New Jersey-based bus line expands service options in 24 cities in Oregon and California through a partnership with Pacific Crest Bus Lines.
New Jersey-based Megabus USA has announced a partnership with Pacific Crest Bus Lines to offer expanded service and booking options for its stops in central Oregon, marking the company’s entrance into the Oregon market.
The partnership expands service options in 24 cities in Oregon and California, adding additional trips in Eugene (between Bend and Sisters) Salem (Bend, Portland, and Sisters) and 13 cites in Bend. (Altamont, Chemult, Chiloquin, Crescent, Eugene, Gilchrist, Klamath Falls, La Pine, Portland, Redmond, Salem, Sisters and Sunriver.) Trips are currently available on the Megabus website.
Megabus vice president of commercial Colin Emberson tells Oregon Business Megabus is also using its marketing tools to get travelers thinking earlier about bus travel. He says the partnership with Pacific Crest Bus Lines will increase the appetite for bus travel in the state.
“Driving up demand is really the first step in our process,” says Emberson. “I always say our biggest competitor is the car. I think with gas prices rising, and the cost of everything rising in our everyday lives, having been value travel options out there is something to think about more and more folks will be taking advantage of as soon as they become aware of it.”
Emberson says Megabus’s booking technology will also make bus travel options more appealing. He says the company’s previous successful Oregon partnerships with Northwestern Stage Lines and Salt Lake Express, which offers bus service Between Washington, Idaho, Utah, Montana, and Nevada, shows that demand for bus travel will be as high in the Pacific Northwest as on the East Coast markets.
Emberson says the company doesn’t have any plans to offer service in Eastern or coastal cities in Oregon. He says the company is already planning ways to link bus trips together like airline travel, which could open up bus access between Oregon and much wider geography.
Anthony Ferro, president of Pacific Crest Bus Lines said in a press release issued last week that the company was thrilled to partner with Megabus.
“With our expanded route map, we anticipate an extraordinary journey ahead, as we introduce new routes and continue our daily scheduled services across the diverse expanse of Oregon and parts of California. From the bustling urban hubs of Portland, Salem, Bend, Medford, and Eugene, to the serene beauty of Brookings, Crescent City and Klamath Falls, our services now span an extensive network of destinations, catering to the diverse needs of travelers,” he wrote.
