New Tech for Old-School Transport

While various plans to connect Southern California to Las Vegas via mass transit wallow in development hell, at least one company is planning on filling the need with a more traditional method, albeit with some modern essentials.

Las Vegas Sun:

There will be another way to travel from Las Vegas to Arizona and Southern California starting at the end of the month. And on the first day, services will begin at $2.99, according to the company.

FlixBus and its fleet of green buses are descending on the U.S. after a successful run overseas, and on May 31 will begin offering Las Vegas-based trips between eight destinations in Southern California, including Los Angeles, San Diego and Palm Springs. In Arizona, they’ll travel to seven cities, including Phoenix, Tempe and Tucson.

FlixBus offers e-ticketing, free Wi-Fi and power outlets on each seat. Also, the “Where’s My Bus” GPS live tracking and an automated Delay-Management System will help keep track of bus arrivals.
The U.S. will become the 28th country the company operates in.

To celebrate its first interstate lines, FlixBus today is giving away 200 free trips to locals. FlixBus team members, who will be walking around downtown this morning wearing bright green shirts, will give vouchers to anyone with a valid Nevada identification and who is over age 17.

The German company has sights set on more than just the well-travelled SoCal-to-Vegas routes.
MenaFN:

The company, whose bright green buses are already a familiar sight on European roads, will from May 31 run 180 routes daily connecting seven US cities, including Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas and Phoenix.

The Flixbus website is offering one-way tickets from LA to Las Vegas for $9.99 (8.43 euros) in early June, compared with around $20 on Greyhound.

The German firm said it plans to widen its US network to “around 20 cities” by the end of 2018.
Founded just five years ago, Flixbus has grown into Germany’s most popular long-distance bus service and has since expanded into 27 other European countries, linking over 1,700 destinations and transporting 40 million passengers last year alone.

“We have revolutionised the perception and use of coaches in Europe,” Flixbus co-founder Andre Schwaemmlein said in a statement. “We are impatient to share our vision of mobility with consumers in the United States.”

Founded in 1914, the Greyhound Lines company is still the US’ biggest intercity bus service although it has faced growing competition from smaller upstarts in recent years.

It covers some 3,800 destinations across North America, transporting around 18 million people annually.

So is WiFi, power outlets, and lower prices than plane travel enough to lure you back on the bus?

What say you. Login and Comment.