OurBus seeking partners to launch intercity routes

NEW YORK CITY  — OurBus, a crowd-sourcing tech company, is seeking carriers to partner in launching 74 intercity routes across the United States, said co-founder and CEO Narinder Singh.

“We have short-listed 74 routes where we think the services and partnerships can come into effect,” Singh said. “There are a lot of city pairs that need these kinds of services. There is demand, there are people traveling and there are less options.”

Those routes could keep 220 motorcoaches in daily service, he said.

OurBus was founded in 2016 and has partnered with motorcoach carriers to operate 16 commuter routes and nine intercity routes, mostly serving New York State and New Jersey. It also operates routes to Washington, D.C., and West Chester, Pa.

“Almost every route is served by a different bus company,” Singh said. “We have eight or nine bus companies who are dealing with us on almost an every day or weekly basis. OurBus represents the concept of bus companies using some of their buses to run under our banner.”

The company offers carriers a recognizable online marketing platform, scheduling, ticket sales and passenger services, he said.

“We have in-house research and analytic teams that have researched intercity travel. We use the data points to make sure which routes should work and even the schedules of those routes,” Singh said.

OurBus has identified potential routes in all parts of the country, he said, and is particularly interested in services based in Florida, Atlanta, Chicago and California.

“We are starting a partnership in Florida, which was considered as a route by another bus company five or six years ago but maybe the market was not set up at that time,” Singh said. “Now we think the time is right.”

In April, OurBus announced extensions of service to Syracuse, N.Y., and Philadelphia on a route that passes through Columbia, Md.

The company is approaching $6 million in annual revenue, said Singh, who believes revenue could multiply to 15 times that over the next 18 months.

The OurBus route model is based on a break-even point of 42 seats sold per round-trip run in any combination of riders coming or going, Singh said. “Right now 99 percent of our routes are run on a round-trip basis.”

OurBus provides prospective carriers with projections calling for a route to break even in four months.

“We have some routes that started becoming viable in the second month,” he said. “We started a Pennsylvania-to-New York-to-D.C. route last weekend. The second bus was sold out. We never thought that would happen in four weeks.”

Ticket prices vary by market, Singh said. “We look at competition — what the train tickets are, what the airline tickets are. If there is a current bus service there, we look at how that is priced. We know the customer is very competitive.”

Prices also vary by time of purchase. “Pricing dynamics kick in after the first band of six tickets,” he said. “On the last two days the pricing dynamics kick in again.”

OurBus tickets may be “priced a little bit more than the traditional bus companies like Megabus and Greyhound, but we are still very competitively priced if somebody wants to book us six or seven days in advance,” Singh said.

“We do not look just at the other bus companies because most of these routes are brand new. We also look at how a city is connected to an airline or a train.”

OurBus prices offered online range from $8.60 to $16 for commuter routes and $17 to $47.50 for intercity service.

Riders accustomed to transit bus service appreciate the motorcoach experience, Singh said.

“That is our whole concept. We are trying to use the big charters that have never done line runs. They have beautiful buses that they do not use every day of the year,” he said. “They can have a driver who works five days a week and has a good, steady income rather than waiting for a call to ring about a charter.”

OurBus requires that its carriers maintain service at motorcoach levels, he said.     “We tell them the buses have to be not more than two or three years old. They have to have all the amenities such as an onboard restroom and charging stations. We try to control the Wi-Fi — most bus companies do not understand how important Wi-Fi is on a three- to four-hour journey.”

OurBus shares ticket revenues with its partners, Singh said.

“They keep 80 percent of the revenue and we keep 20 percent of the revenue. They give us a bus and a driver and we plan the schedule, market the business for them and grow the business for them.”

Ticket revenue, all paid online, is booked on a Monday-Sunday weekly basis, he said. “We close by Tuesday night and start sending payments on Wednesdays and Thursdays.”

Several buses may be required to service a route’s frequency schedule. For example, he said, “When we are starting New York to Syracuse, it may take three to four buses to run this route with the schedule we want. A run from New York City to D.C., which also would connect to a couple of points in Maryland and a couple in New Jersey, might need six or seven buses. It depends on what the bus company is interested in doing.”

Multiple carriers may service some routes, he said. “Our agreements tell the bus companies they have the first right if we want to increase a route. If we need four buses and they have only three, we have a right to get a second bus company to come in.”

OurBus staffs an in-house compliance team and counsel to examine carriers that are interested in partnering, Singh said. “We look into their records — all those things that are in the public domain.”

Carriers partnering with OurBus are identified along with their routes on the ticket sales website. Current partners include Frank Martz Coach Company, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.; EmpireCLS, Secaucus, N.J.; Martz Gold Line, Tuxedo, Md.; Liberty Coach, Mount Pocono, Pa.; Stout’s Transportation, Trenton, N.J.; Panorama Tours, Clifton, N.J.; and MJM Travel Group, Yonkers, N.Y.

OurBus is planning to launch routes connecting five or six Florida cities with two carriers in May, Singh said. “We are looking at Chicago in a very big way. We have three to four partners that are thinking about getting on board with us.”

Service connecting a “major city pair” in California could be introduced in June, he said.

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