Public bus on St. Thomas

mcpenguin5 · Post by **mcpenguin5** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 8:55 pm

My daughter-in-law just noticed that there is a public bus service in St.Thomas that runs from the Ferry in Red Hook to town (I assume that means Charlotte Amalie). We were wondering if anyone else had any experience with this bus service and what your feelings about it were. Here is the information she found:
"Country Buses travel between Red Hook and town every 50 to 60 minutes beginning at 5:30 am from town and ending around 8:30 pm from Red Hook. Additional buses go from town (look for bus stops along the Waterfront) as far west as Bordeaux. $1."
We were thinking of using this the day we leave St. John. We are traveling with carry-on luggage only, but we don't know how that will do with the public bus. Thanks again for all your help here.
Kris

Xislandgirl · Post by **Xislandgirl** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 9:05 pm

In a word....NO.
I am not sure they even go to the airport.

The taxis that you are reading about are the gypsy cabs and you just hop on and off when you see them. There is no place for your luggage and if they don't come by you are stuck without a ride. They make multiple stops so you will have no way of knowing when you will get to your final destination.

Hop on a taxi that will take you right to the airport.

RonUSVI · Post by **RonUSVI** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 11:02 pm

The public buses, if you can find one, do go all the way to the airport. If you have the time to wait for one, it should be an experience!

ms411 · Post by **ms411** » Wed Oct 08, 2008 8:51 am

VITRAN is the government-run public transportation system, and there is a VITRAN Red Hook bus that goes from town to Red Hook and back. At best it runs no more frequently than every hour, but I'm pretty sure it's more like every two hours. It will not take you to the airport. You'd have to transfer to the City/Airport bus, and that would involve waiting again.

The private "safaris/dollar rides" can take you from Red Hook to Airport Road, and you could then walk to the airport as I've seen people doing it from time to time. Safaris are privately owned, and there's no schedule, but they run very frequently throughout the day.

Unless you're on a very tight budget, you're better off taking a taxi.

mcpenguin5 · Post by **mcpenguin5** » Wed Oct 08, 2008 4:06 pm

Thanks everyone for your input. We would be heading into CA to hang out while waiting for time to go to the airport. We have to check out of our villa by 10 AM and our flight isn't until 4 PM, so we don't want to go straight to the airport. When we had a 7 PM flight initially, we were planning on renting a car and seeing some sights, but the loss of 3 hours makes that less desireable. We figure the 5 of us would cost $100 (at $20 apiece) for the taxi ride, which we could otherwise spend whooping it up in CA. We haven't decided yet. The grandson is 11, so his mood about the whole thing will probably be a factor. If we can find him a great book to read, he will never notice the wait!

We have yet to run this by the hubbies, so this might change our thoughts, too.

ms411 · Post by **ms411** » Wed Oct 08, 2008 5:58 pm

Well, since you've got that much time, you might as well save yourself a few bucks, BUT

Take the $2 safari into town. When you exit the ferry terminal, walk along the sidewalk past the ferry parking lot out to the main road. There'll be safaris waiting. It's not a scenic ride by any means, and it's going to stop for a while at the Tutu Park Mall, before continuing into town. Get off in Charlotte Amalie. Now, what to do with your luggage? You can either reserve a regular taxi from town to the airport, and ask if they'll hold it for you, or you'll have to lug it around since the Visitors' Center is now closed.

If you decide to keep your luggage and try for the City/Airport bus, you'll need to start looking for it at around 1 p.m. so you'll be there in time for check in since they run every hour or so.

mcpenguin5 · Post by **mcpenguin5** » Wed Oct 08, 2008 6:06 pm

Thank you so much. This definitely sounds like a plan. I will run this past our Daughter-in-law, she and I are running this show. I think the guys will go along with this one, too.

Randy in MD · Post by **Randy in MD** » Thu Oct 09, 2008 10:12 am

You might want to check with your villa management company to find out if there are other renters arriving the afternoon that you depart. If not, they may allow you to stay an extra hour or two beyond 10AM.

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