A new ground transportation service between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg hopes to put some pizzazz back into Pennsylvania travel.The Steel City Flyer, a business class bus service featuring perks like wi-fi, movies, reserved seating, and an attendant, will begin operation on Nov. 24th, just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday. The three businessmen behind the concept see connecting with rail lines as a perfect response to the lack of US Airways flights.
“Business class buses currently run up and down the east coast but nobody is running with the idea of hooking it up with Amtrak,” says George DeBolt, owner of DeBolt Unlimited Travel in Homestead. DeBolt partnered with longtime friends Robert A. Pietrandrea, president of Railroad Development Corp., and Henry Posner, chairman of RDC. “The challenge is to create a service that’s attractive enough to get people out of their cars—like the golden days of air travel.”
A one-way ticket costs $69 for the three and one-half hour trip to the Harrisburg Transportation Center. Passengers can connect with rail services to New York, Trenton and Philadelphia and joint fares and ticketing options will be announced soon. If the intermodal model is successful, other markets may be added.
“The Flyer is the most fuel efficient mode of travel,” DeBolt adds. “We’re reducing congestion on the road and for every gallon of diesel fuel, we get 280 passenger miles, far more than a plane, train or car.”
Writer: Deb Smit, Pop City
Source: George DeBolt, Steel City Flyer
Image courtesy Steel City Flyer
