Study: Who Is Riding Curbside Buses, And Should Amtrak Worry?

[marmar]

from Transportation Nation:




Study: Who Is Riding Curbside Buses, And Should Amtrak Worry?
By Alex Goldmark | August 1, 2011 – 9:07 am





After 40 years of retrenchment, the bus industry is making a comeback — in a big way, according to research from DePaul University. As we’ve reported before, discount curbside buses are currently the fastest growing mode of intercity transportation in the U.S. A new survey released Monday finds that bus passengers are overwhelmingly young, and they are being diverted from rail, even more than they are from driving.

“We estimate the curbside sector has grown to more than 400 daily departures. And that’s big. That means it has become almost a third of the size of the national intercity bus network” of Greyhound, said Joseph Schwieterman, the director of the Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development at DePaul University. “There’s over 60 points served now and there’s five major hubs. It has grown from a baby industry to an industry that has blanketed the Midwest and a good chunk of the Northeast.”

At the heart of the increase in popularity of intercity buses are two companies, Bolt Bus and Megabus, each owned by traditional bus operators. To find out just who is riding this new breed of motorcoach, Lauren A. Fischer and Schwieterman led a team of DePaul researchers to survey more than 1,000 bus riders, mostly from those two companies.



According to their report, the portrait of a curbside discount bus rider is younger, under 35, traveling for leisure or personal reasons, and tech savvy. “They’re mainly younger people traveling on personal business.” The survey found that 72 percent of Bolt and Megabus riders were under 35. Almost half of all riders were 18-25 years old. That’s actually a diversification. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://transportationnation.org/2011/08/01/study-who-is-riding-curbside-buses-should-amtrak-worry/

[Indianademocrat91]

1. Im in that 18-25 group

Riding a bus for 3 hours for 1 dollar from Indy to Chicago is about the best thing since sliced bread... With me being a broke college student, the bus is a way better option than driving(gas), flying($$$), and riding a train($20 more than riding the bus). You can't beat it.

[Nay]

2. It's $6 to go from Richmond to DC -- can't beat the price!