DALLAS The slowing economy and a cost-cutting program by its parent company has resulted in service reductions at Greyhound Lines.

FirstGroup of Aberdeen, Scotland, corporate parent of Greyhound, says mileage at Greyhound has been reduced by 7 percent, primarily because of the economic downturn.

A spokeswoman for Greyhound told Bus & Motorcoach News that since October the cutbacks have resulted in at least four Greyhound routes being shut down, leaving some communities without service.

But Abby Wambaugh denied that Greyhounds two curbside operations, BoltBus and NeOn, had cannibalized traditional Greyhound service. "Its a very different customer," she said.

BoltBus and NeOn offer free WiFi, extra leg room, shorter routes and street-side pick-up. "It attracts a different customer all together," she added.

BoltBus serves four major northeastern cities (see accompanying story), while NeOn runs between New York and Toronto, with stops in Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse, N.Y.

While acknowledging that the economy was having an impact on Greyhound, Wambaugh suggested that other factors also may account for service changes and reductions. She noted, though, that U.S. Greyhound ridership last year dropped to 15.7 million, from 18 million in 2007.

"Greyhound is a strong business," she said. "(But) we are not immune to the challenges of the economic downturn. We dont eliminate that many routes; its very uncommon to drop a route," she said, adding that routes are periodically eliminated each year.

"We cant directly tie any of our increases or decreases (in ridership) to the economy," she said. "I dont have the type of statistics to show that."

Routes eliminated in the past six months include:

Carlsbad, N.M., to Alba, N.M. As a result of this cutback, Vaughn and Artesia, N.M., no longer have Greyhound connections.

Lubbock to Wichita Falls, Texas. As a result, Seymour, Texas, is no longer served.

The once-a-day, round-trip route from Albuquerque, N.M., to Denver is being shut down. Taos, N.M., will lose service. Efforts are being made to sustain service for Alamosa, N.M.
The Albuquerque-Denver route was attracting fewer than 10 riders daily. "It doesnt make sense . . . when ridership is so low," said Wambaugh.

Two daily round-trip runs from Minneapolis to Fargo, N.D., will be dropped April 22. Communities along the route are served by other Greyhound routes or Rimrock Stages Trailways out of Montana.

Wambaugh did not have information on routes that have been cut but service continued through other means. She noted there has been no geographic pattern to where the route reductions have occurred.

Wambaugh also said layoffs have been minimal.