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ATLANTIC CITY - Increased competition is bringing upgraded amenities such as Wi-Fi service and power outlets to passengers of Greyhound's Atlantic City-New York City bus route, its busiest in the nation.

Maureen Richmond, Greyhound Lines spokeswoman, said most buses on the company's Lucky Streak service are offering wireless Internet access, increased leg room, outlets to plug in computers, and priority boarding.

"Lucky Streak service is Greyhound's most popular U.S. route, transporting more than 1.6 million people annually," Richmond said. "No wonder we're increasing the amenities there."

Buses depart every half-hour through most of the day on both ends of the route, stopping at each of the eight casinos along the Boardwalk.

Lucky Streak riders have noticed the new features, but so far they have made light use of them. "I used it one time to recharge my cell phone," Michelle Vasquez, of Brooklyn, N.Y., said Tuesday as she waited at the bus terminal at Bally's Atlantic City. "I'm not that into technology."

Audrey Silverman, also of Brooklyn, said she noticed the addition of the capability but has yet to use it. She said going online would be great for the two-hour ride, but she has a desktop computer and is not sure it would be worth the trouble of a laptop or netbook.

The improved amenities blunt an advantage that a relatively new and so far small competitor has been using to distinguish its service.

Megabus.com, a subsidiary of Stagecoach Group in Britain, has made wireless Internet access and power outlets crucial elements of its marketing since entering the U.S. in 2006.

In 2008, Megabus began including Atlantic City in its predominantly Northeast service, with buses every half-hour from 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. out of New York.

But Megabus trips to and from Atlantic City are not likely to have the upgrades yet, according to Edward Hodgson, director of Megabus in New York.

"On the Atlantic City-New York route, we partner with Academy Bus Lines," which already had established the route, Hodgson said. "We sell some seats on the Megabus online site, but we don't operate directly ourselves. I don't believe Academy buses have Wi-Fi."

Megabus also competes on price by doing its booking online and picking up curbside rather than at terminals, he said. From 2008 to 2009, the Megabus unit of Stagecoach was able to increase revenues 30 percent to $201 million for the six months ending in October. But with a slow economy and unemployment reducing bus customers, the revenue growth came at a cost, with Megabus' loss for the period deepening to 700,000 British pounds from 400,000 pounds the year before.

In 2008, Greyhound Lines started BoltBus to compete directly with Megabus. Both target high-volume routes heavy with commuters, offer upgraded amenities and promote fares as low as $1 - but available to as few as one of the passengers on the bus.

BoltBus, operated as a partnership with Peter Pan Bus Lines, serves the Northeast but not Atlantic City, Richmond said. Greyhound Lines, a subsidiary of Britain's FirstGroup Plc, also has felt the effects of the U.S. recession. In 2009, Greyhound had revenues of $493 million, down from $633 million in 2008. Greyhound cut 1,845 jobs in the first half of its fiscal 2009, according to a company report. The company says that leaves it with about 10,000 employees. In the U.S., Megabus has 320 employees, spokeswoman Amanda Mullin said.

Greyhound is the only provider of national scheduled intercity bus services, transporting about 22 million people in 2009.

Hodgson said Megabus in January and February will give its Midwest routes what all of those in the Northeast already had: Wi-Fi and power outlets on all buses.

Contact Kevin Post:

609-272-7250

KPost@pressofac.com

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