Sit Back, Relax and Enjoy the Bus Ride

It's the vehicle of folk lore and folk songs, and draws on the memories of school days or buddy flicks. More recently, the bus has become the vehicle of choice, replacing planes, trains and sometimes automobiles for short day trips or convenient transportation for organized groups.

Many of today's

buses - or motorcoaches - boast the finest of amenities, catering to first-class tastes. No longer just an affordable ticket to the open highway, bus transportation is ascending as a mover of corporate groups, sports teams, students, vacationers and senior citizens.

"People are amazed at the differences between what buses were 20 years ago and what they are today," said Chad Cushman, sales manager for Indian Trails, "They're pretty sophisticated pieces of equipment. And comfortable, too."

People movers

Consider locally based Dean Trailways of Michigan. Headquartered in Lansing, the company is among 60 nationwide that constitute the Trailways network, moving people from A to B and points in between.

Started in 1995 as Dean Charters and Tours, Dean Trailways has grown from a fleet of two buses to 25 motorcoaches, 10 mini-buses, two executive buses, two limousines, and a handful of 15-person passenger vans. The touring fleet consists mostly of 50- to 56-passenger European-style coaches, with amenities such as high-back reclining seats, video and stereo equipment, public address systems, galleys with refreshments, ample baggage compartments and rest rooms.

"We provide all levels of service," said Kellie Dean, president of Dean Trailways. "Our riders come from diverse groups, ranging from students to seniors to business executives to church groups."

Dean recounted how his business carried entourages for former Presidents Bush and Clinton on campaign trips, escorted the Beach Boys on a concert tour and transported athletic teams from Michigan State University and the Lansing Lugnuts.

"Our drivers have a lot of fun," said Dean.

For the general public, Dean Trailways offers a number of exclusive services. Lines run daily to the Soaring Eagle Casino in Mount Pleasant, with departures from major Michigan cities. From June through Labor Day, the Dean Streak departs on Saturdays and Wednesdays for daily round trips to Cedar Point. One-day trips are a huge part of the charter business, with package tours offered to instate destinations such as the Chesaning Showboat, Turkeyville, Jackson, the Frederick Meijer Gardens, Frankenmuth, Comerica Park, Detroit Institute of Arts, DTE Energy Music Theatre and Battle Creek. Packages for more extensive, out-of-state tours are also available, with motorcoaches ferrying the adventurous to such places as Orlando, Memphis, Myrtle Beach, Washington DC, New York, Boston, Toronto and Chicago.

"We also provide transportation for those end-of-the-schoolyear or other educational trips," said Dean. "We've taken busloads of school kids to places like Greenfield Village, Mackinac Island and Chicago."

Dean Trailways specializes in taking care of business. Airport shuttles to Detroit, Grand Rapids and Chicago are available for business travelers, as are special transportation services when travelers find themselves stranded by flight delays. The company interested in adding a new twist to a corporate outing will find travel aboard a VIP coach to be a surprising combination of business and pleasure. With comfortable seating for up to 21 passengers, the space and amenities can make a coach seem like a corporate retreat on wheels.

"Not only are our VIP buses very popular for transporting and entertaining business clients, they're also very popular for wedding parties," said Dean.

Day trippers

As with most businesses, along with the boom comes some bust. Like many segments of the economy, the motorcoach business felt the aftershocks of 9/11, and have responded by adjusting some service and product lines.

"We see more people sticking closer to home," said Dean of his company's increased promotion of single-day travel. "For instance, educational trips to New York or Philadelphia may be scaled back to tours of our state Capitol, day trips to Greenfield Village or a one- or two-day trip to Chicago for cultural opportunities."

Indian Trail's Cushman agreed that the motorcoach industry has had to adapt to the economic downturn, and look at new business development opportunities.

Like Dean Trailways, Indian Trails provides a range of charter and executive services. The owner and operator of the largest fleet of deluxe motorcoaches in Michigan, Indian Trails has bases throughout the state, including Lansing, Kalamazoo, Detroit and Owosso.

"That gives us the flexibility to service customers throughout the major part of the state," said Cushman, referring to the variety of long-distance tours, schedule line runs, business services and airport shuttles available to travelers. Cushman added that Indian Trails is looking to add other types of shuttle services between destinations, and going after some different customer bases.

"Pocketbooks have been hit," said Cushman. "For instance, that senior group that used to book a five-day northeastern color tour now might stick with a one-day or two-day local trip of 100 miles. The downturn has caused us to reevaluate and look at new ways of doing business."

Riding high

Economics aside, an estimated 774 million passengers choose bus travel in one form or another to get to where they're going. The American Bus Association also reports that about 44,000 commercial motorcoaches are used for charters, tours, regular route service and special operations in the United States and Canada.

"Our charge in the next few years is to educate people that bus transportation is statistically the safest mode of transportation in this country," said Cushman. "That's a big selling point for us. Plus, we carry more passengers per year than the airline or the train or rail system. That's significant."

Added together, the safety and economy-as well as the improved comfort-of today's bus travel continue to attract diverse groups of people, interested in seeing new places and discovering new treasures-some as close as their own backyard.

"People are getting more comfortable traveling again," said Dean, "and a lot of them are turning to bus travel. Today's motorcoaches are simply a great way for families to take that mini-vacation, or for a church group, school or business to take an organized trip to a special destination." DEAN TRAILWAYS OF MICHIGAN

Kellie DEan, President

4726 Aurelius Road, Lansing

517-319-3326/800-282-3326

www.deantrailways.com

INDIAN TRAILS

Chad Cushman, Sales Director

109 E. Comstock St., Owosso

989-725-5105/800-292-3831

www.indiantrails.com