First off, a call to the moderator(s) on this forum. I apologize in advance if I'm putting this thread in the wrong place. Please redirect it as necessary.

As fuel prices rise (or will, eventually), and pressure on airlines to create more cost-effective means of travel increases, I'm wondering whether airlines might offer increased codeshare connections with rail and bus services. In Europe, this is starting to become common, with Air France/KLM looking at ways to use alternate sources of transport for getting passengers to/from hubs efficiently.

In the US, our rail system is terrible, but with our extensive highway network, we have more potential for facilitating bus connections. Although our geography is not as compact as that of Europe, there are arguably opportunities for airlines to replace very short flights with alternate forms of transport, such as buses.

Flights of less than 120 miles are common to many large hubs, and while the yields are probably quite high, so too must the CASM. Regional jets, which are more fuel-intensive on a per passenger basis, are used on many of these flights, which makes no sense.

Buses could offer a way to improve reliability to nearby markets without significantly sacrificing speed. Aircraft of any size are prone to mechanical problems, as well as susceptible to weather and air traffic control delays. Buses, while susceptible to the first two, are arguably less so, and can still operate even during thunderstorms and other severe weather conditions.

One of the first experiments in rectifying this problem is currently being quietly conducted by Continental (though I'm not sure for how long it has been going on). Continental has replaced its flights from Allentown, PA to Newark with three daily buses, timed to help facilitate connections at the facility. (Continental, however, has maintained flight operations at ABE, with several daily flights to Cleveland).

Arguably, this idea could not merely be spread to smaller markets. Travel between major cities (such as Milwaukee and Chicago or Philadelphia and New York City,) where currently, flight connections are required to reach long-haul flights could be made much cheaper with such a proposal.

Is this a good idea? Has anyone on this forum taken Continental's bus service?

If airlines like Continental decided to replace more of their very short flights with buses, would you travel on them?

If the bus service was as convenient as possible (one which took passengers directly to a special boarding gate for security screening and that tagged bags before bus departure) would that make it more attractive, or are buses simply too dirty/crowded/uncomfortable/slow for such a trip?