The Megabus website today touted a new route that could make travel around the Silicon Prairie eaiser. Screenshot from megabus.com.
The last time we were this excited about a bus ride, Keanu Reeves was at the wheel, ever-so-animatedly carting a motley crew of Angelino commuters around town with the cruise control locked at 50.
Starting Aug. 17, Megabus will offer a new option for travel between two of the Silicon Prairie’s hubs. Megabus, a low-fare, high-tech bus service, announced that it’s expanding its service to Omaha and will offer two round trips daily that make stops in both Omaha and Des Moines (the trip also includes stops in Iowa City and Chicago) for a round-trip price tag as low as $2.50.
Thanks to our sponsor
The $2.50 trips ($1 per one-way trip, plus a 50 cent processing fee) are just the starting point and are available for a limited number of seats only. From there, Megabus ticket prices fluctuate according to demand and timing. According to a story in today’s Omaha World-Herald, a one-way fare from Omaha to Chicago could rise into the $40 range or higher. Friday afternoon fares on Megabus trips from Kansas City to Chicago run about $58.
Although megabus offers service to Kansas City, trips between the Show-Me State and the Silicon Prairie’s other two hubs are not available. That’s because — as outlined in a story in today’s Des Moines Register — Megabus operates on a hub and spoke system, with hubs in Chicago, New York, Toronto, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Pittsburgh. So unless two cities are aligned on the same spoke — Omaha and Des Moines are — there is no direct service between spoke cities.
In addition to low fares, Megabus touts amenities that include free Wi-Fi, plug-in outlets at every seat, and train-style seating.
Reservations must be made online. The Megabus website provides scheduling and fare specifics. To celebrate its Omaha launch, Megabus is offering 1,000 free seats to Omahans for the Chicago route from Aug. 16 to Sept. 17. Customers must use the promotion code OMA1K when booking.
So, just think, Omahans: come October you can plop down $2.50, hop aboard a bus and, voila, you’ve taken care of travel to to Thinc Iowa. (Left: An itinerary that might be of interest to Omaha-based Silicon Prairie News readers. Screenshot from megabus.com)
Quite frankly, it all sounds almost … magic.
Video from somelicuslane on YouTube.
