Megabus Alternative to Amtrak and High-Speed Rail

NEW YORK (WALA) - "Megabus.com , the first city-to-city, express bus service offering fares from $1, announced it is offering 200,000 free seats for travel Jan. 4 to March 1, 2012. Customers can begin booking their free seats now."

MP: This year's Megabus promotion offering 200,000 free seats follows last year's promotion that also gave away 200,000 free seats, which was double the 100,000 seats given away two years ago for Megabus' first "free seat" promotion.  That brings the total number of free seats on Megabus to 500,000 over the last three years.  And even when it's now giving away free seats, Megabus offers fares starting at $1 on a year round basis, making it the cheapest way to travel.  A quick check of the Megabus website shows $9 fares for travel between Washington, D.C. and NYC next week. If you book a trip on Amtrak from Washington, D.C. to NYC on the same day, it'll cost you $80 for regular service and $142 for the Acela Express, and that's one-way. And it's probably safe to say that Amtrak has never given away any free tickets. 

Megabus is a great example of a competitive, flexible, low-cost (sometimes free), consumer-driven, market-based solution to inter-city transportation that has thrived without any government subsidies, tax breaks or taxpayer funding.  Contrast that alternative to government transportation options like Amtrak and high-speed rail proposals that are the opposite: non-competitive, inflexible, high-cost, politician-driven, and not market-based, requiring massive amounts of taxpayer funding and subsidies.