More than a third of Bolt and Megabus riders in the Boston-to-Washington corridor say they would have taken an Amtrak train if the “new model” of bus service were not available. (The new model relies on curbside stops instead of stations, mainly non-stop service between cities instead of multiple stops between major cities, internet ticket sales, and fares set by yield management–with the first seats sold going for very low prices.) Amtrak lost far more customers to the new model than conventional carriers such as Greyhound.
To reach this finding, Joseph Schwieterman–a professor of public service at DePaul University–and his students and associates at the Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development surveyed nearly 400 Bolt and Megabus riders in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, as well as nearly 400 Megabus riders and 275 Greyhound passengers in Chicago, Indianapolis, and St. Louis.
