Busme.com Project Research

Hannah Russell

Melda Washington

Stephen Bossom

Intercity & Curbside Bus Industry History & Background

Initial Decline

• Intercity bus industry has dropped significantly in the last 40 years.

• Typically, bus stations located in inconvenient areas away from business, cultural, and educational centers.

• Many crime ridden areas attracted bad elements.

• Intercity bus travel developed a bad reputation.

• Lack of safety negatively affected major market segments, particularly among women and young people.

• Intercity bus travel became a last resort form of travel.

Subsequent Revival

• In 1998, Fung Wah Bus revived the industry by providing bus service to major Chinatown districts.

• Major cities include Philadelphia, New York, and D.C.

• Led to the development of “curbside” bus service with MegaBus and BoltBus as market leaders.

• Together Chinatown and curbside bus services doubled bus travel, particularly in the northeast U.S. region.

• Between 1998 and 2007, number of passengers topped the 7 million mark.

• During 2011, curbside bus operators expanded departures from 589 to 778, a 32.1% increase.

Chinatown Bus Route Map

Reasons for Revival

• Departure and arrival locations strategically placed at safer and more convenient locations.

• Closer to business, cultural, and educational centers.

• Strategically placed at adjacent travel spots (e.g. Baltimore’s Penn Station and Light Rail).

• Lack of physical bus stations lowers overhead and provides greater scheduling flexibility.

• Results in dramatically reduced fares and more scheduling choices.

• A much more enjoyable traveling experience.

Detailed Demographics and Major Players

Curbside Bus…Why?

• Proof that if the service exists, people will use it.

• 28% of usual train passengers switched to curbside bus travel, particularly on shorter distances (i.e. the 200 to 300 mile range).

• Greater flexibility, choices, and cost savings compared to competing modes of travel.

• For example, Amtrak’s Chicago to Cleveland and Memphis markets offer limited choices for departure and arrival times (e.g. midnight to 6 a.m. time slots).

• This makes train travel a secondary competitor.• Airline travel requires bag check, security checks, and

increased costs.

• According to a Bloomberg Businessweek study, curbside cost as little as 8 cents per mile.

Bloomberg Businessweek Study

Demographic Details

• Yoni mentioned Depaul University study revealing that 73% of passengers were in the 18 – 35 year age group.

• More remarkable is that nearly half (48%) fall into the 18 – 25 year age group.

• Of that same age group (18 – 25), over 86% are traveling primarily for pleasure.

• Only 1 in 6 were traveling primarily for work.

• More than a third (36%), either see curbside service as an advantage or unimportant compared to bus stations.

• An impressive 91% plan on using an electronic device (e.g. laptop, smart phone, tablet) taking advantage of the enhanced WiFi and generous power outlets.

• Marketing and business strategy should cater to this tech-savvy audience.

Major Players - MegaBus

• Low cost, intercity curbside bus service.

• Major U.S. hubs in New York, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C.

• Toronto remains the only non U.S. hub, but is modeled after the U.S. hubs.

• Originally had a Los Angeles hub, but ceased operation on June 22, 2008.

• Still considering reopening L.A. market along with Texas.

• On November 16, 2011 opened Atlanta hub making a significant entry in the U.S. southeastern market.

• Website is much more feature rich compared to BoltBus.

MegaBus.com Website

Major Players - BoltBus

• Low cost, intercity curbside bus service.

• Offers service between New York’s hub and D.C.’s Union Station; Greenbelt, Maryland; Baltimore’s Penn Station; Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station; New Jersey’s Cherry Hill Mall; and Boston’s South Station.

• Added additional hub in Newark’s Penn Station offering service to Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station and Boston’s South Station.

• New York departure and arrival points are dependent on bus line, but usually near New York’s Penn Station or the Port Authority Bus Terminal.

• Major competitor with MegaBus and Chinatown bus services.

BoltBus.com Website

What do They Have in Common?

• Both offer 1$ seating, but you must book way in advance to take advantage.

• Both cater to a tech-savvy market by offering enhanced WiFi and 120V power outlets.

• Many buses boast generous leg room and seat pitch recline for greater comfort.

• Both tend to be located near convenient departure and arrival locations including:

• Park and rides.• Shopping centers (e.g. White Marsh Mall in Maryland and

Crossroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska).• College campuses (e.g. Ohio State University, Wayne State

University, University of Baltimore).

• Average price range falls between 5$ and 25$.

The Need for Busme.com

The Need

• To book tickets for MegaBus and BoltBus, one must buy directly from each company’s website respectively.

• Priceline.com revolutionized the way people shop for airline tickets, hotel bookings, and travel packages offering a one-stop-shopping experience.

• Currently, no website service exists offering one-stop-shopping catering to the low cost curbside bus services.

• One does exist catering to the major bus lines for more luxurious travel – GotoBus.com.

• Busme.com can fill the gap.

Competition - GotoBus.com

• Sells tickets for intercity, traditional, Chinatown bus, multi-day tours, and sight seeing tours.

• Deal mainly with major coach lines (e.g. New Century, Eastern, Xinnix).

• Offers elaborate packages with travel and hotel included and also offers hotel booking separately.

• Markets bus travel as a viable vacation travel option (e.g. Las Vegas weekend packages).

• Discounts on Broadway shows and features a “Show” tab prominently in their website’s main navigation.

• Home page offers two booking interface options in a side by side orientation:

• Bus tickets only color coded in blue.• Tours and vacations color coded in green.

GotoBus.com (cont.)

• Departure locations for the tours and vacations interface (green) are global.

• Offers discounts for round trip bookings.

• The ability to sign in to account from Facebook.

• All tour services direct the user to a separate website entitled TakeTours.com.

• Both Chinese and Spanish site translations are offered.

• Secondary navigation located below the fold features interesting choices outlining their marketing strategy (e.g. loyalty programs, affiliate programs, group services, gift certificates).

• They even have their own blog.

• However, they have no dealings with the discount curbside bus chains such as MegaBus and BoltBus.

GotoBus.com Website

GotoBus.com Below the Fold

Busme.com Strategy Ideas

• Strategy will focus on the unique market demographics of discount curbside bus users.

• Because the curbside bus markets attracts the 18 – 25 year old audience, many our college students, so discounts could be offered with a valid student I.D.

• In addition, because many departure and arrival locations are near college campuses, affiliations could be established with college student life offices to negotiate group rates for college sponsored bus trips.

• Because many departure and arrival locations are near shopping centers and malls, affiliations could be established with stores and restaurants that are usually located at such shopping destinations (e.g. Outback Steakhouse, TGIF, BestBuy).

Strategy (cont.)

• A loyalty program will award points based on the frequency of use and points can be redeemed for discounted tickets or merchandise through advertisers and affiliates.

• In addition to Facebook sign in, Busme.com will establish Twitter and Google+ accounts and affiliations.

• Video advertisements could be created for viral distribution via You Tube and Vimeo.

• Multi-lingual versions of Busme.com are essential starting with Spanish and adding more should market conditions dictate.

• Discount programs could be established for activities focusing on day trips (e.g. museums, art galleries, zoos, daytime sporting events).

Strategy (cont.)

• Referral programs could be established offering discounts to the one referring the services.

• In addition to a Busme.com blog, a ratings section could be added to give users a way to rate their travel experience (could tie in to social media).

• Real time traffic conditions and links to maps and directions for travel planning.

• Hotel and travel packages should be considered in the future should the market dictate.

• Many of these marketing strategies could be further facilitated through downloadable apps and QR code symbols tapping into the growing smart phone user base.

Personas

Preliminary Wireframes