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Low-fare bus companies are springing up across the country, seizing an opportunity created by rising air fares, airport security hassles and mounting gas prices that have people shunning airlines, leaving their cars in the driveway and leaving the driving to others.
Low-buck lines like BoltBus, DC2NY and Megabus increasingly are siphoning passengers from airlines seemingly intent on making flying as miserable as possible. "It's not just high fuel prices — it's the hassle factor at the airports that has left many fliers disenchanted," says Joseph P. Schwieterman, a professor of transportation at DePaul University. "Travelers who wouldn't have given a thought to bus travel are now stepping on board."
As airlines continue cutting routes and raising fares, the upstart bus companies see a big chance to not only win riders, but make them loyal customers by offering rock-bottom fares and loads of perks like free WiFi.
Yes, they've gotta deal with high fuel prices like everyone else, but they're thriving because they're fanatical about keeping costs down. BoltBus, for example, picks up passengers at the curb — no fees for gate space at the terminal -- and only sells tickets online, eliminating the need for ticket agents. Taking a page from the airlines, BoltBus also is launching a frequent-rider program to build loyalty.
BoltBus is a joint venture between Greyhound and Peter Pan, which raises an interesting question: Will a bus-line-within-a-bus-line business model actually work? Scores of airlines have tried budget carriers of their own — Metrojet, Song, Ted and Continental Lite all come to mind — but scrapped the idea when they found the upstarts poached customers from their parent operations. Greyhound isn't saying what impact BoltBus is having on mainline operations but claims the six-month-old subsidiary has ferried
225,000 passengers along high-traffic routes in the Northeast Corridor — about
10 percent more than originally forecast.
BoltBus isn't the only game in town. DC2NY has been around for about a year now and bills itself as "the upscale bus." It makes the run between those two cities for the bargain-basement price of $25, which includes free WiFi and beverages. British-owned Megabus will ferry you to several major cities in the Midwest for as little as $1.50 if you book far enough in advance. You don't get a lot of frills for that kind of coin, but those who have ridden Megabus say the buses are clean and the service decent.
It's amazing how much money you can save, too. I'm headed to Washington DC soon, so I'm looking for some cheap transport. It's a quick flight from Boston, and while I knew that airfares were up, I had no idea how high they'd gone. A round trip flight is $397. The train isn't much better — a ride on Amtrak's Acela at $410, and even the slower, less sexy Northeast Regional is $211. Compare that to $163 on Greyhound, or better yet $50 on low-fare line GotoBus, and it's a no-brainer.
Am I too proud to ride the bus? In this economy, no way.
*Photo: Steve Deger/Flickr. Post updated 2:30 p.m. PST.
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