The cat is out of the bag (Today's NY TIMES)

New York to Boston for $1? Yes, for Some Who Call Early

By KEN BELSON
Published: March 25, 2008
For travelers who want to get from New York to Boston for less than it would cost for a cup of coffee at Starbucks, two emerging bus lines may have the answer.

Megabus.com plans to announce on Tuesday that it will begin service between New York and seven other East Coast cities starting on May 30.

Two-year-old Megabus.com, a subsidiary of Coach USA, is based in Paramus, N.J., and is structured much like Southwest and other low-cost airlines. Tickets are sold on the Internet and by telephone, with the best deals for those who buy tickets the earliest. The first seats on the runs between New York and Boston sell for as little as $1, for one-way fares, with prices rising to as high as $14 as the departure date approaches.

Megabus.com’s announcement comes three weeks after a news came from another bus company, BoltBus, a division of Greyhound, that it would introduce similar services between New York, Boston and Washington, also starting at $1 a fare. Prices rise to as much as $25 for a one-way fare between New York and Washington.

Megabus.com buses are outfitted with movie screens and free wireless Internet connections, and customers can book tickets on the company’s Web site with cellphones or BlackBerry smart phones. The company runs only express routes between cities; buses stop only occasionally so drivers can take a break.

“We don’t make stops five or six times along the way, which makes us similar to driving your car,” said Dale Moser, president of Megabus.com, a sister company of the Gray Line New York Sightseeing bus line. “And you’re guaranteed a seat.”

A BoltBus official said the company would not be outdone by Megabus.com. BoltBus “is the best of all worlds in terms of extreme value and on-board service, with three inches of extra leg room and electrical outlets at every seat,” said Dustin Clark, a company spokesman.

Megabus.com buses to Baltimore, Buffalo, Boston, Philadelphia, Toronto and Washington will pick up and drop off passengers on the northeast corner of Eighth Avenue and West 31st Street, outside Pennsylvania Station. Buses to Atlantic City will leave from the Port Authority Bus Terminal nine blocks north. The company will operate 11 departures a day to Boston and Washington.

Both the BoltBus and Megabus.com fares are far below regular, nonrefundable Greyhound tickets, which run $33 for a one-way ticket between Boston and New York.

To introduce riders to its service, Megabus.com plans to offer free tickets to customers who book reservations for May 30 to June 5.

More than 900,000 customers have ridden on Megabus.com to and from its two existing hubs, Chicago and Los Angeles, which now serve 22 other cities, Mr. Moser said.

He added that with airlines adding fuel surcharges and gasoline prices rising, travelers who do not typically ride buses might look at his service.

About 35 percent of the company’s customers are young professionals from 18 to 30, and another 30 percent are women from 30 to 55 who do not want to drive into the city, Mr. Moser said. Another 19 percent are what he called “silver surfers,” elderly passengers who want to visit family and friends and often travel during nonpeak periods.

Transportation experts say that to succeed in New York, Megabus.com needs to make bus travel more alluring and dispel the notion that it is for people who cannot afford trains or planes, or do not own a car. To do that, the company must convince customers that it offers better service than other bus companies.

“There’s certainly the perception that buses are for poor people and people without cars,” said Jeffrey M. Zupan, a senior fellow for transportation at the Regional Plan Association. “The way they’ll overcome it is to provide a first-class service. Give people a newspaper and cappuccino to create the feeling they are not second-class citizens.