When a friend dies, we're always left with things we wanted to tell them. Knowing Marjorie Sloan's devotion to public transit, I had been looking forward to telling her about the trip my friend and I took last week. It's too late to tell Marjorie, but in her honor, I'm sharing my recent experience with public transportation, in hopes that my Golden-based audience will want to try it themselves.
The state has been advertising its "Bustang" service, which offers bus transportation to many of the most popular destinations in the state. Tracy (who maintains GoldenToday's calendar) and I decided to try it, taking Bustang to Glenwood Springs and Amtrak (the train) back to Denver. The entire trip was an unqualified success.
Westbound by Bus: 3.5 hours - $28
We boarded Bustang at the Denver Federal Center (map), which is about 4 miles from Golden. We could have boarded at Denver's Union Station, but the price was the same from either stop, and the Federal Center is very convenient for Golden people. In fact, we could have taken the W Line from the Jeffco courthouse to the Federal Center station...maybe next time.
The bus was clean, comfortable, and had AC outlets and WIFI. The Glenwood Springs stop was a bit remote to our destination (Hotel Colorado), so we had planned to call an Uber. Instead, we discovered that the city offered free bus service. We waited a few minutes for the bus, and it took us to a stop near our hotel.
Eastbound by Train: 5.75 hours - $112
We walked a couple blocks from the hotel to the train station. The train too was clean and comfortable. It did not offer AC outlets at each seat (but we didn't need them on such a relatively short trip). We were able to walk around on the train, so we visited the observation car and the snack bar, and we had lunch in the dining car. The views were wonderful, the food was good, and the ride was smooth. It delivered us to Denver's Union Station, on time and very pleased with the experience.
Conclusion
I am a fan of train travel, and I will continue to ride trains when possible, but I am also a new fan of Bustang. It was faster and cheaper than the train and was certainly easier than driving.
Tracy and I agreed that we would be happy to do it again. Next time we might try Durango, Steamboat Springs, or any of about 70 other destinations around the state.
