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A bus of Boltbus in an undated file photo. Many Americans have abandoned their love of getting behind the wheel during the last year, and opted to hop on buses instead, according to a study released this week.
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Many Americans have abandoned their love of getting behind the wheel during the last year, and opted to hop on buses instead, according to a study released this week.
Inter-city bus service jumped 9.8 percent between the fourth quarters of 2007 and 2008, the highest growth rate in more than 40 years.
"The growth in intercity bus traffic is being driven by a number of factors, chiefly the spiking price of fuel over the past year," said Joseph Schwieterman, professor of public service and director of the Chaddick Institute, who directed the study, released on Monday.
"The basic economic efficiencies of bus travel are proving to be extremely attractive in this difficult economic climate," he said.
The revival of downtown districts and a growing acceptance of bus travel among younger travelers are also partly responsible for the U.S. bus renaissance, the study found.
The study includes all arrivals and departures of all conventional intercity bus companies, such as Greyhound Lines and Continental Trailways, as well as curbside bus operators, but not commuter-bus operators.
Much of the growth was driven by two companies, Megabus and Boltbus, a joint venture of the Greyhound and Peter Pan bus companies, which started curbside pick-up service in northeastern states in spring 2007.
The two companies offer high-frequency service between major U.S. cities and wireless Internet service on board.
Growth in passengers choosing to take the bus has also had an environmental impact. Over the past year, bus route growth has reduced carbon dioxide emissions by an estimated 36,000 tons and 3.48 million gallons of fuel, according to the study.
The number of Americans who traveled by car dipped 3.3 percent in the first eight months of 2008.
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(Agencies)
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本周公布的一項調查顯示，在過去一年中，很多美國人“忍痛割愛“，以乘公共汽車代替開車出行。
今年第四季度，美國城市間公交客運量比去年同期增長了9.8%，漲幅為40多年來最高。
查迪克研究所負責人、指導該研究的公共服務學教授約瑟夫?施韋特曼說：“公交客運量的增大有很多原因，主要原因是去年油價飆升。”
他說：“事實證明，在經濟困難時期，乘公共汽車出行的基本經濟效率還是具有很大吸引力的。”
此外，調查發現，市區的復蘇和越來越多的年輕人選擇乘車出行也是目前公交客運量增長的部分原因。
該調查的主要對象包括“灰狗長途汽車公司”和“大陸客運公司”等美國所有老牌長途汽車公司以及經營搭車業務的客運公司，但不包括通勤班車公司。
經過調查這些公司所有班車的出發和抵達情況，調查人員發現，其中Megabus和Boltbus兩家公司的客運量最大。Boltbus是”灰狗“和Peter Pan長途汽車公司的合資公司，從去年春季開始在美國東北部的一些州經營搭車業務。
這兩家公司主要經營大城市間的客運業務，車次頻繁，而且提供車內無線上網服務。
選擇乘車出行的人增多對環境也有一定的好處。由于公交路線的增多，去年二氧化碳排放量減少了約3.6萬噸，燃油消耗量減少了348萬加侖。
今年前八個月，美國開車出行的人減少了3.3%。
（英語點津姍姍編輯）
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