparency around when
trips are actually made/one's ability to book?

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JBReefer
This is a great idea, isn't this fairly common in Mexico?

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yincrash
It's common in a lot of countries. I took one in Vietnam and it looks like
this (a bit denser than these buses, I believe)

[http://www.sapavietnam-tours.com/image/sleeper-bus-sapa-
viet...](http://www.sapavietnam-tours.com/image/sleeper-bus-sapa-vietnam8.JPG)

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mey
[http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-
news/ci_24429126/homeles...](http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-
news/ci_24429126/homeless-turn-overnight-bus-route-into-hotel-22)

