Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T07:34:30.242Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

RESEARCH ARTICLE: The Decline and Recovery of Intercity Bus Service in the United States: A Comeback for an Environmentally Friendly Transportation Mode?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 March 2011

Lauren A. Fischer  and
Joseph P. Schwieterman
Lauren A. Fischer*
Affiliation:
Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development, DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois
Joseph P. Schwieterman
Affiliation:
School of Public Service and Director, Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development, DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois
*
Lauren A. Fischer, Associate Director, Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development, DePaul University, Chicago, IL 60604; (phone) 312-362-5731; (fax) 312-962-1994; (e-mail) [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

The intercity bus sector in the United States (US) has experienced a dramatic recovery in recent years due to the expansion of new curbside operators—express operators linking major cities that do not use traditional stations. Curbside operators such as BoltBus, DC2NY Bus, and Megabus are infusing new life into this once-struggling sector, particularly in the Midwest and Northeast. This study explores two aspects of the changing role of the intercity bus. First, it evaluates the extent to which intercity bus service diminished after 1960 and its subsequent recovery starting in 2006. Drawing on newly collected data from 11,400 arrivals and departures from a representative sample of US cities between 1960 and 2010, it shows that US cities lost more than three quarters of their intercity bus services before the recovery began. Secondly, it shows how recent growth of curbside-bus operators is reducing fuel consumption by about 11 million gallons annually and reducing carbon emissions by an estimated 242 million pounds. This is the equivalent benefit of removing 23,114 vehicles from the road or having 66,041 people convert from conventional to hybrid cars. These findings suggest that the sector's recovery has significant and perhaps underappreciated environmental benefits. It also suggests that further expansion by the sector, nurtured by public policy, could be an effective strategy to promote more energy-efficient intercity travel.

Environmental Practice 13:1–9 (2011)

Type
Features
Information
Environmental Practice , Volume 13 , Issue 1 , March 2011 , pp. 7 - 15
Copyright
Copyright © National Association of Environmental Professionals 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Coach USA. 2009, November 9. Travelers Turn to Intercity Bus Service to Save Money. Megabus, Chicago. Available at Megabus.com, http://us.megabus.com/travelers-turn-to-intercity.aspx (accessed October 1, 2010).Google Scholar
De Velde, D. 2010. Long-Distance Bus Services in Europe: Concessions or Free Market. OECD Transport, no. 3, 241–263. Discussion Paper available at http://www.internationaltransportforum.org/jtrc/DiscussionPapers/DP200921.pdf (accessed September 15, 2010).Google Scholar
Federal Transit Administration. 2002, June. TCP Report 79: Effective Approaches to Meeting Rural Intercity Bus Transportation Needs. Transit Research Cooperative Program, Washington, DC, 184 pp. Available at http://www.buses.org/files/download/ruralbusreport.pdf (accessed October 1, 2010).Google Scholar
Greyhound Hits the Road with New Look. Los Angeles Times Online, November 18, 2007.Google Scholar
Jackson, C. 1984. Hounds of the Road: A History of the Greyhound Bus Company. Bowling Green University Popular Press, Bowling Green, OH, 214 pp.Google Scholar
Klein, N. 2009. Emergent Curbside Intercity Bus Industry: Chinatown and Beyond. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, no. 2111, 83–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
M.J. Bradley & Associates. 2007, May. Comparison of Energy Use & CO2 Emissions from Different Transportation Modes. American Bus Association, Washington, DC, 14 pp. Available at http://www.buses.org/files/ComparativeEnergy.pdf (accessed October 1, 2010).Google Scholar
Mogelonsky, M. 1998. Busing It. American Demographics 20(5):42–43.Google Scholar
Schwieterman, J., and Fischer, L.. 2007, December 24. The Return of the Intercity Bus: The Decline and Recovery of Scheduled Service to American Cities, 1960–2007. School of Public Service, DePaul University, Chicago, 15 pp. Available at http://las.depaul.edu/chaddick/docs/Docs/IntercityBusStudy.pdf (accessed October 1, 2010).Google Scholar
Schwieterman, J., and Fischer, L.. 2008, January. 2008 Update on the Growth of Intercity Bus Service. Chaddick Institute, DePaul University, Chicago. Available at http://las.depaul.edu/chaddick/ResearchandPublications/ReturnoftheIntercityBus/index.asp (accessed September 15, 2010).Google Scholar
Schwieterman, J., and Fischer, L.. 2010, January. Variations in the Rates of Passenger Usage of Portable Technology on Intercity Buses, Trains, and Planes: Implications for Transportation Planning. Paper presented at the 2010 Transportation Research Forum, Arlington, VA. Abstract at http://www.trforum.org/forum/viewabstract.php?id=390 (accessed October 1, 2010).Google Scholar
Towles, C. 2007, November 20. A Historical Examination of Intercity Bus Service in Eight Midwestern Cities. Seminar paper. School of Public Service, DePaul University, Chicago, 24 pp.Google Scholar
US Department of Transportation (USDOT), Bureau of Transportation Statistics. 2007. National Transportation Statistics. USDOT, Washington, DC. Available at http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_statistics/#chapter_4 (accessed October 1, 2010).Google Scholar
US General Accounting Office (USGAO). 1992, June. Surface Transportation: The Availability of Intercity Bus Service Continues to Decline. GAO/RECD-92-126. USGAO, Washington, DC, 51 pp. Available at http://www.legistorm.com/score_gao/show/id/21922.html (accessed September 17, 2010).Google Scholar
Walsh, M. 2000. Making Connections: The Long-Distance Bus Industry in the USA. Ashgate, Aldershot, UK, 245 pp.Google Scholar
Wrenick, F. 2007. The Streamline Era Greyhound Terminals: The Architecture of W.S. Arrasmith. McFarland, Jefferson, NC, 204 pp.Google Scholar