Passenger Trains > OT: Megabus to end Pittsburgh - Midwest service

Megabus will be cancelling all service linking Pittsburgh with Cleveland, Toledo, Detroit & Ann Arbor. I can understand discontinuing the route to Ann Arbor, but I'm surprised that that Megabus will not even be serving the Pittsburgh - Cleveland market.

http://quirkytravelguy.com/megabus-ends-service-pittsburgh-cleveland-detroit/

Megabus cites lack of ridership on the route. I wonder if the numbers would have been better if Megabus seriously marketed the route.

That is surprising... it's not like there are a whole lot of other options. Flying is really expensive, at least that I've seen in that area. Amtrak is at night. Greyhound?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/21/14 22:02 by inCHI.

I thought it was account all the new Amtrak State paid for service!.



Even in Sou Cal, I see no promotion for service . LA-Las Vegas NV seems to do well however.

They gave up on LA-San Diego, where on weekends, Amtrak can not handle the ridership, until more cars are hopefully delivered in 2 + years.

Were I in one of Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Toledo or Detroit why would I travel to one of Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Toledo or Detroit?
Wouldn't everyone just stay where they are knowing nothing is going to change?
How could there be a market?
I don't get it.

mundo Wrote:
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> Even in Sou Cal, I see no promotion for service .
> LA-Las Vegas NV seems to do well however.
>
> They gave up on LA-San Diego, where on weekends,
> Amtrak can not handle the ridership, until more
> cars are hopefully delivered in 2 + years.

Megabus (and other low-cost carriers) rarely advertises in a "traditional" sense. They prefer to have a large social media presence and do targeted online marketing. I've seen plenty of ad's for them on Facebook.

Greyhound's BoltBus also tried the LA-San Diego route but gave up after 2 months. I think it's a tough market for the bus carriers to compete in. The Pacific Surfliner has a definite edge in that it doesn't need to deal with traffic on the I-5 and can go 90 mph in certain spots.

Ricky Courtney
Seattle, WA

The longest drive between these places is 5 hours. Excepting seniors or those with other medical issues who can't or shouldn't drive, why would anyone take the bus when they can drive themselves in less time?

There is no alternative for the approximately 15% of the population who cannot drive, is prohibited from driving or should not drive. Our selfish culture has told them: drop dead. You are too old, too young or marginal in some way, and we can ignore you. Highway interests in Columbus, OH are entrenched in concrete.

Nevertheless, local governments in Toledo, Sandusky and Cleveland areas are moving to study rail service in this very corridor, as a group. Stay tuned.....

this is pretty amazing.

I was surprised when Southwest discontinued some of its services from the Pittsburgh area airport, and I'm pretty surprised at this. Can it be that there's just not a lot of non-auto traffic in any direction from Pittsburgh?

andersonb109 Wrote:
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> The longest drive between these places is 5 hours.
> Excepting seniors or those with other medical
> issues who can't or shouldn't drive, why would
> anyone take the bus when they can drive themselves
> in less time?

Well stated. For San Diego to LA, outside of rush hours it's less than two hours. Even during the rush it's only 45 min longer, less if there are at least two in the car and use the carpool lanes. And, you can go exactly where you want having a car with you.

Goes to show how depressed that part of the country is. If a bus line can't make it, I'd be a bit hesitant in trying to develop a rail corridor there.

ts1457 Wrote:
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> Goes to show how depressed that part of the
> country is. If a bus line can't make it, I'd be a
> bit hesitant in trying to develop a rail corridor
> there.

Pittsburgh has some good economic signs, and a good foundation for scientific development. In some respects, the legacy of out of work steel makers and miners is now a generation ago.

It's possible that with nearby ultra-low airport cost competition, and high fees at PIT, the airlines didn't feel the market was worth the investment. Sounds like the bus companies decided against investing equipment there, too.

Latrobe Airport (LBE) was down to just one major carrier a few years ago. Maybe Northworst to Detroit. I see that Spirit is now serving LBE with flights to Orlando, Myrtle Beach, and Orlando. Has federal TSA staff, though.

In Johnstown, United's commuter affiliate provides service to Washington DC (only), a legacy of namesake John Murtha.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/14 06:37 by Lackawanna484.

Maybe the ride is really unpleasant on the bus, and we don't know anything about the demographics of the apparently small ridership. Perhaps vandalism, criminal activity, and unruly passengers ruined the service. I suspect there is a lot more to this story and it is possible the company really does not want any bad publicity, so blame "low ridership". In any case this reduction is an indicator of a society and economy in decline.

Triumph of the bus!

I guess people just don't like buses or trains.

reindeerflame Wrote:
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> I guess people just don't like buses or trains.

That's why train patronage goes up and up, despite the poor coverage and low levels of service, and especially despite your best efforts.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/14 09:09 by Ptolemy.

MEKoch Wrote:
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> There is no alternative for the approximately 15%
> of the population who cannot drive, is prohibited
> from driving or should not drive. Our selfish
> culture has told them: drop dead. You are too
> old, too young or marginal in some way, and we can
> ignore you. Highway interests in Columbus, OH are
> entrenched in concrete.
>
> Nevertheless, local governments in Toledo,
> Sandusky and Cleveland areas are moving to study
> rail service in this very corridor, as a group.
> Stay tuned.....

Study, study, study.

Wake me up when they buy cars and add capacity on NS.

ts1457 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Goes to show how depressed that part of the
> country is. If a bus line can't make it, I'd be a
> bit hesitant in trying to develop a rail corridor
> there.

It goes to show a lack of understanding of the Pittsburgh travel market.

The handful of trains are often sold out.

Ptolemy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> reindeerflame Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I guess people just don't like buses or trains.
>
> That's why train patronage goes up and up, despite
> the poor coverage and low levels of service, and
> especially despite your best efforts.


We do need to redouble our efforts.

abyler Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ts1457 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Goes to show how depressed that part of the
> > country is. If a bus line can't make it, I'd be
> a
> > bit hesitant in trying to develop a rail
> corridor
> > there.
>
> It goes to show a lack of understanding of the
> Pittsburgh travel market.
>
> The handful of trains are often sold out.

Let's talk about the Pittsburgh travel market. In 2013 PIT (the airport) served 7.85 million pax, down 2% from 2012. Amtrak served about 135,000 for 2013, up 4.5%. Seems said travel market prefers the horrible experience of commercial flying. And to put a political spin on it, those 7.85 million will generate a bit more political contributions than the 135,000, not that such things impact decisions about how to spend transportation appropriations.

masterphots Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> abyler Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > ts1457 Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Goes to show how depressed that part of the
> > > country is. If a bus line can't make it, I'd
> be
> > a
> > > bit hesitant in trying to develop a rail
> > corridor
> > > there.
> >
> > It goes to show a lack of understanding of the
> > Pittsburgh travel market.
> >
> > The handful of trains are often sold out.
>
> Let's talk about the Pittsburgh travel market. In
> 2013 PIT (the airport) served 7.85 million pax,
> down 2% from 2012. Amtrak served about 135,000
> for 2013, up 4.5%. Seems said travel market
> prefers the horrible experience of commercial
> flying. And to put a political spin on it, those
> 7.85 million will generate a bit more political
> contributions than the 135,000, not that such
> things impact decisions about how to spend
> transportation appropriations.

Pittsburgh PIT also has an economic angle to the problem. The county airport authority floated a lot of bonds to build a really nice hub terminal for US Airways. Several concourses, new runways, etc. Really nice airport with service to Europe, California, etc.

Then US Airways decided to close the hub and slash the crew base. Now the revenue base on passenger fees and landing charges etc was insufficient to pay the interest on the debt. Which jacked up costs against the continuing carriers and what was left of US Air. Southwest pulled up stakes and cut its flights, too.

It's not unusual. Several second and third tier cities are in the same boat. Cincinnati (Delta), Dayton (Piedmont), Greensboro (Continental), Nashville and Raleigh (American), Memphis (Northwest), St Louis (American and TWA) have similar problems. Cleveland will be joining the list this year, as will Detroit. Build some wonderful airport (or baseball, football, basketball etc) facility by floating 20 years worth of bonds and see the airline or tam vamoose.