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

Contact DOT 244-96 Carolee Bush Media 202-366-6946 David Mednick Technical 202-366-8871

Wednesday, October 23, 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 nine months ending September 30, 1995, with the same periods for 1994. These ten companies account for between 80 and 90 percent of the total intercity and charter revenues generated by Class I bus companies.

Greyhound -- the only transcontinental bus company -- showed a substantial improvement in revenues, earnings and ridership during the quarter and nine months ending September 30, 1995. While the regional carriers also had revenue increases, they experienced declines in earnings and ridership for the quarter, compared with the same period in 1994.

The nine regional carriers, on a composite basis, experienced a very slight decline in their operating ratio between the nine months ending September 30, 1994, and the same period for 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 the report, 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 http://www.bts.gov/mcs, under Products and Reports.