FlixBus offers new connections from Lansing to Muskegon, Detroit
LANSING — European-based FlixBus is expanding routes across Michigan with stops in Muskegon and Lansing.
The company, which already has routes from Detroit to Grand Rapids, is adding service to Muskegon with stops in Lansing, Grand Rapids (downtown) and Grand Rapids east, the company said in a press release.
It's the second expansion into the Lansing market for a bus company this year.
Lansing-area customers can purchase tickets to Detroit with prices starting at $21.99, the company said. East Lansing to Muskegon tickets start at $30.99.
The local stop is in the Burger King parking lot, 3125 E. Saginaw St., just north of the Frandor shopping center. Company officials said buses stop near the sidewalk and grass median.
The Muskegon route began April 20.
The Muskegon line runs five days per week (excluding Tuesdays and Wednesdays). Morning trips leave from Detroit at 10 a.m. on service days and afternoon return trips depart from Grand Rapids at 3:20 p.m.
Tickets for Detroit-Muskegon trips at $29.99. Tickets are available at FlixBus.com or the FlixBusapp.
Stops for the Flixbus do not directly correspond to established bus stops for Capital Area Transportation Agency, which operates two bus stops in the center of the Frandor parking lot. CATA also has stops at five other locations along the center's perimeter: in front of the Rite Aid on East Saginaw Street, at the intersection of Clippert Street and Vine Street, down Clippert Street next to the former Sears property, and two are next to SkyVue apartments on East Michigan Avenue.
FlixBus was founded in Germany in 2013 and, according to the company, has expanded to become Europe's largest bus company. FlixBus also operates train routes and now is expanding to the U.S.
New Jersey-based Megabus and Owosso-based Indian Trails recently announced a partnership that will connect Lansing and 20 other cities. Those connections went into effect April 3.
The Megabus routes, operated under Indian Trails' branding, operate out of CATA's Intermodal Downtown station on South Grand Avenue in Lansing. Greyhound also operates from CATA's downtown location.
Megabus' announcement marked the company's return to the market. The company had served the Lansing region from East Lansing for about five years before pulling out of Michigan in early 2017.
Other bus carriers serving the area include the Michigan Flyer, operated by Indian Trails, which offers nine daily routes from East Lansing (from the Marriott Hotel, 300 M.A.C. Ave.), Brighton, Ann Arbor and both terminals at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: FlixBus announces expansion into Lansing market
