<p>My son is a freshman at Tech and a bit shy...he claims he has looked at the VT student access ride site called zimride to find a ride home for Thanksgiving. He has not found anyone yet and said there were no postings for anyone heading up north during thanksgiving (it's too early??). I find that a little odd and wonder if he is really looking. We live in CT (near New Heaven) but would be happy getting him a ride anywhere in CT/NJ. Any thoughts I can share with him about finding a ride would be really, really helpful! I hate to do a last minute ticket on Amtrak or plane --- fares are about $400! Thank you.</p>
<p>There is a facebook group called Virginia Tech Rideboard. If you add /groups/vtzimride on facebook’s URL it should show up. It’s linked to that same site, but a lot more people use the group since it doesn’t require any extra signing up. I’ve been successful finding rides (although only to DC) on this page. </p>
<p>Also, I know there’s a pretty decent amount of students from NJ at Tech. Hopefully he’ll be able to find a ride that far. If your son doesn’t have a facebook page, just PM me and I’d be happy to post on your behalf to try and find something for you. Good luck!</p>
<p>Yes, that’s the page. It may take a few days to get added since there’s only one moderator, but he should get approved soon since the last update was about a week ago. Let me know if you need anymore help!</p>
<p>No discounts, but the fare on the NE regional out of Lynchburg is a bargain. Just get on the Smartway Connector at Squires and ride it to Kemper Street Station in Lynchburg. The bus ride will be $5 or so, and the train fare reasonable compared to riding the Crescent. See Amtrak.com.</p>
<p>The schedule for the Smartway is such that it drops off and picks up at times that coincide with the NE Regional. (but watch out for weekends as the times change!!)</p>
<p>OK even better news, I had heard this was the case and confirmed it.</p>
<p>At Amtrak.com you can now book the bus and train together. Just enter the start of the trip (“From”) as Blacksburg, VA and destination the nearest train station to where you want to go (e.g. NYC Penn Station). It will show a bus portion from Blacksburg to Lynchburg, then NE Regional from there to your destination.</p>
<p>Thanks for the smart way connector info from squires. I have done the bus/train option on amtrack and that is how I got a rate of $400 ($398) round trip from the VT campus to New Heaven CT. I was wondering if Amtrack was using the smart way or something else for pricing? Anyway I will also look into the Lynchberg option and see if the price is better. I had looked from DC but that wasn’t too responsible and he would need to take the megabus to DC and coordinating timing was pretty difficult.</p>