WASHINGTON The intercity bus industry now has its own version of Expedia and Orbitz sort of.

BusJunction.com is a web-based bus ticket search engine created by people who say they were "frustrated by the arduous process of finding the right ticket" on regular-route carriers operating in the East, Northeast and Midwest.

The website is like Expedia or Orbitz in the way it helps travelers sort through a crowded field, but unlike those two popular airfare websites, BusJunction doesn't sell tickets.

Instead, it steers users to the online ticketing on the bus lines home pages. It's an aggregator of data, like Kayak.com, not a booking site.

Its a critical difference. BusJunction stays independent from the bus lines, and doesn't favor any company at the expense of customer choice.

"They simply perform a journalistic function; they simply tell you whats available," said one travel expert. "I find it reassuring they have no axe to grind, they get no money out of the sale of their ticket."

BusJunction searches 12 bus lines, including megabus.com, Boltbus, Vamoose, DC2NY, Fung Wah, Peter Pan, Lakefront, Trailways and Greyhound.

According to founder Matthew Keller, the Washington-based company serves 31 cities and will find users an average ticket price of $25. The most popular destinations are Washington, Philadelphia, New York City and Boston.

Before buying tickets, users can see which routes have amenities like onboard Wi-Fi and power outlets.

The company is steering clear of lesser-known mom-and-pop operations that might not offer reliable service, said Keller. Still, the companies it does track offer upwards of 30,000 travel possibilities.

"We wanted to get the bus lines that offer the most amenities, so thats the ones we're focusing on," said Keller. "There are a handful of (lines) that offer no amenities. There are certain bus lines that have questionable reputations. We're trying to steer our passengers away from those lines just to serve them better."

Given the economy, BusJunction has come along at an appropriate time. A search of weekday fares on BusJunction yields a price of $15 for a one-way, four-hour trip between New Yorks Penn Station and Boston's South Station.

Through Orbitz, round-trip flights between those two cities on the same day cost between $199 and $1,134.

"Especially on the East Coast and in the Midwest, where companies like megabus are flourishing under the banner of low-cost travel, BusJunction will become an indispensable tool for comparing the fares," said Cynthia Drescher, an assistant editor at the travel website Jaunted.com.