FlixBus planning to open new routes in the United States
FlixBus planning to expand its long-distance bus service to the United States in 2018. The first base would be set up in Los Angeles. The biggest competitors in the area, are Greyhound and Megabus.
“There is a significant shift in the American transport market at the moment. Public transportation and sustainable travel is becoming more important,” FlixBus founder and manager Andre Schwaemmlein said in a statement.
FlixBus became a major player on European long-distance routes after Germany liberalised the market for inter-city bus services in 2013.
It survived a fierce price war among new market entrants to boost its market share in Germany to more than 90 percent, making its bright green coaches a common sight on German motorways. It does not own any of the buses but rather works with local and regional partners.
In the United States, Flixbus would compete with companies such as Megabus, operated by Britain’s Stagecoach Group, which launched in the United States in 2006, and Greyhound bus line.
FlixBus said it had already sent a small team to Los Angeles to start setting up a base for its U.S. business, though it was not yet clear when and on which routes it would start its bus service there.
