Today we’d like to introduce you to Betty Ungar.
Hi Betty, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Nearly two decades ago I recognized a need for simple, direct inter city bus travel between Washington, DC and New York City. There were a few lines, but I knew there was a need for reliable transportation specific to the travel between DC and NYC. I began in the heart of Washington, DC and quickly realized services were needed in the suburbs of Washington, DC to serve the population in and around the Washington Metro area who needed inter-city transportation, but their daily lives didn’t necessarily include commuting into the heart of Washington, DC. I quickly decided to serve Arlington, VA and Bethesda, MD with what is now known as Tripper Bus! I wanted to be the go-to transportation provider for passengers with a regular need to travel between New York City and the Washington, DC metro area.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The hardest part about launching a business is getting the word out about your services and building trust. I am so fortunate that thanks to word of mouth, my business grew quickly. I made it my mission to provide a clean, quality, reliable service. I wanted passengers to have a good experience the very first time they chose our service. I knew if they did, they’d return. We quickly built a base, then went on to increase our marketing efforts and better spread the word throughout DC and NYC. We formed numerous partnerships in both metropolitan areas, and heavily involved ourselves in the local scene.
We wanted everyone to know our name and wanted to build strong brand recognition. We chose to market in high-end publications, malls, metros, radio, tv… You Name It! We wanted to quickly spread the word. And our marketing efforts paid off!
Soon after we started winning awards yearly for “The Best Bus to NYC” and other positive reviews followed. This truly helped build our business. We stuck to the foundation of providing good service and knew if we did the passengers would return, and they did!
We’ve been impressed with Tripper Bus, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
What most people don’t know about me is that I am a mother, grandmother and entrepreneur. I have ten children and 60 grandchildren. Balance is key. Support is crucial. I am very blessed to have a supportive family and husband. Balancing family life while starting a business can be stressful, but I always felt my family cheering me on! Especially as a female owner in the transportation space, I was not the typical owner / operator. It’s largely a male dominated industry, but I never let that enter my thoughts. I truly focused on providing a quality service to meet a need. Many people ask how I was able to start a business with such a large family, but to me, I never thought of things that way. I work hard, show my children what it means to work hard and we all love and support each other. I’m most proud of the sustainable company I’ve built. We’ve had many successes, but truly to own and operate a business for two decades and still be going strong in an ever growing competitive space, is a win. What I’d want people to know about our service is that we value every passenger. We care deeply about ensuring we provide easy, reliable, quality transportation. We communicate our values to our team daily, and want every passenger to feel they had a positive experience. We aren’t a large corporate entity. We are local, and the community we serve is our community.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
One of our most beloved team members is Majid Lotfi, our representative on the ground at our Bethesda, MD pick-up and drop-off location.
Majid has been with our team for two decades and is on a first name basis with many of our regular riders. He’s the welcoming face greeting passengers prior to their departure. To meet Majid once, is to make a friend for life, and to know him is to love him. We have so many passengers who reach out to us just to share their appreciation of Majid.
Recently we had a passenger who’s now in college, at the Bethesda stop, who shared with us her many warm memories of Majid, who has known her by name since the age of 5 when she first began riding on Tripper Bus with her family. She even talked him into snapping a photo with her for her socials. That’s who Majid is. He’s the kind face bringing warmth and truly imparting the comfort and appreciation we want every passenger to experience. He loves his job and we love having him on our team.
Additionally we are blessed to have incredible drivers like Ron who often drives our Elite bus, and others who safely take our passengers to and from their destinations.
We are so appreciative to have a great team who take pride in what their work.
Pricing:
- $45
- $55
- $65
- $73
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Tripperbus.com
- Instagram: https://Instagram.com/TripperBus
- Facebook: https://Facebook.com/TripperBus
- Twitter: https://X.com/TripperBus
