By Dave Millhouser

NEW YORK -- New York Giants football great Michael Strahan helped megabus.com kick off the first East Coast, double-deck, line-run service here last month with a ceremony in Times Square.

Joined by Stagecoach Group Chief Executive Brian Souter and Coach USA President Dale Moser, Strahan commented on the impressiveness of the double-deck coach, but the real thrust of his comments was on how "green" it is to travel by motorcoach. He noted that the 79-seat, double-deck Van Hool used only four pints of fuel per passenger on the New York-to-Washington trip.

Shortly after the ceremony, the coach departed for D.C., from megabus.coms New York curbside location adjacent to Penn Station with 69 passengers, including Souter, Moser and Coach USA Senior Vice President Don Carmichael. It arrived on time in D.C. after a brief stop in Baltimore.

megabus.com, which is owned by Coach USA, is the largest carrier in the U.S. specializing in express runs with curbside pickup. Patterned after a similar successful Stagecoach Group operation in the United Kingdom, it serves 30 U.S. and Canadian cities with a combination of double-deck and traditional coaches. Stagecoach Group is the corporate parent of Coach USA.

Carmichael said megabus operates 17 of the Van Hool T925 double-deck coaches on Midwestern routes, and is ramping up to run 18 in the Eastern U.S. The luxury double-deckers are equipped with WiFi, DVD players, individual headsets and seat belts.

Moser pointed out that double-deckers offer the passengers a unique experience, while megabus (and the environment) benefit from their efficiency.

Until recently, line-haul passenger counts had been declining in the U.S., but that trend has reversed during the past two years (See January issue of Bus & Motorcoach News).

According to Souter the obvious explanation, increasing fuel prices, is only a minor reason for the upswing. megabus.com and some of its competitors have been experiencing rapid growth, with only a few routes that didnt carry their weight.

Souter attributes the growth to several factors. Like others, megabus avoids the pitfall of scheduling a complex web of routes, specializing instead in providing direct service between logical city pairs. It then works with the cities to select curbside locations that are convenient for customers.

What evolves is a hub-and-spoke system that fits the megasbus.com schedule to the needs of the customer, rather than scheduling for the convenience of the system.

He also thinks the use of Internet-based ticketing and avoiding traditional bus stations changes the demographics. Fair, or not, bus stations are not generally perceived as safe, comfortable or clean places.

In many locales, strategically located curbside pickups, near restaurants and public transportation, may actually feel more comfortable and safer to potential passengers.

In analyzing their market research, one surprise has been the number of young women who ride megabus regularly. Souter felt this was a result of company efforts to create both the perception and the reality of a safe environment.

Asked about differences between UK and U.S. bus passengers, Souter indicated their expectations were about the same. U.S. riders were willing to go a bit farther on a bus than their British counterparts, perhaps as a result of the UKs extensive rail network.

In addition to marketing campaigns targeting students and the Internet savvy, part of megabus strategy is to ride a wave of "word of mouth" advertising.

"Googling megabus seems to indicate its working, and Coach USA sources say revenue continues to grow.

While waiting for the coach, one passenger told a reporter for the New York Daily News: "I want a bus with dignity."

Maybe an idea whose time has come.