Peter Taylor
Peter Taylor was amazed to find that he was at the mercy of taxi drivers and car hire companies when he arrived in the city by bus.
He said, "I feel sorry for the backpacker, touring America on a budget, who arrives at the city’s Greyhound bus station. He will be greeted by a taxi driver who tells him the only way to get anywhere is by paying his premium fares. The same applies at the nearby airport where a fleet of taxi drivers wait to charge you a minimum ten dollars to the nearest localities, 18 to downtown and 40 to Lookout Mountain, a popular beauty spot a few miles away.
"When I inquired with airport staff how to get to downtown I ended up talking to a girl on the car hire desk who wanted me to hire a car and seemed to think I was mad to want to use buses. She told me I might not like the kind of people who would be using the buses. I began to think I was in a zombie movie.
"I have been to a lot of different cities, all over America, Europe, Asia and Africa, and I have never encountered such a poor welcome in transport terms.
"I could not even find any information about buses at the airport information stand even though the local CARTA services do run nearby.
"Not every traveler wants to use taxis or hire a car and an airport without a bus station is unheard of in Europe.''
Mr. Taylor has written a full account of his Chattanooga experience on his travel blog at http://globewanderer.co.uk/chattanooga-usa/2014/12/02/