Houston-area residents could soon have another travel option for getting around the region as well as the state.
Texas-based GOGO Charters, which began renting out charter buses in major U.S. cities in 2012, says it plans to launch scheduled daily bus service this year to and from Houston as well as several other cities in the state. There are planned routes between Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth as well as Houston and San Antonio – with in-between stops in Katy and The Woodlands – and plans for bus routes along the Interstate 35 corridor between Dallas-Fort Worth and San Antonio as well as to and from Corpus Christi.
A spokesperson for GOGO Charters, which is headquartered in San Antonio, said Texas will be a testing ground for the new service, which is being geared toward business professionals and groups who want to travel together. The idea is to provide an alternative to airline, rail and personal vehicle travel as well as existing bus services, according to the spokesperson.
“There’s a need we’re seeing in the market, and we’re trying to fill that void with this service,” the spokesperson said. “Also knowing how big Texas is for these large events – conferences, sporting events, the World Cup’s coming next summer – we’re putting these steps in motion to be in a very good spot ahead of the World Cup and all these other events.”
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Along with METRO, the Houston area’s public transit provider that operates bus services within the region, there are four private operators that offer intercity bus services to and from Houston. Greyhound and FlixBus are the more affordable options, while RedCoach and Vonlane bill themselves as “luxury” operators.
Megabus previously offered interstate bus services in Houston and Texas before suspending those operations last August after its parent company filed for bankruptcy.
The spokesperson for GOGO Charters said it’s bus routes – slated to launch this spring or summer – will be “affordable” while also having attractive amenities such as reclining leather seats, on-board WiFi and restrooms and, in some cases, food and drink service. All the buses in the fleet will be fewer than 5 years old, the spokesperson said.
The starting fare for shorter trips, such as from Houston to the nearby suburbs of Katy or The Woodlands, will be $10, according to the GOGO Charters spokesperson, who declined to provide more specifics on prices. More details about daily bus schedules and station locations, along with pet and luggage restrictions, also will be forthcoming, the spokesperson said.
GOGO Charters customers can use a mobile app to purchase tickets and receive trip updates.