<p>Has anyone tried the new shuttle bus that originates from MS, runs through Tuscaloosa (UA campus), and has a stop at BHM airport? Son is willing to try the bus but I’m holding off until I’m sure it is a reliable service. I can’t risk him missing his flight if the bus doesn’t show up. Also, where exactly on Campus Drive (according to my phone call inquiry) does the bus pick up? My alternative is to hire a private limo to bring him to the airport.</p>
<p>if your talking about his bama bound trip then im in the same boat but reversed haha. I wanted to try the new bus, but my mom got my a car service instead, because the only bad thing about the bus is you have to schedule your flight in coordination with when the bus arrives at the airport and leaves ua.</p>
<p>My daughter took the ACR bus and though it ended up ok, it was an ordeal! She had taken a car service from BHM to the UA campus for Bama Bound. Since the times worked out with ACR on her return we booked that. I was concerned because she was traveling by herself from Bama Bound and though she has been to the campus before, she was still on her own on this one. </p>
<p>After confirming with the ACR office, which by the way they are all very nice, they told us to have her pick it up at 451 W. Campus Dr. I asked my daughter to go find the location the day before, so there was no last minute confusion. She found the location on campus which is a parking lot across the street from Publix. </p>
<p>She was scheduled for the 1:15 pm run, and I had her head out at 1pm, just in case it was early. There was no sign or specified stop so she waited under a tree and stayed on alert to make sure she didn’t miss it. By 1:25 it had not shown up, so I called the ACR office that said the driver was new and was running about 10 minutes behind. At 1:45 the bus had still not shown up and when I called the office they said the driver had gone to the wrong spot and missed her. They did however send the bus back to pick her up. In the meantime, campus security came to check on this girl on the side of the road, next to the parking lot with a bag in tow. They were great. </p>
<p>At 1:55, the bus came down the street and picked her up. She was very thankful to get in the a/c. I asked if the bus was crowded and she said there was only one other person on it. Everything was fine for the next ten minutes until the bus broke down in an intersection!! Of all the luck. She started calling car services because now her flight time was in jeopardy. I was on the phone with ACR that said they were sending another bus. They told me 30 minutes, the driver told my daughter 20, and when my husband called he was told 45 minutes to an hour. I thought they would just send the next bus, but the last one doesn’t run during the summer. It ended up being an hour, and we were rebooking flights for her from this end. When the next bus showed up my daughter and the other passenger were told that the bus they were originally on had been having trouble. She ended up getting to BHM 25 minutes before the rebooked flight, but luckily flew through security and made it to the flight and then on home to Los Angeles. </p>
<p>Overall, it worked out. Though ACR was extemely nice on the phone, the communication was only there because we were calling them over and over. They apologized when we called and I am aware that it was a series of unfortunate events. I was still surprised that they never followed up. It almost ended up being a very expensive cheap trip to the airport. Good luck with whatever you decide!</p>
<p>Thank you very much for sharing your experience, reagbryn. Your account helps those who have always wondered about this new alternative between UA and BHM airport, especially when the Bama shuttle is not running. </p>
<p>I agree, it does look like a confluence of unfortunate circumstances, and may not necessarily be the norm for this bus company. However, in our case, son does not have the luxury of rescheduling his flight as he will be taking the last one out from BHM that day. I think I will go ahead and book the private shuttle. </p>
<p>Thank you again!</p>
<p>Sophocles, my husband used Door to Door last week and it was wonderful.</p>
<p>Thanks, mytwods, son had a positive experience with Door to Door as well!</p>
<p>I’ve been trying to find out which agency awarded the Federal grant money that ACR receives for this route as it is supposed to subsidize a certain amount of service and ACR is currently operating 25% of the announced service (1 bus a day rather than 4). If the bus ran as scheduled, it would be a great service that works for the majority of BHM flights and provides very much needed public transportation between Tuscaloosa and Birmingham. Unfortunately, word has not gotten out about the service and the website and company itself seem very disorganized. I often take similar scheduled bus services in Washington and British Columbia and the main difference I see is that ACR’s service is not visible enough and that the service is not flexible enough to meet customer demand. It is also fair to say that there is less of a market for scheduled bus service on the Starkville-Tuscaloosa-Birmingham as there are less people flying out of GTR/BHM (much of the route is rural) and that more people prefer to drive.</p>
<p>I really want to see ACR Express succeed with this route and consider expanding to Atlanta and/or Nashville. Assuming that ACR decides to run a second daily shuttle, I will use ACR Express to get to UA in August. If that is not the case, I will see if a friend can pick me up or will take the Birmingham Door to Door shuttle or On Time Transportation (a taxi service), both of which I highly recommend.</p>
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<p>*The U.S. Department of Transportations (DOT) Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the availability of funds in Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 for the Over-the-Road Bus Accessibility (OTRB) Program, initially authorized by Section 3038 of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). The OTRB program makes funds available to private operators of over-the-road buses to finance the incremental capital and training costs of complying with DOTs over-the-road bus accessibility regulation. The authorizing legislation calls for national solicitation of proposals, with grantees to be selected on a competitive basis. Program funds are available to intercity fixed-route providers and other OTRB providers at up to 90 percent of the project cost. *</p>
<p>Source [Grants.gov</a> - Home](<a href=“http://www.grants.gov%5DGrants.gov”>http://www.grants.gov)
Funding # FTA-2012-009-TPM-OTRB</p>
<p>Thank you SO much for this post! I was considering this method of transportation for getting my (freshman) daughter from Bama to BHM (safely), as she will be traveling home to Southern California for Thanksgiving. I am now thinking of a car/limo service and possibly seeing if there are any students/parents who might want to split it. I wonder where the best place to post that would be? I’m new to this…</p>
<p>Anyway, thanks again for that detailed feedback!! :D</p>
<p>Reagbryn - Thank you SO much for this post! I was considering this method of transportation for getting my (freshman) daughter from Bama to BHM (safely), as she will be traveling home to Southern California for Thanksgiving. I am now thinking of a car/limo service and possibly seeing if there are any students/parents who might want to split it. I wonder where the best place to post that would be? I’m new to this…</p>
<p>Anyway, thanks again for that detailed feedback!!</p>
<p>Beachkake- Glad to help! Keep me in mind for future runs to BHM as my DD is also a freshman heading back to Southern Cal!!! She is not coming home for Thanksgiving this time, but would love to split the cost in the future. I have seen others post that there is a ride share board, maybe on FB? I would also be interested in knowing where to find that! Good luck!</p>
<p>I recently spoke to the folks at ACR. They have no plans on adding additional routes for the rest of 2012. Just one run each way per day. FYI, their website inaccurately shows four runs each way per day.</p>
<p>Guess we will just have to hope for change.</p>
<p>Given the growing popularity of UofA I hope the university does something to improve the transportation to the Birmingham airport. May be they should buy some vans and charge a fee for rides to/from the airport.</p>
<p>It’s disappointing to see that ACR hasn’t been able to get many passengers because a) nobody knows about the service, b) the shuttle timing is inefficient, c) the employees have no idea how the service operates, d) the website makes no sense and is never updated, and e) the company is not willing to lose money for a short time to get more long-term demand.</p>
<p>The sad part about this is that thousands of dollars in Federal funds are being misused/wasted and politicians will use this service as an example to show that there is no demand for bus service between Tuscaloosa and Birmingham.</p>
<p>Does anybody know anything about the greyhound bus and whether or not that would be a good alternative? I’m visiting UA October 6th-8th and am looking for a cheap way to get from Birmingham to Tuscaloosa and back.</p>
<p>Bumping to see if anyone has any experience with the greyhound bus?</p>
<p>We, too, need to figure out the best way to get our son to and from BHM the first weekend in November - flying out Friday 3:30 PM and returning Sunday 5:00 PM.</p>
<p>Getting to/from the Greyhound stations can be a lot of work. In the Denny Deals coupon book that came inside the first issue of the Crimson White, a company is offering a shared shuttle service for $55 each way. I’ve started using On Time Transportation (tonystransportation24hours at yahoo.com). With a 24-48 hours advance notice, the non-shared rate is $65+gratuity each way. Tony, the owner/main driver, is very nice and will pick up at all hours of the day/night if needed.</p>