In a press release yesterday, the ultra-low-fare bus service Megabus announced that it will be adding eight new routes nationwide on August 1, bringing the total Cleveland daily departures and arrivals to 11. To accommodate the increased traffic, Megabus will be changing its Cleveland pickup location from W. 3rd St. to the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Transit Center on E. 22nd and Prospect. Cleveland is 'bout to become a straight-up hub.

One obvious upgrade is the daily trip to Columbus, which was formerly unavailable. The Megabus will leave at 2:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. every day for Cbus (with return trips at 1:45 a.m./p.m.) and will take three hours on the nose.

Arrivals and departures will all be added at Erie, Pa., and Buffalo, N.Y. as well. If you're heading south, connections will be available to Knoxville and Chattanooga, Tenn., Lexington, Ky., and Atlanta. The trip to Atlanta, by the way, which takes 15-16 hours (barring delays) and costs about $50 on weekdays, is roughly 1/10 the cost of flying.