First-of-its-kind national transportation study highlights megabus.com as city-to-city express bus carrier helping to save American consumers $1.2 billion annually in travel costs

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:

"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