Which term should I use when I want to buy a ticket from A to B for a scheduled bus, similar to what flight means for planes?
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2I'd use "route" in that situation.– Dan BronOct 11, 2014 at 22:39
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sure, route as Dan says.– FattieOct 12, 2014 at 15:12
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4Janos - it's simply unclear what you're asking. there are a number of different ways you can use "flight" with planes: almost certainly the "equivalent" words for bus are different words.– FattieOct 12, 2014 at 15:13
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1@Joe is right. Are you talking about the flight you might take on flight UA3382 from Grand Rapids to Chicago? Or are you talking about the flight number? The two words happen to be the same for planes, but they are not for buses.– Janus Bahs JacquetOct 12, 2014 at 15:19
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1Another option (in the U.S.) is run, although I think this is more often used with regular truck routes than with buses.– Sven YargsOct 12, 2014 at 19:08
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5 Answers
I agree with Drew's answer for American English: trip. Just as airlines tell their passengers to "enjoy your flight", the largest bus operator in America (Greyhound) tells its passengers to "enjoy your trip".
In the UK, the word journey can be used. The British D&G bus service tells its passengers to "Take a seat and enjoy your journey". But the word trip can also be used.
Having said that, you cannot use the words trip and journey for buses in all the same ways that you can use flight for planes. For example, you could say "My flight arrives at 8am", but you would never say "My trip/journey arrives at 8am". In that case you would just say "My bus arrives at 8am".
answered Oct 11, 2014 at 23:44
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Nevertheless, trip is the corresponding noun for buses, cars, and similar modes of transportation. +1– RobustoOct 12, 2014 at 15:40
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This is all moot. As has been pointed out now many times, quite simply, there are (utterly) different usages of "flight" and it's totally conceptually meaningless - indeed, time-wasting - to say "what's the equivalent of flight". You have to say "what's the equivalent of this sense of such-and-such word". You might as well ask "What is the french word for <insert any homograph here>". It's just silly, annoying, and time wasting. So there :)– FattieOct 13, 2014 at 8:16
I have heard route used in this manner. Sometimes, the announcement is "Route north, Seattle to Vancouver, now boarding at gate #12."
I answered this question as parallel to Flight Number. As a teenager, I had the privilege to fly Pan Am One, the famous route beginning in San Francisco, going westward around the world, and ending in San Francisco.
Trains also use route, as Amtrack's Coast Starlighter. [Amtrack][1] [1]: http://www.amtrak.com/coast-starlight-train
A flight is just one kind of trip, voyage, or journey. I don't know if English has some word specific to trips by bus, which is not applicable to other transport.
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2
All of these answers are wrong.
There are a number of different ways you can use "flight" with planes
Almost certainly, the "equivalent" various words for bus are different words.
English almost never maps usages across groups. Why would it?
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1While I agree, this constitutes a necessary comment. Unclear questions shouldn't be endorsed with 'answers': <<[You say] I asked for clarification from the OP. If those who answered the "original" question had done the same, instead of rushing to answer, I can't see there would have been [any problem]. Premature pre-emptive answers are no benefit to the site, so I [can’t] see any problem with them being downvoted if they don't answer the "final, clarified" question. If nothing else, this might discourage those hasty answerers from leaving what eventually amounts to "litter" on the site. FF>> Oct 12, 2014 at 21:33
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Trip. When you buy a bus ticket from A to B you buy a bus-trip ticket from A to B, that is, a ticket for the bus trip from A to B.
But you can just as well not use any word for the trip, if you are specifying A and B. Please give me a ticket from A to B is understood as asking for a ticket for the trip from A to B.
(And you might want to check out the site English Language Learners.)
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1'Journey' would probably be more usual in the UK; 'trip' often means 'excursion' and connotes accordingly otherwise. Oct 11, 2014 at 19:47
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1@EdwinAshworth: You might want to enter journey as a separate answer. In AmE it is far more usual to take a bus trip than a bus journey. And (in AmE) you generally buy a ticket for the bus trip from A to B. Using journey here (in AmE) is akin to using voyage - it is certainly not what one would usually employ for a local excursion. (But of course, all are possible.)– DrewOct 11, 2014 at 19:52
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Within the UK passenger transport industry itself, it's quite common to distinguish trip as being a specific instance of a scheduled journey on a particular date/time. In that context, journeys themselves are specific subcomponents (each with scheduled day-of-week + time of day) of routes (different ways the bus might travel from A to B, also known as services). Oct 11, 2014 at 20:21
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This isn't a good answer as it is Drew. Provide a definition and example usage. Oct 11, 2014 at 21:35
The equivalent of a flight/airline/airplane ticket for buses is simply a bus ticket.
Here is a title from Greyhound (largest intercity bus service in North America) website:
Book Bus Tickets to Popular Destinations with Greyhound
The usage of the phrase "bus ticket" is more usual on online booking websites. However, when you are buying a bus ticket at a counter, there can be various ways to ask. You can simply mention what route and what time it is. You may still use the phrase "bus ticket" when buying at a counter, especially if there are tickets sold for other types of services.
Other than that, the word flight covers three senses below so it depends on the context to find an equivalent word for buses.
a general trip/journey of an airplane
a scheduled trip of an airplane
an airplane making a scheduled trip
Most of the time, simply "bus" is used as an equivalent of "flight" in everyday speech. For example, you cannot say "My bus service is at 2pm", but you can say "My bus is at 2 pm".
