Travel's Unsung Success Story: the Bus

[marmar]

Travel's Unsung Success Story: the Bus

Susan Stellin
The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA.)


NEW YORK - High-speed rail may be getting lots of attention - and money - from the Obama administration, but it turns out the transportation success story of the last few years is the bus.

At a time when flights have been cut and ridership on trains has been relatively flat, traveling by bus has been on the rise. Last year, bus service increased 5 percent, and it rose nearly 10 percent in 2008, according to Joseph Schwieterman, a DePaul University professor who has studied the decline and comeback of bus travel. In fact, in 2007, when he and his team of transportation researchers began studying why travelers shunned buses, they found themselves in the midst of a turnaround.

While 18- to 35-year-olds were the first to embrace new bus lines like MegaBus and BoltBus, which offer cheap express service between major cities in the Midwest and Northeast, the appeal of bus travel has expanded to include business travelers and riders older than 35 who want to avoid the stress of driving.

Here are ways new lines have transformed bus service into a cool way to get around:

Online ticketing

MegaBus and BoltBus primarily sell tickets through their websites, and though both companies also sell tickets over the phone, they charge $3 extra for reservations booked by an agent. BoltBus even has a mobile site so passengers can more easily buy a ticket using a smartphone. Your receipt is sent by e-mail or text message and serves as your boarding pass, which you can print or show to the driver on your phone. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.masstransitmag.com/online/article.jsp?siteSection=3&id=12153