Suburban Express
Encyclopedia
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.
("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
(train
s), Greyhound Lines
(bus
es) 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 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 from 1989-1993 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.
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
company which serves five midwest
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
universities: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
, Illinois State University
Illinois State University
Illinois State University , founded in 1857, is the oldest public university in Illinois; it is located in the town of Normal. ISU is considered a "national university" that grants a variety of doctoral degrees and strongly emphasizes research; it is also recognized as one of the top ten largest...
, Eastern Illinois University
Eastern Illinois University
Eastern Illinois University is a state university located in Charleston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher's college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradually expanded into a comprehensive university with a...
, Purdue, and the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
. Weekend services transport students from all five campuses directly to several Suburban Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
locations.. The Illini Shuttle runs every day from Champaign to the Chicago Airports of O'Hare
O'Hare International Airport
Chicago O'Hare International Airport , also known as O'Hare Airport, O'Hare Field, Chicago Airport, Chicago International Airport, or simply O'Hare, is a major airport located in the northwestern-most corner of Chicago, Illinois, United States, northwest of the Chicago Loop...
and Midway and the suburbs.
History
Students of the University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
("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
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
(train
Train
A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...
s), Greyhound Lines
Greyhound Lines
Greyhound Lines, Inc., based in Dallas, Texas, is an intercity common carrier of passengers by bus serving over 3,700 destinations in the United States, Canada and Mexico, operating under the well-known logo of a leaping greyhound. It was founded in Hibbing, Minnesota, USA, in 1914 and...
(bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
es) and private automobiles
Carpool
Carpooling , is the sharing of car journeys so that more than one person travels in a car....
.
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
Business model
A business model describes the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value...
- 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 of six buses carried about 300 students to the Chicago suburbs for the Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...
break in 1983 undercutting Greyhound's prices by $4 to $8. The concept was partially encouraged by a Greyhound bus driver
Bus driver
A bus driver, bus operator or omnibus driver is a person who drives buses professionally. Bus drivers typically drive their vehicles between bus stations or stops. They often drop off and pick up passengers on a predetermined route schedule. In British English a different term, coach drivers, is...
's strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
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
Commission (remuneration)
The payment of commission as remuneration for services rendered or products sold is a common way to reward sales people. Payments often will be calculated on the basis of a percentage of the goods sold...
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
Price war
Price war is a term used in economic sector to indicate a state of intense competitive rivalry accompanied by a multi-lateral series of price reduction. One competitor will lower its price, then others will lower their prices to match. If one of them reduces their price again, a new round of...
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
Eastern Illinois University
Eastern Illinois University is a state university located in Charleston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher's college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradually expanded into a comprehensive university with a...
in Charleston, IL to its route structure in 1985. Illinois State University was served from 1989-1993 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 UniversityPurdue UniversityPurdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...
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 Iowa
Competition
Suburban Express currently provides an alternative to the following carriers:- Champaign-Urbana: GreyhoundGreyhound LinesGreyhound Lines, Inc., based in Dallas, Texas, is an intercity common carrier of passengers by bus serving over 3,700 destinations in the United States, Canada and Mexico, operating under the well-known logo of a leaping greyhound. It was founded in Hibbing, Minnesota, USA, in 1914 and...
, LEX, Megabus, AmtrakAmtrakThe National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
and various airlines operating out of University of Illinois Willard AirportUniversity of Illinois Willard AirportUniversity of Illinois Willard Airport is an airport owned and operated by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign located south of Savoy in Tolono Township, Champaign County, Illinois. It serves the greater Champaign-Urbana Metropolitan Area in East Central Illinois... - Eastern Illinois University: EIU bus service, which runs sporadically.
- University of Iowa: Burlington TrailwaysBurlington TrailwaysBurlington Trailways is an inter-city bus company based in West Burlington, Iowa.Burlington Trailways was founded in 1929 as the Burlington Transportation Company, a subsidiary of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad...
, GreyhoundGreyhound LinesGreyhound Lines, Inc., based in Dallas, Texas, is an intercity common carrier of passengers by bus serving over 3,700 destinations in the United States, Canada and Mexico, operating under the well-known logo of a leaping greyhound. It was founded in Hibbing, Minnesota, USA, in 1914 and...
.
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.)