New bus service from Atlanta to Florida beaches launches next month - Atlanta Beach Bus Express (Columbus: rent)

[LynnHarris1]

The bus company has been operating in Atlanta since 2016, offering a North Georgia wine country tour and five-hour sightseeing tour of the city. They plan to operate the round-trip service to Florida, covering about 300 miles each way, until Halloween this year. Trips cost $85 per person each way.

Phone outlets are included under each reclining seat, and the buses do have Wi-Fi. Face masks are recommended but not required ..."

https://atlanta.urbanize.city/post/n...anama-city-atl

Source: Urbanize Atlanta

[bethereds82]

Thanks for sharing. Always good to have options for locals to visit this part of Florida.

$85 one way would be over $680 for a family of four round trip. I’m assuming they’re targeting younger beach goers to PCB instead of larger families but nevertheless this is good news.

[arjay57]

Maybe I will give my friend a ticket for his birthday. $85 is not all that much.

[seussie]

Originally Posted by bethereds82

Thanks for sharing. Always good to have options for locals to visit this part of Florida.

$85 one way would be over $680 for a family of four round trip. I’m assuming they’re targeting younger beach goers to PCB instead of larger families but nevertheless this is good news.

Yeah, which is why everyone on Atlanta's Reddit page see it as a massive joke for anyone outside a younger or carless demographic. They also mentioned how the parking to load is $10 per day, so this is likely to be a party or trashy way to PCB. Since Megabus is never going to do it, there's space for a new business at least.

[cwkimbro]

Operating 5 days a week, they are probably looking for a passenger load of 100/week round-trp to make this work.

It's not an option for the masses, but there might be a small niche for it and their consumer demand to warrant the service might be small enough. I'll be curious to see how well it does or not.

Over the last 10-15 years if one went to the Alabama gulf coast, where my family frequents, I probably would've used it two maybe 3 times, one-way only. Not because I'd see this as my normal way to the beach, but because we have travel with a large family and I can't always match my work-travel schedule with the vacation dates we set. Being at the airport could be a potential plus for me (assuming the Park and ride lets you use their shuttle).

Having to park extra cars at the destination is a real problem, especially when it's only needed for a one-way trip for one person.

What I do find interesting is the choice to depart from a park N Fly. There is a small, but growing, niche for a small number of carless Yuppies that might want to hold onto to some of the advantages of a car-owning lifestyle, like being able to drive 5-6 hours to the Beach relatively affordably. Many would fly to to FLL/Miami or rent a car, but this could be an affordable option for that small niche. It would usually be groups of 1 or 2 people. But to tap into that market a park N Fly isn't exactly the best starting location.

There is also a narrow consumer base that can't drive for some reason or another, like lost driving privileges or vision problems.

At $170/round trip + $30-$50 in Ubers to get to a final destination + $30-$200 in local transportation expenses (depending on use/choice) at the final destination, I don't see this being main stream. I also don't see it being the party bus for younger people. I would think they'd cut costs and pile into a car with friends as the cheapest transportation option. This gets pricey too, but it can be cheaper than flying somewhere. However, it's not really much cheaper than renting a car for a week either.

MegaBus stops at Daytona City Beach, but they have the benefit of stopping at Jacksonville and Orlando on the same route. They do not need a large passenger load at Daytona Beach alone each day to make that work for them.

If this does actually work out, I'm surprised Megabus doesn't do it. They could find more passengers on their network and could benefit from a stop in Columbus. This is what leaves me to be more skeptical, than optimistic.

[RubberBall]

Hopefully, the bus will stop in Cottondale so passengers can get off and buy some boiled peanuts.