If you are planning to board Amtrak buses in San Francisco, be prepared for some insane TSA-style security checks:
Security Check
Upon entering the facility, passengers must show your Amtrak ticket or photo I.D. to the Greyhound Security Staff. Greyhound security will also inspect bags and wand passengers for metal contraband who enter the building. Please allow additional time arriving for this process.
So now you can’t even enter a bus terminal without a security check.
In my limited experience with big city Greyhound stations, they have long had security checks to provide a safe waiting area for ticketed passengers. This has nothing to do with terrorism and everything to do with the type of undesirable people big-city bus terminals attract.
@Merritt, that is not my experience in NYC or Portland. I haven’t used major bus terminals in the past 10 years. But I used to use them regularly before that. It used to be walk on, drop bag style of transit.
I also disagree 100% with your comment about undesirables. Security Theatre has no bearing on that.
Ah, pure bullshit! Security theater for the sake of harassing people.
Somehow I’m thinking of a song.
Back in the US! Back in the US! Back in the USSR!