Winter Storm Snarls Pittsburgh Travelers In Multiple Megabus Vehicles
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STATE COLLEGE (KDKA) -- A powerful winter storm has caused separate Megabus vehicles traveling both to and from Pittsburgh to have become stranded since Friday.
A Megabus spokesperson confirmed to KDKA that a Megabus traveling from New York City to Pittsburgh became stranded on a closed section of Route 80 near State College. The road was expected to remain closed until Noon.
The Megabus spokesperson also confirmed that another Megabus traveling from Pittsburgh to New York City has become stranded at a travel center in Columbia, New Jersey.
KDKA spoke with a social-work student from the University of Pittsburgh, Keren Kedem, who had taken the Megabus from Pittsburgh to New York City. She said the bus had several students from the University of Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania State University that were traveling on Spring Break. They were stranded at a Travel Center in Columbia, New Jersey, which was unable to open due to the storm. She said the original driver of the bus had gone over their allotted drive-time and had to wait for Megabus to send another driver to that location which was difficult to reach because of the storm. That driver arrived at 11:00 a.m. and that bus was departing for New York City with an expected arrival time of around 12:30 p.m. Saturday, at which time they will have been on that bus trip for nearly 28 hours.
The spokesperson for Megabus confirmed that the Megabus heading from Pittsburgh to New York had become trapped on a closed section of Route 80 near the Poconos. The road was expected to remain closed until Noon. The road did briefly open and the bus began to move but another vehicle accident once again closed the roadway.
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf said on Twitter Friday that he was activating the Pennsylvania National Guard to assist travelers stranded in the winter storm.
.@GovernorTomWolf this evening announced that troops from the @PANationalGuard have been put on State Active Duty to support the local response to today's severe weather in the eastern part of the commonwealth. https://t.co/MOMzDtv4cO
— The Press Office (@GovernorsOffice) March 3, 2018