BTS Issues Report Showing Fourth Quarter 1995 Operating Results of Ten of the Nation's Largest Bus Companies

Contact DOT 253-96 Carolee Bush Media 202-366-6946 David Mednick Technical 202-366-8871

Thursday, November 7, 1996 -- The Department of Transportation s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) today issued a report comparing the revenues, earnings, and ridership of ten of the nation s largest intercity and charter bus companies for the quarter and year ending Dec. 31, 1995, with the same periods for 1994.

The report is based primarily upon quarterly reports submitted by the carriers to the Bureau. These ten companies account for between 80 and 90 percent of the total intercity and charter revenues generated by Class I bus companies.

Congress recently transferred to DOT responsibility for collecting financial and operational data from motor carriers of passengers and motor carriers of property, a function previously performed by the Interstate Commerce Commission. Because of the transition, the reports have been delayed. The report for the third quarter of 1995 was released Oct. 23.

Greyhound -- the only transcontinental bus company -- showed a substantial improvement in revenues, earnings, and ridership during the quarter and year ending December 31, 1995. While the regional carriers also had slight revenue increases for the year, they experienced declines in quarterly revenues and quarterly and yearly earnings, compared with the same periods in 1994.

The nine regional carriers, on a composite basis, experienced a very slight decline in their operating ratio from 1994 to 1995, as revenues increased at a fractionally higher rate than expenses. For the same period, Greyhound reported a substantially greater decline in its operating ratio. Because of Greyhound s size, relative to the nine regional carriers, its large operating ratio decrease resulted in a more significant favorable decrease for the ten carriers as a group.

To order a copy of any of the reports, contact the Bureau of Transportation Statistics by telephone on (202) 366-4383, Fax (202) 366-3383, or by writing to the Bureau at BTS/DOT, K-27, Room 4125, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590. The report can also be viewed and downloaded on the Internet worldwide web at www.bts.gov/mcs, under Products and Reports.