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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 | 6 Universities served and Chicago suburbs |
| Website | http://www.suburbanexpress.com |
Suburban Express is a bus company which serves six midwest universities: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois State University, Eastern Illinois University, Purdue University, University of Iowa, and Indiana University. Weekend services transport students from all six campuses directly to several Suburban Chicago locations. The Illini Shuttle runs every day from Champaign and Urbana to the Chicago Airports of O'Hare and Chicago suburbs.
History
Students of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ("UIUC") have had a variety of transportation options over the life of the university. In the early 1980s, most students wishing to travel to the Chicago area used Amtrak (trains), Greyhound Lines (buses) and private automobiles.
In 1983, a student of the University of Illinois became dissatisfied with the Amtrak's high fares and Greyhound's unreliable service, and started Suburban Express. Suburban Express used a novel business model - that of a "virtual" bus company - in that it did not own any buses or facilities. Rather, 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, under the name "Thanksgiving Express", consisted 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. The concept was partially encouraged by a Greyhound bus driver's strike around the same period. Charter service continued in the spring of 1984, but encountered a few problems. UIUC refused to allow Suburban Express ticket sales at the university travel center because the school received a commission for selling Greyhound tickets and they feared Greyhound's reaction to selling competing tickets.
The company also met stiff competition from its main rival, Greyhound. A price war ensued and by February 1985 both sides had reduced round trip ticket prices from $36 to $14.75. In 1984, 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.
In the spring of 1984, the Illini Union Travel Center also attempted to create its own charter service to recover increasing losses of commissions on ticket sales. Unable to compete with Greyhound and Suburban Express, the university's charter service ended after only one weekend of service. By October 1985, UIUC allowed sales of Suburban Express tickets at the Illini Union Travel Center to recover revenue lost by the decline of Greyhound ticket sales. At that time, the manager of the Travel Center said that Suburban Express tickets accounted for over half of the tickets sold weekly.
Suburban Express eventually displaced Greyhound as the most popular mode of transportation to/from the Chicago suburbs. In 1989, Greyhound pulled out of the Champaign-to-Suburbs market altogether. Suburban Express added Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, IL to its route structure in 1985. Illinois State University was served from1989-1993 and from 2003-present. As of 2003, annual ridership was approximately 55,000 passengers.
Similar ventures were formed at other midwestern universities to transport students to the Chicago suburbs.
- HoosierBus serves Purdue University and Indiana University and was founded in 2003 by two University students.
- Catch A Ride, Inc. serves Indiana University, founded by a parent of IU students.
- Burbsbus.com used to serve University of Iowa
Competition
Suburban Express currently provides an alternative to the following carriers:
- University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana: Greyhound, Megabus, Peoria Charter Coach, Amtrak and various airlines operating out of University of Illinois Willard Airport
- Eastern Illinois University: EIU bus service.
- University of Iowa: Burlington Trailways, Greyhound.
Lawsuits Against Passengers
Since 1994, Suburban Express has filed 204 lawsuits, with 125 of them filed in 2013. Many of these lawsuits target passengers for alleged violations of Suburban Express' terms of service, including failing to pay penalty fares of $100 for presenting invalid or misdated tickets, or for canceling payment. Students and journalists have questioned the company's practice of filing lawsuits in neighboring Ford County, rather than in Champaign County, as students at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign are not entitled to aid from Student Legal Services for lawsuits outside of county boundaries.
References
- Special Weekend Service Between U of I and Chicago Suburbs
- Illini Shuttle service between Champaign and Chicago Airports
- ^ Fare wars - Bus service run by student butts heads with Greyhound. Dan Rozek. Daily Herald. Chicago, Illinois. Sunday, October 20, 1985. Page 20.
- Champaign man takes one of the last Concorde trips; Lynda Zimmer. News-Gazette Staff Writer. News Gazette. Champaign, Ill. Oct 29, 2003. pg. B.5.
- Russell's Guide September 1999 - GLI Schedule 397 removed from publication
- http://www.suburbanexpress.com/bulletpoints.html
- https://www.hoosierbus.com/about.html
- http://www.catcharide.com/about.html
- Daily Herald, August 25, 2005 - Section 1, Page 13
- ^ Ruff, Corinne (26 April 2013). "Suburban Express lawsuits reach 125 this year; conversation continues on Reddit". Daily Illini. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
- Gallagher, Sean (26 April 2013). "Express to Internet Hate: Bus company threatens redditor with lawsuit". Ars Technica. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
- ^ Brumleve, Will (26 April 2013). "Bus firm's lawsuits criticized". News-Gazette. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
Further reading
- Fare wars - Bus service run by student butts heads with Greyhound. Dan Rozek. Daily Herald. Chicago, Illinois. Sunday, October 20, 1985. Page 20. (Large article about the company, covers 3/4 of the page. Discusses the creation of the company, two attempts by the Illinois Commerce Commission to shut it down and fare war with Greyhound.)