As an alternative to the train, the coach is an environmentally friendly and flexible means of public transport. The bus companies often offer cheaper tariffs and more diverse connections than the railway companies.
A Europe-wide connection search offers e.g. busliniensuche.de at.
Long-distance transport
Germany
A lot has happened since the liberalization of the long-distance bus market in 2012/13. After a number of providers initially fought for market share, today is with the exception of a few routes Flixbus almost everywhere the "top dog" and often the only bus provider. The railway, once the largest long-distance bus provider, has almost completely withdrawn from the market, but is still strategically adding to its network IC bus which are integrated in the rail tariff and mainly operate on lines on which a long-distance passenger rail connection is not worthwhile. Furthermore, long-distance buses run by companies in Germany Eurolines, Ouibus (Part of the French State Railways SNCF) and student agency.
A detailed description of the situation can be found in the article Long-distance buses in Germany.
Information on the extensive network of city and regional buses can be found in the article With the public bus through Germany.
Austria
Long-distance buses
City and regional buses
Information on city and regional bus transport is available in the articles of the transport associations:
- State of Salzburg, Berchtesgadener Land (D): Salzburg Transport Association (SVV)
- Vienna, Lower Austria, Burgenland: Verkehrsverbund Ost-Region (VOR)
Europe
Lists of European bus connections:
The largest provider of bus routes in Europe is Eurolines, The German company in this network is Touring. In addition to this largest provider of bus routes, other companies also travel to other European countries, for example Flixbus, DeinBus.de and IC buswhose networks cover several countries in Europe. Goes to Poland Sindbad, goes to Romania AtlasibThere are numerous bus connections to many countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Most of the new providers in the Long-distance buses in Germany offer at least shorter "hops" across the border, for example to Prague, Amsterdam or Wroclaw. The Czech provider also drives RegioJet, which appeared under the former name StudentAgency, also had international connections in Europe.
North America
The FirstGroup-Daughter Greyhound Lines and their partners maintain an extensive network in the United States and Canada and Mexico that includes almost all medium and large cities. Transfer connections can also be booked at a uniform tariff. If you book well in advance and have enough time with you, this is an inexpensive way to travel to both countries. The age and equipment of the buses differ between the executing partners. Toilets are mostly available, and in some cases free WiFi is even available. The prices are consistently below those for train connections, while flights cost at least twice as much. Inexpensive tickets are tied to a specific connection, while flexible tickets are available for an additional charge (similar to plane tickets).
The low-budget market for scheduled buses was previously dominated by so-called "chinatown buses", which were mainly used by Asian immigrants and their descendants and drive from Chinatown to Chinatown and simply let passengers get on and off at the roadside. In the meantime, some companies (for example Boltbus) have partially imitated this concept and combined it with that of the low-cost airlines and offer (with early booking) lure offers from one dollar. However, these prices are hard to come by, especially on popular routes.
On busy routes (e.g. between Boston and Washington) there are usually even several companies competing for customers, which causes prices to drop further (e.g. Washington, D.C.–New York City for 8 USD with sockets on site and free WiFi).
Central America
Due to the low car ownership rate (around 5% in Nicaragua) and the non-existent or only relictly existing rail network, buses are the most important means of passenger transport in this region. Regional and domestic bus lines are mostly subsidized by the state and mostly operated with old American bluebird school buses (so-called "chicken buses"). International lines usually get by without subsidies and are therefore often orders of magnitude more expensive, but the buses are often more modern and luxurious.
City and regional bus transport
Organized group tours
The term des is used to distinguish it from classic regular services Occasional traffic, which has its origin in the Passenger Transport Act (PBefG). In addition to forms of occasional traffic, such as taxi and rental car traffic, rental buses can also be assigned to this generic term as a category. In the German market there are providers such as Snapbus, Bus joy and CheckMyBus on whose platforms offers for coaches and their drivers can be requested and booked.
As a travel group, buses of various sizes and levels of comfort are suitable as flexible means of transport tailored to the needs of the travel group and the planned route.
Vintage car rides in the busVarious providers have vintage buses that can be rented for company trips with a driver. Most old-timer buses are only used regionally, as transfer journeys are time-consuming and costly due to the lower speed. Due to the low annual mileage and the sometimes expensive spare parts, the rental prices for vintage buses are generally higher than for modern buses.
On the other hand, a trip in a vintage bus generally promises a much higher experience value, only few vintage car providers like Schwyzer Poschti in the Bonn / Cologne region have vehicles suitable for winter.
In the Switzerland rides in historic Postbuses (Postbussen) have a long tradition and are very popular.
Specialized travel agencies also offer combinations with other historical means of transport, such as sightseeing flights, steamboat trips, etc.
Environmental balance
According to the Federal Environment Agency, the coach is the most environmentally friendly means of transport, ahead of long-distance train transport: a single person can travel a good 31,000 km with the coach until one ton of CO2 has been emitted; In comparison, it is only around 19,000 km in long-distance train transport, just under 7,000 km in a car and just under 3,000 km in an airplane. However, these values are heavily dependent on the utilization of the respective means of transport; If, for example, one assumes occupancy between 40% and 50% for the railways and 1.4 to 2 people per car for the car, the bus (70% to 80%) and plane (80% to 90%) are those underlying values are significantly higher. Of course, these values can vary considerably depending on the country and circumstances. When it comes to rail transport, it is also important to consider where the electricity that most long-distance trains use comes from. The environmental balance naturally improves accordingly with hydropower, while it deteriorates with lignite.
literature
- Reports on the liberalization of German long-distance bus traffic: time, manager magazine
- VCD - Be smartly mobile - a comparison of means of transport
