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announced a new service traveling from Seattle, Tacoma, and Everett along Highway 2 — with stops in Monroe, Skokomish, Leavenworth, Wenatchee, and further up north to Chelan and Okanogan — to all the way eastward in Spokane and even Idaho.

Gas prices have been creeping up, but who’s responsible?

Our northwestern service is officially LIVE! We’re so thrilled to provide our services to these six states and 100 cities for the first time.

Safe travels to our day one passengers! If you’d like to get tickets for yourself, you can find them here:

— Megabus (@megabus)

“It’s a part of the country we’ve had our eyes on for quite some time,” Colin Emberson, vice president of commercial for Megabus, told ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio. “But I think what’s really made it happen was identifying a reliable partner already operating in the area with Northwestern Stage Lines. Being able to form this partnership with them, where they’ll be the ones actually running the service, will be able to help by using our brand and our platform to get customers to them.”

Seattle to Leavenworth is $51 one-way, which is cheaper than filling up an SUV with gas right now. A trip to Spokane from Seattle costs slightly less than $100, with the journey lasting approximately seven hours and 15 minutes.

“We’re seeing bookings coming in,” Emberson continued. “I think what we’ll see in the near future is opening up those further travel options to our wider network across the U.S. and in some parts going into Canada, but I think what bus travel allows for the community is it’s a very affordable way to get around, especially where fuel costs have been, and potentially they could go a little bit higher.”

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While gas prices have curbed after last summer’s skyrocketing prices, the cheapest stations are still flirting with $5 a gallon in the Puget Sound area.