Coach USA is rolling out a $1 fare to ride a double-decker bus between lots of cities on the East Coast, Midwest and Canada. I checked their website megabus.com and it's easy to find and book the fares. I could find $1 fares from New York to DC or Boston. Or Chicago to Milwaukee.

Coach, which is a subsidiary of Stagecoach Group, started two years ago in Chicago and last month celebrated their millionth customer. They picked up another big hub in New York this year that reaches Toronto. Unfortunately there are no cross-over cities (like a Columbus or Pittsburgh) where an ambitious and cheap traveler could connect the two hubs. Megabus also tried California, but didn't get enough riders so they are withdrawing the service. The Megabus model first started in Scotland in 2004 and has spread across Britain since. The buses have wifi and got rave reviews from this Los Angeles Times traveler.

What's different about megabus.com is it's fare structure. The $1 fare (plus 50 cent booking fee) is easy to find if you book far enough in advance. As the seats are snapped up and the date approached, the prices get higher. Even their regular fares are pretty good: From New York I could go to Toronto for $85 tomorrow, $25 in July or $15 in September. Amtrak is $92 and takes 12 hours instead of 10. Greyhound's regular fare is $96, takes 12 hours and the U.S. Greyhound site wouldn't even let me look up the fare. But, it looks like Greyhound Canada is responding to the competition: they offer Greyhound Neon (for New York to Ontario) for "as low as $1" and include wifi.

More about great bus fares and services:

Boltbus

Buses wired to serve

With real estate markets deflated, home marketing professionals are actively seeking new and effective ways to help sell distressed and foreclosed properties. One concept that is gaining ground is the foreclosed home bus tour. Potential home buyers have taken well to the concept. So well, in fact, that they're even willing to pay a small fee for the service.

Foreclosed home bus tours are taking root in regions as diverse as California, Phoenix and Detroit. In a report from the Associated Press about one of Florida's foreclosed home bus tours, it stated: "A cost of $45 per person or $65 per couple covered the tour, house information, teaching sessions, a continental breakfast and lunch at Applebee's. Everyone on the bus said the fee was worth it."

The concept has many potential benefits. It can multiply the effectiveness of real estate agents in exposing properties to potential buyers and can provide home shoppers with an atmosphere that is both fun and relaxed. The diversity of clientele on the tours allows for a broader pattern of thought for each individual home shopper by exposing them to the observations and opinions of their home tour companions.

Janice Ziesig, owner of Z House Realty Group in Orlando, told Associated Press: "It's turning out just the way it's supposed to. We wanted to do something different. We wanted to teach people. People are interested. It gets people to call."

This just goes to show that even in a depressed home-selling market such as the one we have now, the best of the real estate agents will nearly always find a way to get the job done.

One of the advantages of living in a big city is the likelihood of finding cheap transportation options. For New Yorkers and D.C. residents, BoltBus offers the lowest cost travel I've ever seen.

The company offers express service between the two cities for only $1 (plus a booking fee), pre-purchased. Walk ups pay more, around 30%. Customers board/depart from either 33rd and 7th or Canal and 6th Ave. in NYC. In D.C. 11th and G St. NW, by the metro center, is the only stop.

If you're thinking of the typical city bus, free your mind. BoltBus offers free wireless Wi-Fi and power plugs on its eight daily trips. It also promises more legroom than customary. Seating is on the Southwest group model, so if you don't want to sit next to the muttering Vietnam vet with the bush jacket, buy your ticket early so you have options.

Passengers are permitted one large bag, and if there is space, can even bring a bicycle or golf bag. Match that, airlines!

The company has recently announced it is adding a route to Boston, so Beantowners are in for a price break as well.

As the airlines struggle, a number of these bus companies are vying to serve the plane-shy public. For trips of under eight hours, I'd just as soon ride the road as stand in the security line at the airport wondering if my flight was going to be canceled.

For those in the Midwest, MegaBus offers a similar service.

thanks to Gadling