Pittsburgh New "Megabus" Hub

Megabus at PPG Place

Megabus.com announced that it is making Pittsburgh the sixth hub on its fast-growing North American network, with service to nine new cities: Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo, in Ohio; Detroit, Toronto; Erie; and Buffalo, N.Y.  That will bring to 15 the number of cities served from Pittsburgh by the carrier, which offers one-way fares as low as $1.

Trips to the new cities can be booked starting today, with service beginning on May 11.  Pittsburgh joins Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Toronto and Washington, D.C., as hubs for the company, which relaunched service here less than a year ago.  Cities already served from Pittsburgh are State College, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, New York, Washington and Camden, N.J.

Megabus.com is able to offer lower fares because it doesn't maintain bus stations and takes most of its reservations online, reducing personnel costs, Mr. Moser said. It doesn't advertise much, relying instead on word of mouth and social networking sites.  Trips from here originate at a stop on 11th Street under the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

Travelers who make reservations well in advance can often travel for $1, but the prices rise as the travel date draws nearer and buses begin to fill.  Even on the company's long-established routes, ridership has grown 35 to 45 percent over the past year, possibly fueled by rising gasoline prices and people's eagerness to save money in a tight economy.

The new routes will make Pittsburgh more appealing to the tech-savvy travelers, business travelers and families as well as to international visitors who are exploring the USA.  The company uses single- and double-decker buses that have free Wi-Fi and power outlets.

Megabus

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