| Clash of the titans! -- Frommers Online |
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| 2009-04-27 |
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It's like the creation of Travelocity to do battle with Expedia. I had always thought that a website called GotoBus.com (www.gotobus.com) was the ne plus ultra for information about cheap buses. But along comes Matthew Keller, in a breathless e-mail to me, claiming that he has now created the first really comprehensive website for finding low-cost bus transportation in the U.S.A. His message reads:
Wanted to tell you about the launch of our website, BusJunction (www.busjunction.com), which is the first site that lets you search for bus tickets from all the major discount bus lines. BusJunction makes it easy to find the cheapest ticket and the best schedule without having to visit Megabus, BoltBus, and the other bus line websites individually. We think it's a lot like kayak.com, but for bus tickets.
In an accompanying press release, Keller says that his service differs from that of GotoBus.com in that the latter -- it's claimed -- "caters almost exclusively to Chinatown bus lines, and only those which enter into a ticketing partnership with them." By contrast, he goes on, "BusJunction searches all major bus lines, regardless of partnership arrangements, in order to present users with an unbiased view of their ticket options. In addition to this, we focus our services on premium bus lines only..."
In effect, he continues, BusJunction searches 12 cheap bus lines, including Megabus, Boltbus, Vamoose, DC2NY, Fung Wah, and Greyhound, servicing 31 cities in the East and Midwest (of which the most popular are Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston). While the average ticket price between those major cities on the East Coast is $25, several bus lines offer a limited number of $1 fares on each bus -- and BusJunction makes it easy to find those one-buck fares.
I'm not sure what bus lines are omitted in BusJunction's effort to cover only "premium lines" -- and would be grateful if readers (or BusJunction) would advise me of them. Obviously, the new service (as well as GotoBus' continuing services) will be something we'll want to be watching. Long live the Cheap Bus!
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