My wife has used this service between here and Chicago many times. For me this was the first time…read moreand it worked well in both directions. We bought tickets on line which worked well though it was hard to find out exactly how the ticket process worked - such as do you reserve a time or what happens if there is no room on the bus, etc. The buses were on time both ways even with the terrible rush hour traffic coming out of Chicago on a weekday. The only improvement would be a nicer indoor place to wait at Dutch Mill in Madison like they have in Janesville and Rockford. In winter this would be important. More space between seats would also be nice but it is a good value overall. The cost was less than driving ourselves and parking in downtown Chicago and no hassle of dealing with the traffic. I would use it again especially when flying out of O'Hare.

Bizarre and rude behavior from the bus driver…read more I took the 1:00pm Van Galder coach bus from Madison (250 N Lake st) to Chicago (W Jackson Boulevard). When I went to get on the bus, the driver first told me that Chicago was closed and angrily asked "why hadn't I seen the news". He told me to search my phone so frantically I did, but when I told him I wasn't finding any articles of this he yelled "what kind of god damn phone you got? You got an Apple or something?" and also told me that we're not going to be able to leave or "maybe we'll drive in circles and get there in 5 or 6 hours". There were no other people waiting at the bus station, the bus windows were blacked out so you can't see into the bus, and from where I was standing, I could not see inside the bus so it really did seem like it was possible that no one was on the bus and the service had been cancelled. I was traveling to make a conference in Chicago for work and was very concerned I might not be able to make it in time. As I was debating whether or not I should find an alternative transport, scanned my ticket so I couldn't leave without forfeiting my fare. Throughout the trip he continued to use foul language every time he stopped to pick up passengers. I don't know if this was meant as a joke, but no one was laughing. His behavior was intimidating and it was very inappropriate to provide false information, force me to search frantically on my phone, and yell profanity at me in front of other passengers. I have honestly never encountered this kind of bizarre behavior in a professional setting- it's totally unnecessary and wastes everyone's time. This kind of behavior reflects poorly on Van Galder and has certainly caused me to never want to use this bus service again. The drivers really need better training on what is work appropriate behavior and what is not.