Reconnecting the Bus Industry in 2022
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by Larry Plachno
Indications suggest that 2022 will see the bus industry reconnecting again. Bus tours are coming back nicely, CERTS funding has put coaches back on the road again and the Infrastructure Act will be helping transit operators. This photo of a Prevost H3-45 was taken near Hoover Dam. PREVOST.
ur primary goal for 2022 here at N ATIONAL B US T RADER is to help reconnect the bus industry. Much time and effort has already been put into this by several bus people; we simply need to help move it along. One obvious objective is to get the bus industry back working again. Another aim is to avoid letting the pandemic turn into a recession.
Several of the experts are suggesting that the pandemic is essentially over in many respects. Covid is not going to go away tomorrow, it may take years. Meanwhile, we may well end up getting an annual Covid shot just like an annual flu shot and an occasional pneumonia or tetanus shot. We may have to live with taking extra precautions with masks, washing hands and sanitizers for a while. However, this may also help in reducing the incidence of the common cold, flu and other communicable illnesses. We humans have an impressive record of being able to adapt to new and different things and Covid may well be another item added to our list. 22 • National Bus Trader / February, 2022
How do we reconnect and try to move back toward normal? What might be one of the best suggestions came from President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his 1933 inaugural address when he said “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” It was on Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929 that the stock market crashed, plunging the United States, and other countries, into a recession. What many people realized was that the fear of taking action and moving ahead was prolonging the recession. What was needed was to set aside the fear and simply move ahead.
We have already seen this in the bus industry. Those who have set aside their fear to move ahead and reconnect have been rewarded with success. Congratulations and a pat on the back goes to the bus tour segment of the industry for leading the way in reconnecting. Many of the tour planners went back to planning tours – actually, a few never stopped. Some of the bus tour stops including convention and visitor bureaus, attractions, tourist railroads and others began inviting the bus tours to come. The riders bought the tour tickets and got
on the buses. The result has been success and substantial progress in bringing this part of the industry back to normal.
Perhaps next in reconnecting has been the coach operators. Their own determination to get back in operation was buoyed up by some CERTS funding. As a result many buses are back on the road again. Many, if not most, scheduled routes are back in operation and the charter market is starting to grow again.
I would be remiss if I did not mention progress in the transit segment. The availability of government funding has prompted orders for new transit buses. Many of these new buses have battery-electric or hydrogen fuel cell power. This provides some welcome income for the bus builders.
The recently-passed Infrastructure Act will also be good for the bus industry. Money will be available for converting school bus fleets to battery-electric power. Transit operations will be in line for additional funding that will be positive for the industry. In addi-
