NYT: Bus travel making a comeback
High-speed rail may be getting lots of attention — and money — from the Obama administration, but it turns out the transportation success story of the last few years is the bus.
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Source: NYT: Bus travel making a comeback
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At a time when flights have been cut and ridership on trains has been relatively flat, traveling by bus has been on the rise. Last year, bus service increased 5 percent, and it rose nearly 10 percent in 2008, according to Joseph Schwieterman, a DePaul University professor who has studied the decline and comeback of bus travel. In fact, in 2007, when he and his team of transportation researchers began studying why travelers shunned buses, they found themselves in the midst of a turnaround. While 18-to-35-year-olds were the first to embrace new bus lines like MegaBus and BoltBus, which offer cheap express service between major cities in the Midwest and Northeast, the appeal of bus travel has expanded to include business travelers and riders older than 35 who want to avoid the stress of driving. Related coverage Getty Images Report: 3-hour rule creates more problems Buckle up — it may be a bumpy summer. A new report out today suggests DOT's recently implemented 3-hour tarmac rule will create more problems than it solves. By Rob Lovitt. Full story ..“Even the older generation has abandoned their disdain for the bus,” Dr. Schwieterman said. “They don’t even think of it in the same vein as Greyhound.” Gary Petty, a retiree from Alexandria, Va., is among those who have given the new bus lines a try. He and his wife took the Tripper Bus from Arlington, Va., to New York last fall, and described it as a clean, comfortable ride. “I normally don’t mind driving, but at that particular time the thought of hitting traffic somewhere around the New Jersey Turnpike was really off-putting for me,” Mr. Petty said. “So we took the bus, and I really enjoyed having someone else in charge.” |
Source: NYT: Bus travel making a comeback
