When President Ronald Reagan signed the Bus Regulatory Reform Act into law in 1982, the moment barely made national headlines. But inside the motorcoach industry, it was nothing short of revolutionary.
For decades, intercity bus routes had been governed by a maze of federal and state regulations. The Interstate Commerce Commission dictated who could operate where, at what price, and on what schedule. Starting a new service required costly hearings, legal filings, and months of delay. Small, family-owned carriers found it nearly impossible to compete with giants like Greyhound and Trailways. The system was stable—but it was stagnant.
The 1982 reform act changed all that. It “scaled down and simplified an accumulation of government regulations dating back nearly 50 years,” the American Bus Association reported. Within 18 months, the ICC had issued new operating authority to more than 1,800 companies—most of them newcomers focused on tours and charters. “Opportunities abounded in the re-invented motorcoach market,” one ABA publication stated.
It was a moment of liberation and risk in equal measure. Suddenly, the highway was open to entrepreneurs. Veterans of big carriers started their own fleets. Local business owners purchased a single coach and began serving school trips, church groups, and community tours. Bus travel became personal again—adaptable, affordable, and community-rooted.
ABA, led at the time by President Arthur Lewis, recognized that the association’s role had to evolve just as fast. Under Lewis, ABA had already transformed from a regulatory advocacy group into a tourism and travel powerhouse. Now, it would become a bridge between newly independent operators and the broader travel economy.
That transformation began with Marketplace, launched in 1979 but reimagined in the wake of deregulation as a must-attend event for the emerging generation of charter and tour operators. At Marketplace, carriers could meet face-to-face with destination marketers, attractions, and hotel representatives, booking an entire season’s worth of trips in a single week. “The bus industry doesn’t just move people anymore,” one attendee quipped in the early years. “It moves ideas.”
Those ideas reshaped American tourism. Themed trips—fall foliage tours, winery weekends, baseball stadium circuits—became industry staples. Operators designed customized experiences for schools, senior centers, and civic groups. For millions of Americans, the motorcoach became a passport to discovery.
ABA helped professionalize the boom. The association launched safety councils, provided business education, and published templates for tour planning and insurance. It also strengthened partnerships with travel associations, ensuring motorcoaches had a seat at the table in the growing leisure travel sector.
By the 1990s, the deregulated market had matured into a thriving ecosystem. Some carriers consolidated and grew into regional networks; others specialized in niche experiences. Meanwhile, ABA adapted again, championing safety certification programs and fostering closer ties between bus operators and destination marketing organizations.
Today, the legacy of deregulation lives on in every independent carrier logo painted on a highway-bound coach. Many of the industry’s leading companies—still family-owned—trace their origins back to that burst of entrepreneurial freedom in the early 1980s.
In hindsight, deregulation didn’t dismantle the bus industry—it democratized it. It replaced bureaucracy with creativity and gave thousands of small business owners a chance to compete. Four decades later, it’s clear that the road Reagan opened in 1982 still leads to opportunity.
Ben H. Rome is director of communications and brand for the American Bus Association.
To learn more about the history of the American Bus Association and how it has transformed the motorcoach industry, “100 Years on the Road: The Story of the American Bus Association” takes readers on a century-long journey from a handful of 1920s operators on dusty roads to a nationwide force connecting people, places, and economies.
