Unlike the days when electric railways provided local transportation, and connected various cities together through the various interurban lines, fewer people nowadays are going to use the local bus systems for interurban transportation. The interurban journeys of today are more likely to be of interest to transit fans.
Several interurban journey ideas are suggested elsewhere on this Web site. To create those journey ideas, the following tips were used to make the ideas more interesting and adventurous.
USE REGULAR LOCAL ALL DAY BUS ROUTES WHENEVER POSSIBLE
Only when there is no other choice, should one use a rush hour only bus route, express bus route, or rapid transit train or commuter train.
WHENEVER POSSIBLE, USE AN AREA'S LOCAL TRANSIT SYSTEM AT LEAST ONCE
It is possible to pass through some areas, using strictly regional or express bus routes operated by other than an area's local transit system. But if possible, it is more interesting to transfer and ride at least one segment using the local transit system.
These tips were not used for all journey ideas. Some routes may have been overlooked, depending on the quality of the various transit systems' Web sites, and the ease of identifying the various bus routes.
Whenever possible, for different journeys through one city, different routes were selected in the same areas.
Some journeys could conceivably be extended using dial-a-ride services. But in a way, that would be "cheating". As some states including Iowa and Tennessee have statewide dial-a-ride programs, making those states 100 percent transit accessible.
Finally, information is subject to change. And many transit routes operate infrequently, making many journeys impossible during the same day. Anyone attempting such a journey is strongly encouraged to check the official transit systems' Web sites for the latest information.