Peter Pan Motorcoach Statistics

• Buses serve 6 times more communities than Amtrak serves
• Motorcoaches carry more passengers in two weeks than Amtrak carries in an entire year
• Amtrak has consumed over $25 billion in Federal subsidies in its 30-year existence
• Amtrak has consumed more than $5 billion since the 1997 reform act was approved by Congress to help the rail line to self-sufficiency
• Amtrak loses money on almost all of its 47 routes ... one route in Janesville, WI resulted in a per passenger subsidy of over $1,000 per passenger
• Americans prefer motorcoaches: In the U.S., 774 million passengers traveled by motorcoach, outpacing domestic commercial airlines and Amtrak combined. In fact, motorcoaches carry more passengers in two weeks than Amtrak moves in one year.
• Motorcoaches serve more destinations: Motorcoaches serve almost six times more destinations than airlines and nearly seven times more destinations than passenger rail (1997 figures).
• Motorcoaches reduce traffic: Motorcoaches annually displace as many as 425 million cars from U.S. roads, significantly reducing traffic and highway congestion.
• Motorcoaches are environmentally friendly: Compared with motorcoaches, trains consume three times, cars four times, and airplanes more than five times more energy per passenger mile.
• Motorcoaches help the economy: A fully-loaded motorcoach (46 passengers on average) on a charter or tour making an overnight stay contributes an average of $5,000 to $7,500 per day to the local economy in expenditures including meals, lodging, shopping, admission fees, souvenirs and local taxes.
• Motorcoaches are safe: Our industry is proud to provide the safest form of commercial passenger transportation in the nation. Among all passenger transportation modes, the motorcoach fatality rate is lowest - 0.4 fatality per 100 million vehicle miles. For cars, the rate is 3.5 times higher. For air, the rate is six times higher, and for passenger trains, the rate is 35 times higher.
• Motorcoaches are the safest mode of commercial passenger transportation with the lowest fatality rate per 100 million passenger miles traveled, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
• According to the National Safety Council, in an average year more than 360 million passenger trips in the United States are taken by intercity bus, totaling 28 billion passenger miles. Actual motorcoach mileage is estimated at about 945 million.
• From 1960 through 2001, the motorcoach industry has received just 0.1 cent per passenger mile in net federal subsidy. Over the same time, other modes have received at least 14 times more in subsidy per passenger mile.
• And we are fuel and energy efficient. Motorcoach fuel consumption per passenger mile is 76% lower than air carrier and passenger car fuel consumption. And the energy intensity motorcoach service (only 946 Btu per passenger mile in 2001) is one-fourth the energy intensity of air carriers and passenger cars. Further, annually motorcoaches displace as many as 425 million cars from U.S. roads lowering the impact of vehicles emissions on the environment.

Impact of Motorcoaches on Society Study

In December 2004, the ABA Foundation commissioned Nathan Associates, an economic research firm in Arlington, Virginia, to explore the impact that the motorcoach industry has on society and the economy throughout North America. At the same time, the ABA commissioned Nathan to begin work on the 2005 Motorcoach Census.

Robert Damuth, of Nathan Associates, presented a preliminary report on the "Impact study" to the ABA Board of Directors in October. The final report will be available on the ABA website in February 2005 in conjunction with the results of the 2005 Motorcoach Census.

Preliminary findings of the "Impact" report will show that the motorcoach industry...

• Is the most fuel efficient: Motorcoach fuel consumption per passenger miles is lowest - 0.0068 gallon per passenger mile in 2001, which was 76% lower than air carrier and passenger car fuel consumption - and declining. Energy intensity is lowest -946 Btu per passenger mile in 2001, which was one-fourth the energy intensity of air carriers and passenger cars.
• Is the safest mode of travel: Among all passenger transportation modes, the motorcoach fatality rate is lowest - 0.4 fatality per 100 million vehicle miles. For passenger cars the fatality rate is 3.5 times higher.
• Serves more residents than any other mode: For 14.4 million rural residents, motorcoaches are the only available mode of intercity commercial transportation service.
• Serves the public without any cost to taxpayers: Unlike the industries of its competing modes, the motorcoach industry has received virtually no federal subsidy after accounting for its federal cost responsibility and the user fee payments to the federal government by the industry and its passengers. Other modes received at least 14 times more in subsidy per passenger mile. "...intercity buses paid more than their allocated cost to the federal government." [BTS 2004]

Intercity Bus Facts

• Intercity buses carry over 774 million passengers annually.
• Intercity buses carry over 200 million more passengers than airlines each year.
• Intercity buses carry more passengers in two weeks than Amtrak carries in an entire year.
• Intercity buses serve more than 4,000 U.S. communities ... six times more than the airlines.
• National Safety Council & the U.S. Federal Highway Administration Office of Motor Carriers & Highway Safety show that the intercity bus industry is one of the safest modes of transportation and has been consistently for decades.
• Motorcoach mileage is estimated at about 945 million miles per year.
• Passenger cars are responsible for 64.5% of all vehicular accidents ... trucks for 34.4% ... intercity/transit buses for 0.3%.

Additional Industry Facts

• Motorcoaches replace 425 million cars on the road annually
• Fuel efficiency: 250 passenger miles per gallon of fuel consumed
• Communities served:
  • Motorcoaches serve over 5,000 communities in the U.S. ... 10 times more than trains and airlines
  • There are 536 airports in the U.S.
  • There are 521 train depots in the U.S.
• Subsidy funding:
  • From 1960 - 1988, motorcoaches received only 0.3% of all Federal subsidies ... during that same time airlines received 22.7% of all Federal subsidies
  • Per passenger subsidy:
    • Buses received $.01
    • Amtrak received $.32
    • Airlines received $9.52
• Effects of motorcoach transportation in New York City:
  • 3,000 motorcoaches arrive on average per day
  • During holiday periods, 7,000 motorcoaches arrive on average per day
• Every bus adds over $11,000 in economic benefit