Monday, August 6, 2007

Hop on the bus

In response to the recent airplane crash in Brazil it seems more Brazilians are opting for the bus. With the airline industry basically supply constrained by available routes and reaching capacity on loads, perhaps Americans will turn to other forms of transportation (as airline prices should rise). I guess I shouldn’t be surprise, but bussing is a very viable option on the east coast, much more so than the Midwest. There are direct buses from DC to New York, which run between $40-50 a round trip. One reason might be the large number of people going between the two cities, but I would guess the main reason there are more buses and trains for transport is people are less likely to have a car in a city like New York or DC. Even if they do (and one reason they might not) is parking in either city can is expensive. Perhaps though as one book suggests parking spaces do not cost enough in other cities, as free parking has its own cost by taking up space that could be used for other things.

1 comment:

poet~lover~rebel~spy said...

As I understand it, there are "Chinatown" buses that run for something like $20-25 each way. I think the popularity of buses is a combination of 1) traffic between the two (and gas prices) making driving an unappealing option, 2) traffic and parking within each making driving an unappealing option, 3) stereotypical unreliability of train service and 4) ample availability of public transport on both ends (and perhaps populations who are already used to taking public transportation). Throughout the Midwest, people willing to take the bus are often headed to and from locations lacking a public transportation infrastructure which would facilitate connections. Any place big enough to have an airport generally has a public connection to that airport.