Megabus.com -- a company that aims to rejuvenate bus travel with low fares and a no-frills business model -- will next month begin offering bus service in Birmingham to Atlanta and Memphis.

Megabus.com, a subsidiary of Coach USA, will today announce Atlanta as a new hub, allowing 11 new cities to be added to the 72 it already serves.

"As Americans continue to look for ways to stretch their income, we look forward to providing safe, convenient and affordable travel to Birmingham-area residents," Dale Moser, president and chief operations officer of Megabus.com, said in a statement.

Beginning Nov. 16, there will be three daily departures from Birmingham to Atlanta and another three to Memphis. Trips will depart from the east side of 18th Street North, between Morris Avenue and First Avenue North. In downtown Atlanta, the pick-up and drop-off location will be the curbside bus stop by the MARTA Civic Center station. There will be three daily return trips from each city as well.

The company also is adding Montgomery and Mobile, according to Megabus.com director Edward Hodgson.

Other new cities in the Southeast include Charlotte, Chattanooga, Orlando and Jacksonville, Fla. Fares begin as cheap as $1 and rise closer to the departure date. A ticket from Buffalo, N.Y., to Toronto booked one week in advance can cost as little as $17, according to the company's website. Prices for Southeastern cities haven't been fully determined yet, Hodgson said.

"I think we've seen such an enormous demand from our other hubs we've been infusing in the Northwest, and this prompted us to extend our reach," he said.

Greyhound Lines LLC already operates in Birmingham to and from Memphis and Atlanta. A round-trip fare from that company from Birmingham to Memphis leaving Oct. 31 and returning Nov. 3 starts at $103.50.

To celebrate the expansion, there will be 10,000 free seats available between Atlanta and the other 11 cities. The free trips can be booked beginning today and are available for use between Nov. 16 and Dec. 16. To book a free seat, Megabus.com says to use promotion code ATL10K.

The company's buses are equipped with free Wi-Fi, power outlets and restrooms. To hold down costs, the company doesn't operate terminals, and customers typically board curbside or in a parking lot.

Megabus.com was founded in November 2006 and has had 13 million travelers. It's been so successful that Greyhound teamed up with Northeastern bus company Peter Pan to form BoltBus, which has a similar business model.

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