More than 25,000 tickets have been sold to date for the Megabus, said Dale Moser, president and Chief Operating Officer of Coach USA, a subsidiary of Megabus.com.

All bookings for Megabus are made online at the company's Web site. Seats sell for as little as $1 and as much $11, Moser said.

"There's guaranteed service, it's more economical and it gets you from A to B," Moser said.

With gas prices on the rise and rising above the $3 per gallon mark in some areas, Moser said Megabus has started to see an increase in ridership.

"People are ready to throw down the gauntlet," he said. "After Hurricane Katrina, people began changing their lifestyles and realized they can't keep putting $65 worth of fuel into their SUVs."

But Marc Magliari, a spokesman for Amtrak, said the company is not worried about losing riders to Megabus.

"Their product is different than ours," Magliari said. "We have a 90 percent reliability of being on time, while their service depends on how Interstate 94 is operating that day."

Magliari said Amtrak is more flexible in terms of payment and provides riders with a better comfort level than they'd find on the Megabus.

Moser said Megabus' express service sets it apart from Greyhound buses which make frequent stops.

"It's just like getting in your car and driving to Chicago," he said.

Anna Folmnsbee, a spokeswoman for Greyhound, said the bus company always welcomes competition and provides a different type of service than Megabus.

"Most of our customers buy walk-up tickets, which you can't do with Megabus," Folmnsbee said.

Folmnsbee said Greyhound also offers a more comprehensive schedule than Megabus.

Moser said the Megabus concept started in the United Kingdom three years ago, where the company experimented with demographic needs before selecting Chicago as the bus system's North American hub.

"Chicago fit the demographical needs for alternative transportation with a population of eight million people and branching out to cities with populations of one million," Moser said.

Megabus provides services to nearby cities such as Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Minn., St. Louis, Detroit, Cincinnati and Cleveland.

As the parent of a college student, Moser said he is always looking for alternative, safe and reliable forms of transportation for his child to take home.

In the United Kingdom, the largest users have been retirees and people under the age of 30.

"This is because the service is affordable for people on a tight budget and requires the Internet, and both of those groups are Internet-savvy," Moser said.

"Megabus is more economical and is a better alternative."

College of Health Sciences sophomore Heather Bergstrom said she would definitely consider taking the Megabus to Chicago.

"It's a lot cheaper than the train, which costs almost $50 for a round-trip ticket from Milwaukee to Chicago," she said.

Ryan Hayes, College of Health Sciences sophomore, has a car on campus, but said he would take Megabus to Chicago because it would be cheaper than paying for gas.

"It's also a safe alternative for people who want to drink and go to Chicago," Hayes said.