This edition of Scheduled Intercity Transportation: Rural Service Areas in
the United States updates the edition
dated September 2004. Analysis for this edition includes the following:
Discontinuance of Amtrak’s Three Rivers train route between Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Chicago, Illinois.
The second stage of Greyhound Lines’ route restructuring on April 3, 2005 that resulted in the discontinuance of all intercity bus service at 112 locations in the Southwest and South Central sections of the country.
Inclusion of year-round scheduled intercity bus or bus/van services in Alaska.
Inclusion of the Alaska Marine Highway System ferries that provide service among Alaska coastal communities and to/from Bellingham, Washington.
Updating to reflect other miscellaneous additions and deletions of air, rail, and bus service at locations around the United States.
Correction of a number of omissions of airports, rail stations, and bus stations discovered during the updating process. The most significant number of additions were in Alaska where 76 airports not previously included as scheduled service airports were added to the analysis.
Additionally, the projection method used in the geospatial information system analysis for this report has been modified to produce more consistent results when updating. In some cases the change in the method used to project the service area around an intercity transportation facility has resulted in one-time changes to the number of rural residents served by a specific mode even in states where there has been no change in the service provided since the last report. The new projection method is expected to ensure consistency in future updates to this report.
