USA Today Names Indian Trails One of America’s 10Best Bus Companies

USA Today recently conducted a nationwide “10Best Readers’ Choice Awards” contest to choose the 10 Best Bus Services in America for 2024—and Michigan’s own Indian Trails has been recognized as one of the best! 

“These 10 bus companies are selected by an expert panel and voted by readers as the best in the U.S.,” says USA Today. No business ever pays to be listed. After four weeks of voting by readers, the contest closes and winners are announced. Read more about the 10Best Bus Services here. 

Readers voted Indian Trails #3 of the 10Best, above such well-known companies as Megabus, Greyhound, and FlixBus. Also, of the 148 private regular route and charter bus companies in Michigan, Indian Trails is the only one to make the 10Best list. Moreover, Indian Trails is one of some 6,000 scheduled and chartered bus companies in the U.S. 

“Generations of Indian Trails employees truly earned this honor by operating a top-notch bus transportation company for more than 114 consecutive years,” says Chad Cushman, president and CEO. “We must also thank the nearly 1 million loyal passengers who rely on us each year to carry them safely to their destinations, as well as the partner agencies—the Michigan Dept. of Transportation and Wisconsin Dept. of Transportation—who support our routes connecting rural communities.” 

Why did USA Today readers choose Indian Trails as one of the top 10 the bus companies in the nation? Likely, it’s because of the same attributes that appeal to passengers:

• Indian Trails—a 114-year-old, family-owned company based in Owosso, Mich.—connects with 80 towns throughout Michigan and into Wisconsin and Minnesota, as well as with airports, Amtrak, and the entire national transportation network. Each year, it enables hundreds of thousands of state residents to access the world, and hundreds of thousands of visitors to access Michigan.

• Indian Trail’s popular airport service—Michigan Flyer—makes frequent, daily roundtrips between East Lansing, Brighton, Ann Arbor, and Detroit Metro Airport. In the process, it connects Michigan’s two largest universities, Michigan State and the University of Michigan. Since 2006, its deluxe motorcoaches have carried more than 2.5 million passengers while achieving an extraordinary 98 percent on-time rate.

• With safe driving as a top priority, Indian Trails developed and operates its own five-week intensive training program for all new drivers, which literally helped set the standard for Federal Highway Administration’s “Model Curriculum for Motorcoach Drivers.”

• Indian Trails deploys Michigan's newest and largest fleet of motorcoaches. The coaches are equipped with safety features including antilock brakes, automatic traction control to aid drivers in bad weather, GPS tracking, three-point seatbelts for passengers, an engine fire-suppression system, camera system, and a front-kneeling suspension to help passengers get on or off.

• The comfort features of Indian Trails’ luxury coaches rival those of an airline’s business class: Reclining seats with headrests and footrests, individual overhead climate controls and reading lamps, outlets for charging mobile devices, free WiFi, a DVD player with HD color monitors and a premium sound system, on-board lavatory, overhead storage racks, and abundant space for luggage.

• Indian Trails’ eco-friendly motorcoaches also exceed EPA standards with engine technology that cuts exhaust pollutants to near zero while achieving 240 passenger miles per gallon.

   

Indian Trails, Inc.—which has served as Michigan’s premier, family-owned, inter-city motorcoach carrier for 114 years, and is based in Owosso, Mich.—operates one of the largest and newest fleets of deluxe motorcoaches in Michigan. In addition to its daily scheduled routes throughout Michigan and into Wisconsin and Minnesota, its services include charters, tours, shuttles, and airport transfers. 

News media contacts: 
Mark Holoweiko or Anne Harcus 
Stony Point Communications, Inc. 
517-339-0123