I'm having trouble generating any sympathy for Greyhound's declining ridership. I haven't ridden a bus in a couple of decades and hope to hold out for a couple more. Three incidents drove me to the decision.

1. My brother was looking for a bus schedule from Memphis, Tenn., to Victoria, Texas, and called Greyhound. The attendant read off the itinerary: "... Leave Nacogdoches, 11:40; arrive Houston, 11:45 ... ."

Wait a minute, my brother said. It's 140 miles from Nacogdoches to Houston.

Oh, yeah, said the attendant, that can't be right. It's got a layover in Corrigan.

2. I visited my brother and rode the bus from Memphis to Nacogdoches. As we were pulling out of the Memphis station, the driver said, "Well, this bus never has been on time, and I guess it probably won't be today."

This elicited a good-natured chuckle from riders, except me. I had a tight connection in Jackson, Miss. Sure enough, we pulled into Jackson a couple of hours late, I missed the connection, and arrived home 24 hours late after spending a night roaming the streets of Shreveport, La.

3. When my daughter was a little tyke, my wife took her on a bus ride to East Texas to see the grandparents. This time the bus pulled into Waco with plenty of time to make the connection to Longview. Except for one thing: The bus to Longview left early. It was pulling out of the station just as their bus pulled in.

That's it, I said when I got the news. Never again. And that still holds.