Research by DePaul's Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development finds a major resurgence of intercity and interstate bus travel – the first rebound in decades.

The number of scheduled runs, or bus departures, across the nation has jumped about 13 percent since February 2006. Much of the increase is attributable to new players entering the field – most notably Megabus Inc. in the Midwest.

“The Return of the Intercity Bus: The Decline and Recovery of Scheduled Service to American Cities, 1960 – 2007” assessed the changing status of intercity bus service throughout the United States during the past half-century. Drawing on data from more than 5,000 arrivals and departures in a representative sample of American cities, it shows that U.S. cities lost nearly one-third of their scheduled intercity service between 1960 and 1980 and more than 60 percent of the remaining services between 1980 and 2005.

“Since bus travel is more than four times as energy-efficient as private car travel and airline travel, the intercity bus companies have a great marketing opportunity to reach out to those who are conscientious about the nation’s energy and environmental challenges,” said Joe Schwieterman, executive director of the Chaddick Institute and a professor of public policy at DePaul.