The bus stops there — sometimes for a buck

PITTSBURGH — For Internet-savvy travelers on a budget, Megabus.com claims to offer a service that makes mainstream bus travel seem pricey: rides from Pittsburgh to Chicago for as little as $1.

The Chicago-based company, which began operating in a number of Midwestern cities last year, plans to launch new service April 2 in Pittsburgh; Ann Arbor, Mich.; Columbus, Ohio; Kansas City, Mo., and Louisville, Ky. It already offers service between Chicago and Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, St. Louis and Toledo.

Megabus uses online ticketing and sidewalk stops instead of ticket counters and bus terminals. Passengers do not buy tickets, but instead give drivers reservation numbers they receive when booking online.

The low-cost model was imported from the United Kingdom, where Stagecoach Group introduced a similar service nearly four years ago.

"The demand for this type of service has been outstanding," said Dale Moser, president and chief operating officer of Coach USA, the domestic subsidiary of Scotland-based Stagecoach, which runs Megabus.

Advance planning gets you the lowest fares. A limited number of seats are priced at $1, and the fares increase incrementally based on the time between the booking and departure dates, a pricing scheme used by discount airlines.

Its top-end fares, he said, are lower than those of Dallas-based Greyhound Lines, the largest intercity bus service in North America.

Information

Megabus: www.megabus.com

On a recent day at the Megabus stop in Chicago, two University of Minnesota students, Sean Klontz, 21, and Emily Garber, 20, were returning to Minneapolis after participating in a Chicago-area bicycle race. Klontz said he paid $30 for the same round-trip several months ago, but only $20 for this one, since he booked well in advance.

Garber said it was her first Megabus trip, and it was comparable to Greyhound — only cheaper. Both said the seats were narrow, and there was little leg room, but Garber added, "I'll sacrifice the leg room for more money in my wallet."

Other low-cost bus lines have also tried to lure passengers away from Greyhound, including Vamoose, which runs a $25 express bus between Manhattan and the Washington, D.C., suburbs of Bethesda, Md., and Arlington, Va. There also are various East Coast buses that run from Chinatowns in one city to Chinatowns in other cities. (One such company, Fung Wah, has been flagged by government agencies for safety issues, including speeding, which was cited as a factor in an accident that injured 34 passengers on a Fung Wah bus.)

Anna Folmnsbee, a spokeswoman for Greyhound, said her company still offers "the best value in transportation on every seat." She noted that Greyhound has dropped fares in some cities; offers a variety of discounts like half-off companion fares and breaks for students; and that, unlike some of the newer carriers, Greyhound tickets are refundable and are not schedule-specific — meaning you can buy a ticket and use it for buses leaving at various times.