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The American Bus Association, the trade association of the intercity bus industry, represents the motorcoach industry's interests in Washington, D.C. It also facilitates relationships between North American motorcoach and tour companies and all related segments of the travel and supplier industries and promotes travel by motorcoach to consumers.

700 13th Street NW, Suite 575, Washington DC 20005-5923 · Phone: (202) 842-1645 · Fax: (202) 842-0850 · E-mail: Click here

FACTS about the Motorcoach industry:

• The intercity bus - or motocoach - industry is a privately operated, critical part of the transportation system in the United States and Canada. The industry is made up of hundreds of private companies, big and small, who are the United States' number-one commercial people mover. For a brief primer on the industry from safety to energy use to markets served and industry characteristics click here.

   

• The group travel industry is poised to increase ridership from the past few years, as people begin to travel again and the industry becomes more savvy marketers, according to the 2004 State of the Motorcoach Industry. Click here for the full report.

   

• According to the Motorcoach Census 2000 report conducted by the Washington, D.C. research firm R.L. Banks and Associates, Inc., approximately 44,000 commercial motorcoaches are in use for charters, tours, regular route service, and special operations in the U.S. and Canada. ¹ Click here to view the entire report. You will need Adobe Acrobat.

   

• Key highlights of a 2001 study conducted by The George Washington University and commissioned by ABA to explore precisely how much of overall tourism revenues earned by destinations came in via motorcoach group or tour. Members, click here to see the full report. Nonmembers, click here to order the full report.

   

• Over-the-Road Bus Accidents in the United States, 1995-1999: This University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute study details the safety performance of motorcoaches in the context of other commercial vehicles, including other bus types. See how motorcoaches have performed over the past 5 years to better understand the state of motorcoach safety. Click here to order.

   

• Motorcoach operators reported an average operating cost per mile of $1.90 in 2001. Click here to see results from the Destinations Magazine 2001 Industry Survey on costs and pricing, fleet and employee size, issues and technology. You will need Adobe Acrobat.

   

• The U.S. intercity bus industry provides the most service for rural residents, reaching 91 percent (75 million) of the rural population and serves as the sole mode for 15 million people, according to recent findings by the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. According to the Bureau, more than 94 percent of the nearly 82 million rural residents of the United States live within the service area of at least one commercial intercity transportation mode.
  Click here to view the findings.

   

• Twelve percent of carriers provide scheduled service between predetermined cities or terminals, operating approximately 8,000-10,000 coaches and accounting for 50 percent of motorcoach mileage. ¹

   

• Approximately 4,000 private motorcoach companies operate in the U.S. and Canada; about 10 percent of those are based in Canada. ¹

   

• Motorcoaches in the U.S. and Canada carried an estimated 860 million passengers in 1999, 774 million of them in the United States. This compares with 568 million by commercial air carriers, and 377 million by commuter rail and Amtrak. ¹

   

• The motorcoach industry comprises thousands of mostly small businesses. Sixty-five percent of known carriers operate fewer than 10 buses, but those smallest of companies carry an estimated 97 million passengers. ¹

   

• Only about 50 companies own more than 100 coaches, and these account for 56 percent of passengers. ¹

   

• Almost all motorcoach companies-a full 96 percent-offer charter service. A charter can be defined as the hiring and exclusive use of a motorcoach by a pre-formed group. One-third of motorcoach mileage is logged on charters. ¹

   

• Eight percent of motorcoach miles are logged on tours and sightseeing. ¹ The ten most popular cities to visit by motorcoach (unranked) are: Atlantic City, N.J., Branson, Mo., Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Nashville, New York, Orlando, Toronto, and Washington, D.C. ²

   

• The average cost of a new 45-foot motorcoach is more than $350,000 (USD). ²

   

• 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 (USD) per day to the local economy in expenditures including meals, lodging, shopping, admission fees, souvenirs, and local taxes. ²

   

• Residents of the United states and Canada purchased a total of about 144 million overnight packaged trips during 2000. This accounted for approximately $186 billion in direct economic impact worldwide according to the National Tour Association ³

   

• Total number of motorcoaches sold in U.S. and Canada in 2002 was 2,402, a 14.1 percent decline from 2001, according to National Bus Trader Magazine. Even with the decline, which began in 1999, the 2001 numbers are higher than all the years from 1985-1996.⁴

   

• In 1999, motorcoaches were driven about 2.6 billion miles, with the average bus traveling 50,600 miles. The industry consumed 498 million gallons of fuel, yielding a conservative performance of 160 passenger miles-per-gallon. ¹

Sources
¹Motorcoach Census 2000 Report, R.L. Banks & Associates, Inc., Summer 2000
²American Bus Association
³National Tour Association & International Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus, Spring 1997
⁴National Bus Trader magazine, June 2000