Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In

Despite the claims of Scott Walker et al. who say there is no market for intercity rail, the fact is there are a growing number of private companies offering intercity transportation service. One of them is Megabus.

Megabus is cheap. Megabus has free WiFi. Megabus doesn't frisk you and confiscate your toothpaste. Best of all, the service reduces the need for single occupancy vehicles.

false

But Aaron Renn at Network blog the Urbanophile says Megabus doesn't get enough love from fans of urbanism and sustainable transport. He wonders if tension between private intercity bus service and hopes for high-speed rail might be the problem:

Among the common complaints are that Megabus is “subsidized” because it uses valuable curb side real estate in cities for free, that they are implicitly subsidized by highway funding, that passengers waiting for the bus at the stop are a nuisance, that the buses clog the streets and pump fumes into the air in a way that harms the “neighborhood,” and that the service really isn’t that good because of congestion. Even the government of Washington, DC is getting in on the act, as reported they want to charge Megabus a fee for access to their loading zones.

And to argue about crowds hurting city life seems a bit odd given that we’re told one of rail’s benefits is bringing all those people in to patronize businesses. I know I’ve made purchases at businesses near the Megabus stop that I wouldn’t have otherwise made. And in places like Midtown Manhattan, there are already vehicles of all types more or less continuously stopped or even double parked along the avenues. Megabus is barely a blip here. Plus don’t forget all the loading zones that already serve many private businesses all over our cities.

So why the complaints? They can speak for themselves, but I suspect a couple of items. Firstly, some people just don’t like private sector solutions. That’s a view I can respect, but not agree with. But more importantly, I think that there’s fear that successful private sector intercity bus service undermines the case for high speed rail that is near and dear to the urbanist heart.

Meanwhile, Rob Pitingolo at Extraordinary Observations says to count him in the anti-Megabus camp, though not for any of the reasons Renn details. Pitingolo says the service is unreliable on a Greyhound-esque scale.

So what do you think? Are urbanists being unfair to Megabus? Is the growth in private intercity bus service a threat to high-speed rail efforts, a sign of how much it's needed, or something else altogether?

Elsewhere on the Network today: NRDC Switchboard offers more praise for Arlington, Virginia, which just received a new round of data indicating that its efforts to encourage sustainable transportation have been a tremendous success. This Big City reports urbanism is catching hold in Africa. And M-Bike.org carries the awesome news that Detroit and its surrounding suburbs have received a $750,000 grant to make the important Woodward corridor a complete street.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Friday Video: Amtrak Is Way More Successful Than You Think

Why do so many people still treat Amtrak as a failure — and what would it take to deliver the rail investment that American riders deserve?

October 24, 2025

Friday’s Headlines Are Hanging Out Down the Street

The same old thing we did last week — until the neighbor wrote a letter to the editor.

October 24, 2025

Report: Lessons from California’s HSR Project

A new paper from the Mineta Institute looks at California's high-speed rail project—and how to do better moving forward.

October 23, 2025

Talking Headways Podcast: Life After Cars

Sarah Goodyear and Doug Gordon of The War on Cars podcast on their new book, opposing views, Turtle Jesus and potential off-ramps towards car-free cities.

October 23, 2025

Traffic Congestion Is a Housing and Transit Problem, Not a Highway Problem

To truly solve tangled traffic in California (and across the U.S.), we need to take the problem out of the hands of the road builders and address the root causes of congestion: building more affordable housing near jobs and improving public transportation options.

October 23, 2025

Truckers Back NYC Busway Plan That Trump Blocked

The federal government has obviously lost its trucking mind.

October 23, 2025
See all posts