East Coast busing company partners with Salt Lake Express to expand network for customers
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IDAHO FALLS — An east-coast-based busing company is partnering with a local shuttle service to provide additional routes to customers.
Megabus, which provides transportation for customers in New York, Texas, California, and Canada, is teaming up with Salt Lake Express in Rexburg to provide routes throughout the Pacific Northwest, a section of the country it hasn’t previously served.
VP Commercial for Megabus Colin Emberson tells EastIdahoNews.com the partnership will allow them to expand service into 75 cities across Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming.
“It’s mainly taking the Salt Lake Express routes and making them available for sale on Megabus, but in the near future, it would be allowing somebody to travel down to Las Vegas and tie into our California network or tap into other places and expand,” Emberson says. “A good analogy to use — it’s like we’re selling the direct flights, but looking to build the connecting trips in the near future.”
It will include daily trips to Boise, Helena, Montana, Salt Lake City and Reno, Nevada, according to a company news release. Daily routes between Idaho Falls and Swan Valley, Rexburg, Dubois and Blackfoot will also be available.
Tickets for the new routes will be available beginning May 3.
Discussions about the partnership began six months ago when Megabus reached out to Salt Lake Express. Emberson says they saw it as an opportunity to expand their network with a “high-quality operator.”
The Rexburg transportation company acquired Northwest Stage Lines last fall to expand its routes into Seattle, Spokane, Boise and the western side of the state.
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While the partnership with Megabus doesn’t open any additional routes for Salt Lake Express, it does increase SLE’s ability to sell tickets.
“One thing it does provide travelers from this area is the ability to buy Megabus tickets to travel back east,” Salt Lake Express spokeswoman Lisa Young says. “The goal is to connect all of their east Coast lines with all of their lines across the U.S.”
And with many of their clients looking for alternatives to flying, Young says the partnership with Megabus is mutually beneficial.
“I think there’s a lot of factors that make busing a good option for a lot of folks. We’re seeing a trend of people … trying buses for the first time who like it and come back,” says Emberson.
Megabus started in the midwest in 2006 before eventually moving to the New York area.
Salt Lake Express was formed in Rexburg in 1994. It started as a shuttle service for college students at then Ricks College and has grown to become the largest transportation service in the region, serving hundreds of thousands of customers.
“We are thrilled about this opportunity to offer these new routes to Megabus customers,” Salt Lake Express Owner Jacob Price says in a news release. “Our route map is extensive, and it’s all thanks to the many loyal communities and riders that we have. We are confident that our high level of service will serve this new customer base well.”