New Weekend Express Bus Service to and From Buffalo Now Available
The Campus Ticket Office, in cooperation with the Student Association, is pleased to announce that starting Friday, April 11, a new weekend bus service will be available between campus and the Metropolitan Transportation Center in Buffalo, also known as the downtown Buffalo bus station.
Dubbed the “Buffalo Weekend Express” the outbound bus will depart the bus shelter on the north side of the Williams Center at 6 p.m. each Friday. The return bus will leave the MTC at 7 p.m. on Sunday nights.
Tickets will be available from the Ticket Office and must be purchased in advance. The price is $15.00 each way. Tickets can be purchased in person during ticket office hours (9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays) and can also be purchased online at fredonia.edu/tickets. A convenience fee of $6.00 per order applies to all internet sales.
The reason this service is being established is because both of the companies who used to provide intercity bus service between Jamestown and Buffalo have entered bankruptcy and have ceased operations in Western New York. The vast majority of tickets previously sold by the Campus Ticket Office for the now-defunct Coach USA buses were to students who wanted to go home (or elsewhere) for the weekend. The new service is an attempt by the campus to lessen the impact on students as much as possible.
This service will operate on a trial basis through Sunday, May 11. Because Monday, April 21, is the traditional campus post-Easter “Travel Day,” that weekend’s return bus will operate on Monday instead of on Easter Sunday.
In the meantime, campus administrators are working actively to encourage other commercial intercity bus companies to take over service on the routes served by the previous carriers.
The transportation for the “Buffalo Weekend Express” will be provided by the Cedar Bus Company. This is the same company that serves as the carrier for the Campus and Community Bus, which is sponsored by the Student Association. The equipment will be the same size as the Campus Community Bus, and “Cedar Bus Company” will be clearly visible on each vehicle.
Unlike the previous companies, which travelled between Fredonia and Buffalo on Route 5 with many stops along the way, the Buffalo Weekend Express will travel on the New York State Thruway. This will reduce the travel time from 90 minutes to about 60. (Hence the word “Express” as part of the name.)
For more information, please contact the Ticket Office at tickets@fredonia.edu.
Please Note:
- Tickets are non-refundable.
- Tickets for any weekend's service should be purchased by 3 p.m. on that weekend's Friday. This is so we can send the carrier the passenger manifests for that weekend's trips.
- The telephone number for the Cedar Bus Company is printed on each ticket. It is 716-898-7900. If you plans change and you will NOT be taking a bus for which you have a ticket, please call the dispatcher at the number provided. The dispatch office is open until 7 p.m. on Fridays, but on Sundays, they close at 1 p.m.