Posted on 02/13/2011 8:53:55 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
TAMPA - Luis Mercado was on his way from Tampa International Airport to Miami International Airport last week. Instead of heading to an American or Continental Airlines flight, he rode an elevator downstairs to board a RedCoach luxury bus.
The half-million dollar coach is equipped with 27 individual leather seats in a bus designed to accommodate twice as many seats, a spacious arrangement with WiFi connections, LCD movie screens and a GPS tracking system.
The amenities primarily target business travelers on intrastate trips to compete with air service bedeviled by baggage fees, security line waits and crowded airliners.
"I have saved money from flying and I don't like taking the train," said Mercado, who was taking his first trip on RedCoach, which he found while surfing the Internet.
The lifeguard from Puerto Rico got luxury on a level he could not have envisioned when he booked his $50 ticket, saving anywhere from $40 to more than a couple hundred dollars on a flight.
He was the only passenger on the 8 a.m. Tampa-Orlando leg of his trip.
But if national ridership trends on buses, airlines and trains and the history of RedCoach's Argentine-based ownership is any indication, the new bus service is poised for growth.
A DePaul University study in December identified intercity bus service as the fastest growing mode transportation for the third consecutive year, outpacing air and rail transportation.
Intercity bus operations grew by 6 percent in 2010, with "curbside bus operators" increasing departures by 23.9 percent to nearly 400 daily us operations, the DePaul report stated.
The so-called "curbside operators," which eschew traditional bus stations and offer WiFi and other amenities, have sprung up in recent years to serve metro areas such as New York, Washington, D.C., and Chicago.
Operators such as Megabus and Boltbus are expanding their routes to smaller cities such as Hartford, Conn., and Raleigh N.C., the study by DePaul's Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development reported.
RedCoach appears to be the only similar operation in Florida, where it began Miami-to-Orlando operations in April.
It has since expanded to Atlanta, Tifton, Ga., Jacksonville, Fort Pierce, West Palm Beach, Daytona Beach, Gainesville, Tallahassee, a Disney station in Lake Buena Vista and Tampa.
The scheduled bus line began serving Tampa from a park-and-ride facility near the airport in October, then relocated to the airport's main terminal in late January after passengers asked for more convenience.
It operates four runs a day between Tampa and its Orlando hub, where passengers can change buses for routes north and south.
The fresh smell of the leather seats on the buses contribute to a stretch limo ambiance, as do Wi-Fi connections, LCD movie screens and a suspension system that driver Dave Mlynick promised would provide a ride smoother than any flight.
RedCoach's Tampa trips are drawing only a handful of passengers these days, as local marketing and advertising programs await some local ridership gains and revenue before the company tries to gain more exposure.
But ridership on RedCoach's Orlando to Miami runs has grown from about 2,000 passengers a month last fall to more than 3,000 in January, which was expected to be a low travel month, spokeswoman Anne Shaw said.
RedCoach originally had business travelers in mind, so Tallahassee with its government workers was a natural destination, Shaw said. Then the University of Florida in Gainesville asked RedCoach to serve its campus.
These days, the college student market is growing both in Gainesville and Tallahassee, with students finding Internet connections a convenient way to spend time on the road between home and college, Shaw said.
RedCoach is a U.S division of Grupo Plaza, one of South America's largest transportation operations.
The privately-owned family business operates 1,700 buses that serve 180 million passengers annually.
The descendants of Grupo Plaza founder Nicola Cirigliano, a peasant from Italy who migrated to Argentina after World War II and started a bus business, decided to launch the luxury bus concept in Florida after first-hand experience flying into the state's airports. They believed an alternative to short-hop flights would be profitable.
"The long-term outlook is for RedCoach to keep expanding throughout the Southeast," Shaw said. "Then we'd like to be able to serve trips like Tampa to Miami without going through the Orlando hub."
That could place RedCoach in competition with Florida's proposed high-speed rail system.
Comparisons are premature, since ticket costs for the high-speed rail system have not been set and Gov. Rick Scott remains non-committal on taking federal money to build the system.
Some high-speed rail schedules will be non-stop between Tampa and Orlando International and would carve nearly an hour off the best RedCoach time and would not be subject to delays on the highway.
For the time being, though, RedCoach is operating with some deep discounts like a $5 promotional fare between Tampa and Jacksonville good for rides between Mondayand Feb 28.
"We could use more passengers," said Mlynick, who brought two passengers into Tampa from Atlanta on the bus that carried Mercado out. "But what business doesn't these days?"
I wish them success. I would think that So. Cal. would be an ideal location. LA, Ontario, Burbank, Orange County, Simi Valley, San Diego, Las Vegas, Laughlin.
The Market answers CommieCrate TSA insanity! LOL
May the be not only successful, but possibly spawn a hold new industry, and in the process generate new, legitimate jobs in the market place!
I’m sure this is a totally unexpected consequence of The Usurper’s plan for Union domination of the labor force.
The government says that high speed trains are the only way.
Those buses make a lot of sense. It’s the nasty old Gray Dog fully of creepy people and stinky old bus terminals across the street from the Crack’n Ho that’s given bus travel a bad name.
Let’s figure a way to plop these buses on a flatbed rail car just like intermodal freight. We get on the bus, the bus drives onto the train car and away we go - high speed rail with the flexibility of ground transportation at each end and no highway traffic. At the end of the trip the bus fires up and drives away to drop passengers off at a nice terminal at the airport or wherever.
Well then, these companies need to fire their drivers and staff, fold up their tents and steal away...
Heck yeah! And don’t forget the bedroom communities on the Pacific Coast Highway. Nice scenery, plush seats...
Great for weekend getaways.
“The Market answers CommieCrate TSA insanity! LOL”
I predict the cretins at TSA will figure a way to shake down bus passengers also.
Hell, the way they’re going I’m surprised that we’re not getting frisked at the car rentals.
What an excellent idea! Folks can fire up their laptops and Smartphones without the restrictions in the air.
ROTFL! You are SO right!
Americans don't want passenger rail. When are government and the "choo-choo children" (nuts like Willie Green) going to wake up?
I’ll never forget taking a Greyhound from New Orleans to Tallahassee. It was like riding in a third world country — complete with chickens in the overhead bins. I’d rather walk.
Unfortunately, no bus service will be able to shed the stench of the crack whores and other denizens of typical intercity buses.
Ridden them across America. Would do it again in a heartbeat. No better way to see the country on the cheap.
It works the same outside of the park. Buses will always be a more viable economic alternative and offer flexibility that fixed track transportation cannot.
Fixed track transportation can meet a very specific long term need. Florida is simply too spread out and has very few concentrated business/industrial areas. I doubt fixed track transportation will ever be a justifiable investment.
Last week I too the bus for the first time in over 35 years. We have a shuttle bus that runs to LAX. Round trip is $52. My husband was going to take me to the airport but I said no. Why spend $50 to fill up the car and sweat the LA traffic when I can take the bus for $52? It really wasn’t bad.
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