NEW YORK, April 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Megabus.com,
the popular city-to-city, express bus company with fares from
$1, is highlighted in the study, "The
Traveler's Tradeoff: Comparing Intercity Bus, Plane & Train
Fares across the United States", released today by the Chaddick
Institute for Metropolitan Development of DePaul University.
The study is the first-of-its-kind to show the extent to which
travelers in all regions of the country save by choosing
city-to-city buses versus other modes of transportation. It
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 results
show that the differences in fares between modes are significant
and larger than is commonly believed.
"The savings from bus travel proved remarkably robust,
regardless of whether a consumer books in advance or waits until
just a day before departure to buy a ticket," said Joseph P. Schwieterman, Professor, School of
Public Service and Director of Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan
Development at DePaul University. "This
ticketing flexibility adds greatly to the popularity of bus
travel."
As an example, in the New York
to Pittsburgh city pair, the
average fare was $51.30 for
megabus.com (with a seven-day advance purchase). Under the same
date/parameters, air travel was considerably more expensive at
$182.50 and $186.78 on Southwest.com and Orbitz.com,
respectively.
"With more than 35 million customers served since 2006,
megabus.com has become the new model of modern, efficient and
affordable city-to-city transportation," said Mike Alvich, megabus.com's Vice President of
Marketing and Public Relations. "Today we're excited to be
recognized in the study by DePaul
University that highlights what has helped make megabus.com
such a new and popular 21st century bus travel option. As travelers
continue to look for ways to stretch their dollar, we look forward
to continuing to provide a safe, reliable, and comfortable ride
that also offers innovative bus travel amenities like reserved
seating, mobile bus tracking, free Wi-Fi and power outlets in every
seat at a price that every American can take advantage of to stay
connected to family and friends."
Highlights of the study include:
- City-to-city bus companies, including megabus.com, have
dramatically expanded in recent years and have added service at a
rate far faster than any other transportation mode.
- Customers save at least $31 on
one-way trips compared to train travel and $169 per trip compared to air travel.
- Travelers in the Northeast enjoy the largest savings when
switching from trains to buses. A traveler booking a week ahead
saves an average of $67 per one way
trip.
- Travelers in the Pacific enjoy the largest savings when
switching from air travel to buses. A traveler booking four weeks
ahead saves an average of $142 one
way.
- One-way price difference between bus and air travel can exceed
$250 each way.
- Even air travelers booking their trips four weeks in advance to
obtain the lowest airfares save nearly $200 roundtrip by taking the bus.
- Bus customers who purchase tickets one day before departure
save an average of more than $300
roundtrip over what they would spend for airline tickets booked a
week in advance.
- In all regions of the country, motor coach travel is
substantially less expensive than single-occupant driving, even for
motorists who consider only the cost of fuel and tolls and ignore
depreciation.
Cities featured in the study include:
• Albuquerque,
N.M.
|
• Houston
|
• New York
|
• Riverside,
Calif.
|
• Atlanta
|
•
Indianapolis
|
• Norfolk,
Va.
|
• Salt Lake
City
|
• Austin
|
• Jacksonville,
Fla.
|
• Oakland,
Calif.
|
• San
Antonio
|
• Birmingham,
Al.
|
• Kansas City,
Mo
|
• Oklahoma
City
|
• San
Diego
|
• Boise,
Idaho
|
• Las
Vegas
|
• Omaha,
Neb.
|
• San
Francisco
|
• Boston
|
• Little Rock,
Ark.
|
• Orlando,
Fla.
|
• San Jose,
Calif.
|
• Buffalo,
N.Y.
|
• Los
Angeles
|
•
Philadelphia
|
• Seattle
|
• Charlotte,
N.C.
|
• Louisville,
Ky.
|
• Phoenix
|
• Spokane,
Wash.
|
• Chicago
|
• Memphis,
Tenn.
|
•
Pittsburgh
|
• St.
Louis
|
•
Cincinnati
|
• Miami
|
• Portland,
Ore.
|
• Tampa
|
• Columbus,
Ohio
|
•
Milwaukee
|
• Providence,
R.I.
|
• Washington
D.C.
|
• Dallas
|
•
Minneapolis
|
• Raleigh,
N.C.
|
|
• Denver
|
• Nashville,
Tenn.
|
• Reno,
Nev.
|
|
• Hartford,
Conn.
|
• New
Orleans
|
• Richmond,
Va.
|
|
"Travelers are flocking to the bus. Not only for [the obvious
benefits of] the low fares, but also to avoid the stress of flying
and driving," added Schwieterman.
The study, entitled "The Traveler's Tradeoff: Comparing
Intercity Bus, Plane & Train Fares across the United States" is posted at
http://las.depaul.edu/chaddick/ResearchandPublications/index.asp on
the DePaul website.
Megabus.com, a subsidiary of Coach USA, launched in April
2006 and is one of the largest city-to-city express bus
service providers in North
America.
In addition to affordable fares, megabus.com offers customers
state-of-the-art, green-certified double-decker buses with free
Wi-Fi, power outlets, seat belts, restrooms and are wheelchair
accessible.
Visit www.megabus.com for additional information about the
service, schedules, arrival and departure times and fares.
ABOUT MEGABUS.COM
Megabus.com, one of the largest privately funded providers of
city-to-city express bus transportation, maintains the highest
(Satisfactory) safety compliance rating with the Federal Motor
Carrier Safety Administration. Transportation Safety Exchange
(TSX), an independent safety rating organization that provides
safety ratings of more than 300,000 passenger and freight carriers,
announced in January 2014 that all
megabus.com carriers are TSX-approved. Megabus.com is the first
carrier group to achieve TSX approval, demonstrating the most
stringent safety standards in the industry.
Megabus.com is the first bus line to offer high-quality travel
for as low as $1 via the Internet.
Megabus.com operates service to/from more than 120 major cities in
North America from 13 hubs in
Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Los
Angeles, New York,
Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San
Francisco, Texas Triangle (Dallas, Houston, San
Antonio), Washington D.C.
and Toronto – creating more than
1,000 new, professional jobs during the past eight years. Visit
www.megabus.com for a complete list of cities served.
Since its launch on April 10,
2006, megabus.com has served more than 35 million
customers.
Service for megabus.com operates daily. Fares shown are one-way
and include all government taxes.
* Watch the video here for Safety information.
Megabus.com is a subsidiary of Coach USA, one of the largest transportation
companies in North America.
Paramus, N.J.-based Coach
USA owns and operates nearly 30
local companies in North America,
some that have been in business for more than 70 years, which
operate scheduled bus routes, motor coach tours, airport
transportation services, charters and sightseeing tours.
For the latest news and travel deals, follow megabus.com on
Twitter at @megabus and Like us on Facebook at
http://www.facebook.com/megabus.com.officialpage.
SOURCE megabus.com