Stagecoach : Major US transport study highlights megabus.com success

Major US transport study highlights megabus.com success

15 Jan 2015

• DePaul University review showcases company services and reserved-seating offering
• Study highlights 2014 as 'a really good year for megabus.com'
• Inter-city bus sector has fastest growth in transport sector, outpacing air and rail
• Bus industry gains market share with 8th consecutive year of growth

The success of inter-city coach company megabus.com has been highlighted in a major US transport study.

The annual review of America's transportation industry, released by Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development of DePaul University, notes that 2014 was 'a really good year for megabus.com'.

"More and more, Americans are turning to city-to-city express bus for travel," said Joseph P. Schwieterman, Professor, School of Public Service and Director of Chaddick Institute. "2014 was a really good year for megabus.com, which is showcased in the report due to its new services and reserved seating offering. Also, travellers are looking to save money and avoid the stress of flying and driving," Schwieterman added.

"megabus.com is the increasingly popular choice of more than 40 million travellers seeking affordable, safe and reliable travel options, and today we're pleased to be recognised again in Chaddick Institute's annual study," said Dale Moser, Chief Executive Officer of megabus.com. "As American travellers continue to look for ways to stretch their money, we look forward to providing them with big value; that's why ridership on buses is gaining ground compared to on planes, trains and cars."

Highlights of the study include:

• During 2014, city-to-city express bus service providers added more than 100 new daily services across the Unites States, resulting in a 2.1 percent increase in daily scheduled operations. While bus service grew, Amtrak train miles held constant, and the number of airline flights diminished by 3.5 percent.

• In the midst of another wave of expansion, inter-city bus retains its status as America's fastest growing inter-city travel mode. megabus.com grew from 594 to 616 daily operations (departures) during 2014. 

• megabus.com reported, in October 2014, a 13.5 percent increase in passenger numbers over the previous year.

• megabus.com introduced reserved seating during 2014, and the study noted that reserved seating at a table gives work-oriented passengers travelling in groups the opportunity to conduct business meetings during the trip. Ten seats - of the total 81 seats on each double-decker bus - are available for reserved seating.

• megabus.com added extensive new services in Florida, California as well as in New England, and continues to aggressively move towards building a national network of interconnected hubs that cater to both short and longer distance trips.

• City-to-city express bus service providers are attracting an ever-widening range of passengers through the introduction of sought-after amenities and services. megabus.com is the first company in North American to offer customers state-of-the-art, green-certified double-decker buses with free Wi-Fi, electric outlets, toilets and that are wheelchair-accessible. As a result, bus travel is gaining loyalty among passengers who place a premium on comfort and convenience.

• Increasingly, business travellers who have tended to shy away from bus services in the past are now climbing onboard.

• megabus.com has developed innovative new technologies to inform customers about service issues, such as delays due to weather or traffic congestion.

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.

Visit www.megabus.com for additional information about the service, schedules, arrival and departure times and fares.

Ends

For media enquiries, please contact:  Stagecoach Group Communications on 01738 442111 or email: [e-mail]

Notes to Editors:
The seventh annual study, is entitled "Adding on Amenities, Broadening the Base / 2014 Year-in-Review: Intercity Bus Service in the United States." The full study is available at http://bit.ly/1y3SC9b on the DePaul University website.

megabus.com high-resolution photos and broadcast-quality video for download:

RESERVED SEATING PHOTO: http://bit.ly/UKAqAF
PHOTOS: http://bit.ly/1cYltRB
B-ROLL VIDEO: http://bit.ly/1wUTlE1

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 operates service to/from more than 120 major cities in North America from 23 hubs in Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Gainesville, Los Angeles, Memphis, Mobile, New Orleans, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Richmond, San Francisco, St. Louis, Texas Triangle (Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio), Washington, D.C. and Toronto - creating more than 1,000 new, professional jobs during the past eight years.

Since its launch in 2006, megabus.com has served more than 40 million customers.

megabus.com services operate daily. Fares shown are one-way and include all government taxes. 

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 a family of 25 local companies in North America, some that have been in business for more than 75 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.

Stagecoach Group
• Stagecoach Group is a leading international public transport group, with extensive operations in the UK, continental Europe, the United States and Canada. The Group employs around 35,000 people,and operates bus, coach, train, and tram services.
• Stagecoach is one of the UK's biggest bus and coach operators with around 8,300 buses and coaches. Around 2.8 million passenger journeys are made on Stagecoach's buses every day on a network stretching from south-west England to the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. The Group's business includes major city bus operations in London, Liverpool, Newcastle, Hull, Manchester, Oxford, Sheffield and Cambridge. Low-cost coach service, megabus.com, operates a network of inter-city services across the UK and continental Europe.
• Stagecoach is a major UK rail operator, running the South West Trains, Island Line and East Midlands Trains networks. It has a 49% shareholding in Virgin Rail Group, which operates the West Coast rail franchise.
• Stagecoach also operates the Supertram light rail network in Sheffield.
• In North America, Stagecoach operates around 2,400 buses and coaches in the United States and Canada. Megabus.com links around 130 key locations in North America. Stagecoach is also involved in operating commuter, transit, contracted, charter and sightseeing services.