RICHMOND, Va. -- Many Greyhound passengers spent their Sunday inside the Richmond station waiting hours for the announcement that it was time to go.
"This is my first real long Greyhound trip in 8 years," Vito Tiriolo said. "When I used to ride more often it wasn`t anything like this."
Tiriolo's trip started out in New York City where even his first bus was delayed.
"I’m trying to get down to Nashville in time tomorrow for the eclipse and the bus I’m waiting on from here is about 3 hours late," Tiriolo said.
Several passengers all had similar issues and those only made the problems in Richmond worse.
"I’m trying to get down to Nashville in time tomorrow for the eclipse."
A Greyhound worker said the delays started piling up when drivers timed out. Much like pilots only flying a certain number of hours at a time these drivers had to take a break before getting back on the road.
"Initially told us they didn`t have drivers so they were trying to get drivers to come in," Lisa Mike said while waiting for her father-in-law’s bus. "They were having a couple coming in from Norfolk that would be able to take over some of the buses."
Mike’s father-in-law was scheduled to leave for Roanoke at noon but several hours later he was still waiting along with so many others.
She decided to hang around to not only wait for her family member's ride but to also help others by giving them money for food.
"We would have taken him on home but after speaking to some of the seniors and seeing the children we just couldn't leave everyone else in dire straits."
Lanesha Gipson, a Greyhound spokesperson, said the delays were caused by an increase in back-to-school travelers as well as people taking last-minute summer vacations.
"We've had more customers purchase tickets than we have resources to accommodate everyone," Gipson said. "We are working diligently to get all of our customers on the road. We are providing food vouchers so customers can eat while they wait, and keeping them updated on the status of their bus as updates are available."
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