The Burningman Express?

[Tahir]

Hi gang,
Over the last couple of years I have noticed that the biggest problem with the burn seems to be the transportation situation. It always seems to be this big thing about who's car to bring and who's going to drive and risk their engines with the playa dust or pay a shit load for a rental car...so I thought why not try and buy a shuttle bus (renting was incredilbly expensive) . I know the green tortoise does something like this, but they only leave from San Fran...so what about a shuttle bus that goes down from the pacific northwest? No one would be forced to camp togeter or anything like that, but just transportation? Now this is all in theory and I have no idea how much it would cost to buy a shuttle and get all the work done for it...any comments either for or against?...thanks T

[Captain Goddammit]

I'm a "logistics guy"; I bring a big truck & trailer. The shuttle bus idea has some deal-breaking problems. It will be either prohibitively expensive for a new one, and unreliable (and expensive to deal with if it breaks something in the middle of nowhere) if you get a cheap old one. Most people operating one are using it for something all year; hard to make it pay for itself on one trip a year. And SOMEBODY has to own and be responsible for it. Having said that...
If you wanna do it, I'd get a one-ton van-based bus because upkeep won't kill you as bad as a big bus (tires, brakes, transmission... this kinda stuff aint cheap on the big units). If you want or need a big bus, only consider a model still in current use by municipalities or bus lines (GMC R.T.S., MCI 9 or 10, or such) or the lack of parts availability will make your life suck, no matter how good the original deal seems.
Old (not TOO old!) school busses are available pretty cheap (many school districts replace them at a certain age regardless of condition for liability reasons... goddamm lawyers!) and would work. They're really fucking slow, but hey, it isn't a race. The tires, brakes, axles and shit are a little expensive if you have to get into any of that, but the motors are relatively cheap.
Have someone who knows how to fix stuff or have towing insurance or both; around here it's around $150 per hour to come get it, and there will be at least several hours - it can get into four figures.
I say get a stout pickup and carry your own shit.

[geekster]

There is at least one tour bus service that runs from SF and another bus that runs from Seattle via Portland and Eugene. The cost is kinda steep ... about $300 ($365 from Washington/Oregon) plust event ticket. Bus leaves on Tuesday to the event, departs Sunday night. Probably cheaper to drive, in my opinion.