In the interstate transportation of passengers in Brazil, there is a strong competition between bus and airplane for some routes, especially if there is not a big difference in the fare of the two modes. This study aims to examine the competition between these transportation modes in the metropolitan area of Belo Horizonte. It uses a multiple regression model that considers the restriction at the Pampulha airport (flight transfer from Pampulha to Confins). Some factors affecting the increase (or decrease) of bus passengers were analyzed, such as the population income and the competition with air travel. These results can be used by bus operators as a study base on how to increase their business' attractiveness. To assist operators with the bus fare pricing, the intermodal cross-elasticity was estimated besides the bus fare price elasticity itself. The results show that operators lose about 1.4% of bus passengers as they increase the fare in 1%.
bus; competition; interstate transportation; passengers