Due to high fares and a poor economy, U.S. airlines face a 2 percent decline in passengers this Thanksgiving, according to the Air Transport Association of America.  However, megabus.com is looking forward to, on average, a 70 percent increase in riders throughout its Northeast and Midwest system.  

The intercity, express bus company with fares from $1 expects ridership to be up 54 percent in the Northeast and 85 percent in the Midwest.

“Expensive airline tickets and high gas prices can make visiting family and friends for the holidays seem out of reach,” said Dale Moser, president and COO of megabus.com. “Megabus.com’s affordable prices make is possible for millions of Americans to visit their loved ones during the holidays and all year long.” 

The holidays aren’t the only time bus travel is popular. According to Joseph Schwieterman of the Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development at DePaul University, annual growth rates for intercity motorcoach services ranged from 5.1 to 9.8 percent between 2006 and 2010 — largely in part to what BusinessWeek declared the “Megabus Effect.”   

“Bus travel isn’t what it once was, we completely reinvented the concept,” said Moser. “Megabus.com has made bus travel affordable with our $1 fares, convenient with our express service and cool with our free Wi-Fi and power outlets.”