Charter bus services are some of the most common forms of commercial transportation today, and charter bus companies are also some of the most eco-conscious and consumer-friendly companies around. In fact, you might just be surprised by how often travelers use charter bus services to get around:
7.5%: The increase in passenger trips taken on coach buses between 2011 and 2012 — meaning that the charter bus industry is one of the fastest growing sectors of the commercial transportation industry in the country.
3,400: The number of individual charter bus services in the U.S. today that provide passengers with affordable trips all over the country. The majority of these businesses are small and independently owned, but together, they operate more than 33,000 coach buses.
751,000,000: The average number of passenger trips taken each year on charter bus services (and this number is only continuing to grow).
206.6: The number of passenger miles per gallon of fuel that a coach bus can provide — which is the highest number of passenger MPG of any other commercial transportation service. Commuter rail lines typically provide just under 100 passenger MPG, airplanes provide about 45 passenger MPG, and individual private cars — like the one you probably drive yourself — have an average of 27 MPG. If you’re concerned about keeping the environment healthy while traveling, coach buses are easily the best option.
1820s: Flashback time! This is the year that the first commercial passenger bus line was created. It didn’t look very much like a bus, since it was drawn by horses! Luckily, bus features have come a long way since then — in terms of comfort and efficiency, most of all — but it’s still pretty cool to see that bus lines have served a very important purpose for a long time!