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 Illini Shuttle, operated by Suburban Express, at Illinois Terminal in Champaign, Illinois. | |
| Founded | 1983 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | 714 S Sixth Street Champaign, Illinois 61820 |
| Service area | Illinois, Indiana, Iowa |
| Service type | Intercity coach service |
| Destinations | 5 Universities served and Chicago suburbs |
| Owner | Dennis Toeppen |
| Website | http://www.suburbanexpress.com |
Suburban Express is a bus company which serves five midwest universities; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois State University, Eastern Illinois University, Purdue, and the University of Iowa. Weekend services transport students from all five campuses directly to several suburban Chicago locations.. The Illini Shuttle runs every day from Champaign to the Chicago Airports of O'Hare and Midway and the suburbs.
History
Suburban Express was founded in 1983 by Doug Toeppen, a precedent-setter in cybersquatting lawsuits. The company used a "virtual" company business model, in that it did not own any buses or facilities. Instead, it contracted buses from established carriers, sold tickets through a travel agent, and used public streets and suburban malls as its bus stops.
The first charter of six buses carried about 300 students to the Chicago suburbs for the Thanksgiving break in 1983 undercutting Greyhound's prices by $4 to $8. In the spring of 1984, UIUC refused to allow Suburban Express ticket sales at the university travel center because the school received a commission for selling Greyhound tickets.
Greyhound also contacted the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC), which initiated two separate investigations of Suburban Express. The first ICC investigation in Spring of 1984 found Suburban Express to be operating a regular service without the ICC's approval. In response Suburban Express changed the operation to a private charter for UIUC students and staff excluding it from ICC jurisdiction. The second investigation was in fall of 1984 and found the company to be operating according to ICC rules.A price war ensued between Suburban Express and Greyhound, and by February 1985 both sides had reduced round trip ticket prices from $36 to $14.75. By October 1985, UIUC allowed sales of Suburban Express tickets at the travel center to recover revenue lost by the decline of Greyhound tickets. As of 2003, annual ridership was approximately 55,000 passengers.
References
- Special Weekend Service Between U of I and Chicago Suburbs
- Illini Shuttle service between Champaign and Chicago Airports
- http://domainshane.com/the-original-cybersquatter-lives-right-down-the-road/
- http://www.suburbanexpress.com/bulletpoints.html