Bus companies finding a 'new demographic'

NEW YORK, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Long-distance bus travel has risen 10 percent, while travel by train and plane has declined in the past year, studies of U.S. travel habits have found.

The Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development at DePaul University said bus passenger numbers were up, while the Bureau of Transportation Statistics and Amtrak reported an 8 percent decline in passengers on trains and planes in January through August, The Boston Globe reported Tuesday.

Among its findings, the Chaddick Institute said bus travel is cheap and consumer technology is widely available on buses.

On a recent cross-country bus trip, researchers found 35 of the passengers used a laptop computer, an iPod or a cell phone while on the road. Sixty-five percent used some form of technology.

Buses were the first public mode of travel to have free WiFi, said Joseph Schwieterman, director of the Chaddick Institute.

"It's about creating a new demographic of bus traveler," said Megabus President Dale Moser.

Moser said ticket sales rose 67 percent on the Boston to New York route in the past 12 months. More than 55 percent of the riders are 18 to 34 years old and "tech savvy," the Globe said.