Peter Pan Bus Lines

My son uses often Worcester-​UMass Amherst-​Boston. Occasionally late, but it is very convenient I don’t need to drive him. I will keep using. They seemed to care about the quality of their service.

This review is from Monday! The bus itself departing Springfield was a little late but in all fairness the weather was pretty terrible, so I won’t hold that against them. This review is about the terminal! Maybe with the exception of Albany this is one of the nastiest bus terminals I have ever seen! U know u r in the ghetto when all over the terminal are signs for Newport Cigarettes, it was cold, lots of sketchy people walking around inside the terminal (usually even in cities like LA where the bus terminal is in the heart of skid row, the criminals stay outside) If you could avoid having a bus change in Springfield I heavily recommend it!

Never ever ever again it was a mistake at the first place to take the bus from Hartford to Nyc and with horrible bus like this it made it worse the bus condition was the worst I have ever seen it is FILTHY like other people said smells very bad there was annoying squeaking sound added to the drama our journey started 1:30 and it was scheduled to arrive to port authority Nyc at 4:30 guess what? We arrived at 7:00 pm it took us six and half hours!!! You should tell your customers how long your journey really takes. It was the worst travel experience in my life There is no respect for their customers what a shame!

Incredibly well done for the busiest travel day of the year from NYC to Springfield without a hitch. We arrived 3 minutes ahead of schedule and the bus left a few minutes late from Port Authority. Streamlined service at PABT once I finally found the gate– and well navigated to get us home for Thanksgiving. Thank you!

Bus line clearly doesn’t care about customers. They don’t run in time. Those in dispatch are rude and don’t announce when a bus is running late. They throw luggage around. One day an employee broke my suitcase and didn’t apologize. She lashed out at me like it was my fault.
The buses smell like a port a potty.
They don’t even offer incentive for people to return, no discounts or refunds. Prices have gone up and quality doesn’t. I rode from Boston to NYC on a bus with my outlets and was very cramped,
They need a facelift. They could also clean up the bathroom in the station in Springfield. In over 20 years there have been no renovations to it. It is gross.

Worst bus experience I have ever had. The driver was incredibly rude when I asked a simple question. He didn’t even respond to the question he simply replied get on the bus sir in an aggravated tone. He drove like a maniac with sporadic hard gas/​brake. Never take this bus service I have only had rude and bad drivers.

DO NOT waste your money on this bus service!!! They have NO REGARD for their customer’s time. Buses are in deplorable conditions and we waited over 50 mins for the driver to fiddle with broken outside luggage door. Driver then ushered us onto another bus that would arrive to our destination 1.5 hours (if we are lucky!) behind schedule. At no time were customers told what was happening or offered other options (i.e. Refunds due to missed travel times). We were forced to take a bus that had 3 extra stops that were not on the itinerary of the ticket we purchased. I’m only giving them one star because Unilocal doesn’t allow me to give them 0. To add insult to injury, driver pulled over on the 91 to take a phone call as if we weren’t late enough.

NEVER take Peter Pan bus! We rode from Boston to New York and had no wifi or electricity to charge our phones on either trip! They gave us the wrong gate number and there was no communication when our bus was delayed! Then the bus driver pulled over 2 times, never told us why and turned around and drove in the wrong direction for 15 minutes!!!
When I contacted customer service they offered me vouchers like I would ever ride them again! When I told them this was unacceptable they didn’t respond to my emails and were rude on the phone! Stay far far away from them!!!

ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS!!!
The buses are in a deplorable conditions. Absolutely FILTHY. I feel dirty for the entirety of the trip. Good luck finding a working outlet or hooking up to the wifi.
Just boarded the bus which was suppose to leave at 6:10. At exactly 6:24 they made an announcement stating there’s a 20 minute delay and we would be boarding at 6:25… Okay so why didn’t you announce that 20 minutes ago versus one minute prior to boarding? It is currently 7pm and we are still sitting at the station.
The bus I’m on smells like a dirty diaper.
Oh and did I mention the prices have sky rocketed? I thought I’d be riding in a Cadillac for the price I paid, not a port-​a-​potty on wheels.
Now we’re departing an HOUR late with no warning, explanation, or apology.
I would give ZERO stars if I could!

A CORPORATION THAT ONLY LIVES BY CARELESSNESS. DONT GIVE YOUR MONEY TO THE OWNER OF THIS MESSY SERVICE. I have been using this service from CT to BOSTON for three years and man, has this service gone downhill all while the prices skyrocket. In 2012 a round trip ticket between these two places would have been at most $ 30 round trip and now it is usually $ 55. Mind you gas has nearly halfed in price.
So for $ 25 more on average you can now expect not cheap crappy service, but expensive crappy service. Peter Pan Bus Lines is notorious for the following:
*overbooking buses, causing a huge line for one time slot. The passengers in the middle or back of the line have to wait for another bus to arrive.
*terrible customer service and a terrible service website
*online glitches
*my personal favorite: not giving a crap about the itinerary they promise you.
I literally once rode this bus for an hour, about half way to my destination, and the bus TURNED AROUND and went back to my departure station to pick up SIX more passengers who bought tickets. Mind you my departure time was the last for the day.

The station in Springfield I sort of wish they’d have not just private security but MA State Police & get the PVTA out of there because they made that a bit of a dump. Bus ride wasn’t bad 7 the coaches are well set but at times got Wi-​Fi issues so this could be improved. All in all not too bad a service but there’s some room for work.

I will be using Megabus from now on whenever I want to take a trip from Hartford to NYC. Tonight I had a trip from Hartford to NYC scheduled to leave Union Station at 6 pm, with a switch of buses in Waterbury at 6:45 pm and ending up in NYC at 8:45 pm. I arrived at Union Station at 5:15 pm and began waiting in line outside in the freezing cold at 5:30 pm. The bus was already there and we could all see the driver inside the bus. THE DRIVER SAT INSIDE THE BUS ON HIS CELL PHONE WHILE WE FROZE OUTSIDE UNTIL 6:30! He completely ignored us. I seriously thought there was going to be a riot by the other customers. When the driver finally decided to let us on board, he moved like molasses and made absolutely no mention of the fact that we were all 30 mins. late. No explanation why he felt like sitting inside the bus. And no comment about what happens to our 6:45 pm connection in Waterbury. We finally got to Waterbury at 7:30 pm where, thankfully, our connection was waiting. This is the only reason Peter Pan gets a star at all.

Peter Pan Bus Lines are emblematic of the decline of Springfield Massachusetts.
I’ve used Peter Pan buses traveling between Springfield, Providence, and New York, and the experience is universally terrible. The stations are all decrepit, 1950’s-era rat nests teeming with petty criminals, screaming Puerto Rican children, and drug addicts. I’d suggest bringing pepper spray, or maybe a gun.
And the service itself sucks. Buses are almost always late, and the interiors haven’t been updated since the early 90’s. They’re dark and cramped; so don’t expect to be pulling out your laptop.
Do yourself a favor and take a train if you can. It may be slightly more expensive (Peter Pan ain’t cheap either), but it sure beats this horrible company.

So they ended up refunding both the bus ticket and the cost of taking amtrak instead. This restores some of my faith in them but their excuse was basically that their ticketing systems do no match up so they basically leave a few spots empty on the last bus in the hopes in will not be overbooked is kind of ridiculous. I can only assume this happens all the time.
Also, just last night, they overbooked the second to last bus and made everyone wait for the next one instead of sending another bus. So those folks will now get in incredibly late (if they are not left in Providence).
So I appreciate the refunds, but this company has a long way to go to get their act together.

Awful experience!
Almost ONE HOUR LATE and they did not check for passengers the way they are supposed to!
Waiting at the designated passenger pick up spot in Southbury CT for my bus to Hartford CT, it was was almost ONE HOUR late when I saw it through the window. So I grabbed my back pack at the same time that I saw the bus leaving the pick up spot. I didn’t even had the chance to get on the bus!
I called Peter Pan immediately, and I am still waiting for a refund.

The customer service is horrendous. They have a computer glitch that doesn’t allow online transactions to go through. The worst part about it is that the guys on the phone were actually blaming me for the transaction not going through.
To make matters worse, they actually can’t take ticket orders over the phone, so they purposely try to piss the person off. They did it to me twice in a row.

I’m really surprised by all the negative reviews about Peter Pan. These people must never have ridden a Megabus or Greyhound in their lifetimes. After experiencing those bus companies (and their unfortunate clientele) on numerous occasions, riding on Peter Pan felt like taking a luxury limo.
Okay, maybe not.
But still, the drivers are professional (and know how to drive), the wifi and electrical outlets almost always work, and the buses stay on schedule. Also, the higher prices (compared to other bus lines) ensure that those people you encounter on your trip will likely not be screaming on their cell phones (or their crying children) for hours on end.
Sure their staff is a mixed bag (the telephone-​based customer support is actually pretty good, while the online chat support is completely useless) and not all the bus stations are in the best conditions, but given the alternatives (if there are any), there’s no use in me complaining.
NOTE: In case you didn’t realize, I am wrote this review on the Peter Pan Bus Lines company itself (since its headquarters are in Springfield). This review is not about the Springfield bus terminal, which I find downright dingy and nauseating, especially given the fact that this station could technically be considered Peter Pan’s hub.

I can’t complain about my past experiences traveling via Peter Pan. It’s cheap and get’s you where you need to go. When I travel up north and decide to visit other areas without wanting to worry about car rentals; this is the way to do it.
In one occasion I was able to get a one way ticket from Hartford CT, to NY, NY (3 hour drive) for 12 bucks. You simply can’t beat it, and at times you can get even cheaper deals through their website when they have special offers.
You can visit their website during business hours (9 – 5 I believe) and chat live with customer service agents if you have questions regarding purchases or points of destination. I’ve used it before and have been very satisfied.

I have taken this bus to and from New York several times and my experience each time was reminiscent of a horrid nightmare.
Nevermind the constant loitering of local degenerates outside who hiss at women as they walk by, but once you’re inside the station, you’d need to do a doubletake to make sure you’re not in a homeless shelter. I guess there’s a certain charm to stepping over drunkards on your way to the bus.
Every ride on that bus made me feel like I was being taken to Sing Sing Prison to serve a life sentence. Between the drug addicts shaking on the bus, couples screaming at each other in spanish while their toddlers who resemble kids from sad Unicef commercials stare at me, I don’t know how I didn’t voluntarily tuck and roll off the bus.
Never again.

Hello, To whom it may concern:
I rode peter pan bus from UMASS Amherst to Springfield. Despite being a repeat bus customer with greyhound, peterpan, and other companies, I still felt confused by the complex ticketing process once again. After reading the reviews on
it appears that I am not the only one who shared the same frustration.
But most of all I feel obliged to tell you about the incompetence of your ticket agent at UMASS Amherst. Through allegedly no fault of the clerk, the schedule and ticket system he was using not only had a $ 15 surcharge for a piece of paper called a ticket, but also failed to book a customer on her way to Worcester by telling her that she had missed the last bus of the day already at 11am, when in fact I can see on your published schedules that there are at least 4 or 5 busses a day there. The agent also could not see my 3pm bus to Nyc. So I had to resort to booking the ticket three hours later online myself, even though I had to pay an extra print fee of $ 1 at the library and could not use the convenience of a smart phone to travel ticketless– a smarter way to travel these days. VivA la megabus!
Bottom line is you lost that confused customer on 10.16.2011, perhaps permanently. The clerk was unapologetic as she left, blaming peterpan and a «new system» of ticketing that he could not maintain. Meanwhile I always hear the fretting in your house about megabus stealing market share. It is not theft if you are giving it up so carelessly. The ticket agent on campus of Umass had been far more helpful and competent back in 2004 which had been well before you moved the facility into a hard to find basement. Perhaps the university should also be responsible for servicing its students better, but you have no excuse for allowing this to go on at the expense of your ridership. Please fix your website, ticketing, and customer service.
A concerned passenger since 2004,
Kevin H