CALGARY, Alberta -- Red Arrow Motorcoach has a secret, and it isn't telling.
It's not that the company won't share; rather, it's because it can't quite figure out exactly what the secret really is.
The Edmonton, Alberta-based company has been beating the odds for 25 years by operating a highly successful luxury coach service between the business centers of Edmonton and Calgary.
Over the years, a number of companies have tried their hand at similar services, but only a handful have found much success. Most cashed in within a year or so, saying not enough travelers were willing to pay the price for the non-traditional service of luxury and special attention.
Red Arrow President Michael Colborne and General Manager Joel Trudell have some ideas as to why their company has been able to defy the trend, but neither can pinpoint with certainty their true secret of success.
"A lot of companies have started similar operations and failed and some have even used us as their model and still didn't make it. So, it's really hard to say why we've been so successful," said Trudell.
He believes much of the success is due to the personal touch and quality service passengers get when they travel on one of Red Arrow's coaches.
Colborne, on the other hand, points to the company's efforts to market its service to more than just the business community. "We attract students, seniors, the disabled and unaccompanied children," he said. "If we had focused only on the business traveler, I don't think we would have survived."
Red Arrow, which offers six daily runs from Edmonton and Calgary and also has twice-daily service from Edmonton to Fort McMurray, puts quite a punch into its service.
The company uses 45-foot Prevost coaches that have been modified to accommodate 36 passengers in over-sized seats - all leather in some coaches - in a two plus one configuration.
"The aisles are two-foot wide," noted Trudell.
The coaches offer television and movie monitors, credit card-activated cell phones, a fax machine and a galley where customers can help themselves to coffee, tea, sodas, juices, cookies, crackers, breadsticks and other snacks. Each seat is equipped with an individual electric port for a laptop computer and headsets for the entertainment system. And, there's even a daily newspaper to read.
The company also offers a reservation service that can be accessed by telephone or the Internet, discount fares for frequent travelers, students and passengers who bring along a friend, and a pay-the-driver option for last-minute travelers. Car rental and hotel packages, city and national park sightseeing tours and depot-to-depot and door-to-door parcel delivery service also are available.
"It's real quality service," emphasized Trudell.
The special attention provided passengers actually was what allowed Red Arrow to begin offering the service back in 1979.
Colborne said the company needed the blessing of government regulators at the time to begin running between Edmonton and Calgary and had to prove that the proposed service would not compete with Greyhound Canada, which already operated service between the two cities.
"We proved it by showing that our type of coach was different than Greyhound's and we would not be going after the same type of customers that Greyhound had," he said. "We said we did not want to be the travel of last resort as Greyhound was."
Greyhound fought the proposal, but after a 45-day hearing, the regulators sided with Red Arrow and allowed the company to go ahead with its luxury service.
While business travelers were the main target of the service - and still are today - others have joined the ridership mix. The men and women who ride the coach regularly to business appointments and meetings in Edmonton or Calgary, now share the 200-mile trip with young people who attend the universities and colleges in the two cities, senior citizens, families and unaccompanied children.
Colborne said unaccompanied children have become a big part of the weekend runs, many of which are sold out regularly. .
"There are a lot of divorced parents who live in Edmonton and Calgary and every weekend our coaches have numerous children riding alone to visit one of their parents," he said.
Red Arrow allows children to travel alone if they are between the ages of 6 and 12 and those under 6 to travel if they are accompanied by someone 13 or older. Also, a maximum of three youngsters per family are permitted to travel before adult supervision is required.
Colborne said the number of businesswomen using the service also has grown substantially over the years and they now makeup a large portion of the weekday ridership. "Women see the service as productive and safe," he said. "They can reserve a single seat (under the two plus one seating arrangement) and know that they won't be harassed by someone."
Red Arrow passengers, many of whom ride weekly or even more often, have become the company's biggest marketing tool.
While the company buys radio and television spots and does promotions at community events and business conferences, it has found that the best method of getting the word out is from riders talking up the service to others.
"Our most effective form of any type of media or advertising definitely has been word of mouth," Trudell said. "Every year, that beats any amount of money we spend on radio or TV advertising or any other promotions."
It's all been good, too. Not only did the company reach its 25th year last month, but it is drawing riders in near record numbers. "We're having a banner year," said Trudell. "If it is not the best ever, then it is coming very close to it."
He said that while an upturn in the motorcoach industry in Alberta and much of Canada has helped with the surge in ridership, the high price of gasoline also has been a major contributor. "In my conversations with customers, I am finding that people are getting tired of paying the price at the pump and they know the service we offer, so they are using us as an alternative to driving."
With all of that success behind it, is Red Arrow looking to spread its good fortune further?
"We've kicked around possibly expanding from time to time, but right now we don't have any plans to do so," said Trudell. "Our main focus is to concentrate on our current market and get everything just right."
It seems like they may have already done that.