At a few different events this year, I have been asked if the Capital City A&M Club helps coordinate shuttle services for football games in the Fall so Austin Aggies can ride there and back together and avoid the craziness that is driving around College Station these days on gameday and avoid trying to find a hotel/airBnB. I know the club has not done this since I have been here starting in 2017. I was told it used to be done many years ago and something the club should consider again.

1) How many of you would be interested in this type of service for one or more football games? Pay $XX amount to take a bus/other transport from ATX and be dropped off in CSTAT (the Chicken or some other nearby spot a few hours before kickoff) and return to ATX soon after the game ends.
1a) If so, are there any specific games?
1b) Any maximum price point you're willing to pay for something like this? $50? $75?

2) If the renewed interest in the idea has traction, any leads on potential shuttle services to check into for this?

I have tried to put this together a few times over the years from Austin and had limited success. The cost before gas went though the rough worked out to be about $100 per person, if you wanted to make sure that you covered your nut. It worked alot better in Dallas, I think because it was a longer drive.

People have a lot of different priorities on Gameday, some want to get in and out, others want to tailgate for a bit before the game or hit Northgate. I'd be interested if you can get it together.

No one wants to commit to anything more than a week in advance and heaven help you if we lose the week before.

I recall couple of the issues for me was the cost per person and where it picked up/dropped off in AUS. By the time I drove I would drive there, I could be part way there.

Perhaps try it for the Arkansas game and see how it would go. I recall (hearsay) the busses to Dallas would have to stop for a pit stop to allow people to pick up more drinks and unload the ones they had already had.

Following for future info.

I'd be interested in at least 1 game.

Not trying to derail, but prior to the pandemic, I think VonLane used to do RT trips from Austin to College Station for games. Not sure if they would resume in future.

Vonlane would be amazing for this
I would be willing to pay for that upgraded experience

There is one from Dallas to college station and the bus arrives in aggieland 3 hours prior to kick. And leaves 1 hour after game is over. It's usually full. I think the cost last year was $60. So it can be done. But since austin is such a short drive it may be hard to fill.

I manage the bus from Dallas to College Station. We depart from close to downtown Dallas where the only practical route it 45S to Hwy 21. Many passengers come from 30-45 miles north (Plano, Frisco, etc.). From our departure point it takes just at 3 hours. I tried to help someone from Houston set up one but there are so many different routes from Houston to College Station depending on what area you are coming from. We've learned a lot over the years of doing this bus. We no longer allow any stops on the way down as that adds 30-45 minutes to the trip. It's BYOB and there's a bathroom on the bus. I'd be glad to field any other questions.

Thanks Plano.

I rode the shuttle from Dallas a handful of times when we lived in Dallas. The experience was top notch!

Thanks for sharing Plano.

A few follow up questions:
What was the drop off point in College Station?

Did you have to coordinate with specific people in College Station/TAMU to allow for the drop off and parking the bus somewhere?

How much was charged per person?

Quote:

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Thanks for sharing Plano.

A few follow up questions:
What was the drop off point in College Station?

Did you have to coordinate with specific people in College Station/TAMU to allow for the drop off and parking the bus somewhere?

How much was charged per person?

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The charter bus parking for Aggie football game days is on the west side of Reed Arena. The cost is $40/game. No advanced reservation is required and there's always plenty of rooms for buses.

Our bus would drop off at 3 places prior to returning to the west side of Reed Arena to stay until departure after the game.

1) Dixie Chicken - The bus simply stopped in the far most right lane of University right in front of the Chicken.
2) East side of Reed Arena - This stop was for those tailgating on West Campus.
3) TexAgs Studio - This stop was for those going directly to the stadium or TexAgs Tailgate. Once again, we just pulled over to the curb right in front of the TexAgs parking lot.

The cost last season came was $50/person. The bus cost (14 hours) was approximately $2400. I always assume 50 paid passengers even though the bus seats 56. I typically used the front 2 benches for myself and any storage I needed. Therefore, I was normally splitting the $2440 between 52 people which comes out to about $47/person. This year the bus increased to $3000 so I had to bump the cost up to $60/person. I only took RSVP through a payment via PayPal. This ensured you didn't have last minute unpaid cancellations leaving you on the hook.

I started doing this in 2014 minus the COVID year so this will be the 9th year.

Last question (maybe?)
Which bus service do you use for this? If it's a statewde company then maybe they also could have a route from Austin to College Station.

Really appreciate all the insight and detail on this!

The company I use is only based in Dallas.

https://www.premierofdallas.com/

You'll need to do some Google work for Austin.