Warren Buffett and Barack Obama see trains as a green wave back to the future, but an emerging fleet of intercity buses is passing them by.

"Entrepreneurial immigrants from China and recently privatized British transportation companies have developed a new model for intercity bus operations that provides travelers with faster service at dramatically reduced fares," Randal O'Toole says in a new study for the libertarian-leaning CATO Institute.

O'Toole's findings come as debate continues over Gov. Rick Scott's approval of the controversial SunRail commuter train for Central Florida. The governor green-lighted the venture, estimated to cost $2.6 billion, after turning down $2.4 billion in federal funding for a high-speed rail project that would have linked Orlando and Tampa.

At the time, critics of high-speed rail said large buses can make the 100-mile intercity run faster and far more cheaply.

Sharon Calvert, a founder of No Tax for Tracks in Hillsborough County, said luxury buses provide efficient transportation at consistently lower costs.

"A family of four can ride for the price of one bullet train ticket," she said.

O'Toole, a senior fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based CATO, amplified on Calvert's point in his study, "Intercity Buses: The Forgotten Mode."

"New-model bus companies save money by selling tickets over the Internet and loading and unloading passengers at curbsides rather than in expensive bus stations. They speed service by running most buses nonstop between major cities rather than making numerous intermediate stops," O'Toole stated.

"Some companies distinguish themselves from their competition by providing leather seats, free wireless Internet, more legroom, and -- in a few cases -- onboard meal service and movies."

In Florida, upgraded RedCoach buses are picking up business with intercity routes serving Tampa, Orlando, Miami, West Palm Beach and Tallahassee. College students are flocking to this low-cost alternative to flying, and doing so in comfort with wi-fi and luxury seating.


BUSES MEET OR BEAT TRAINS ON EFFICIENCY

While train promoters brag about speed and safety, O'Toole found that next-generation buses meet or beat trains -- without gobbling up government subsidies.

Timing the New York-Washington run, O'Toole clocked Amtrak's time between 3.15 and 4 hours versus intercity bus service that runs 4 hours and 4.15.

"The lowest Amtrak fares of $49 are more than three times the typical Internet bus fares of around $15," he said.

Nationally, intercity bus fares averaged about 13 cents per passenger mile in 2001, the last year for which estimates were available.

"These should be typical of old-model bus fares today, while new-model fares average about 7 to 10 cents per passenger mile," said O'Toole, author of the book, "Gridlock: Why We're Stuck in Traffic and What to Do About It."

"Despite the fact that subsidies fund more than a quarter of Amtrak's operating costs and all of its capital costs, Amtrak fares grew from 25 cents to 31 cents per passenger mile," he related.

Buses score even better on safety and the environment.

From 1999 to 2008, motorcoaches sustained 0.3 passenger fatalities per billion passenger miles, compared with 1.4 for Amtrak and 1.1 for urban transit buses.

And despite rail's claims to fuel efficiency, buses leave a comparatively smaller carbon footprint.

Diesel-powered Amtrak trains produce roughly 2.5 times as much carbon emissions and use 2.8 times more energy than buses.

"The most efficient Amtrak trains were about 9 percent more efficient than the least-efficient intercity buses, but were still estimated to produce twice the amount of carbon-dioxide emissions per passenger mile than buses," according to a 2007 study by the American Bus Association.