The most recent expansion of services has been more nuanced, generally spurred by a desire to fill gaps in the system, improve connectivity with Amtrak, and strengthen existing routes with new intermediate stops.
The DePaul report by the Chaddick Institute evaluates the remarkable implications of the resurgence of intercity bus travel on the competitive landscape of U.S. travel.
Dynamic scheduling, sophisticated pricing, reserved seating and even frequent traveler programs are giving the sector a makeover, with heightened competition bringing added turbulence to a once sleepy mode of travel.
These findings are part of the Chaddick Institute’s Technology in Travel study, which includes more than 35,000 unique passenger observations since 2009. Passengers are counted once on a given trip. Each year, passengers are observed by trained data collectors to determine how they spend their time while traveling.
The Chaddick Institute released its annual report, entitled "Adding on Amenities, Broadening the Base/2014 Year-in-Review: Intercity Bus Service in the United States," showing the eighth consecutive year of growth for the scheduled services, point-to-point segment of the motorcoach industry, such as Megabus, at the American Bus Association’s Marketplace in St. Louis on Tuesday.
The study — the fifth in an annual series by DePaul University’s Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development — collected data from 7,034 passengers on 106 bus, train and plane departures during February to June 2014 and made comparisons with a similar sample from 2013.
The Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development study evaluates the prices of travel between October 2013 and January 2014 on various modes of transportation — air, bus and rail — in 52 popular city pairs with travel distances between 100 and 500 miles under various advance purchase scenarios.
The focus should not simply be in greater safety enforcement; a larger vision of better mobility choices, including intercity bus services, must be part of the next bill.
City-to-city bus carries expanded their number of daily operations by 4%, exceeding growth rates of city-to-city rail and airline service.
Shunning traditional stations by operating from curbside locations in many cities, BoltBus and Megabus have together grown by more than 25% over the past 18 months. Growth pains, however, are evident. Building product awareness has proven difficult in some regions.
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