You can’t blame Kellie Dean, president of Dean Trailways of Michigan, for keeping a close eye on the price of crude oil. When you operate a fleet of 25 diesel hungry deluxe motorcoaches, every uptick obviously impacts his company’s bottom line. However, rising fuel costs may eventually benefit Dean Trailways and others involved in mass transit.

“Bus travel is becoming more popular, and the rising cost of operating a vehicle is one of the reasons,” said Dean, who is sometimes referred to as the Dean of Transportation. “Fuel costs are the number one challenge facing many businesses, including ours. We see some growth opportunities coming from that.”

Taking the bus has never been easier with the number of options seemingly unlimited. From day trips to your favorite casino to executive travel to outright vacations, Dean Trailways can take you there.

“Dean Trailways is a very diverse company. In 2006 we supplied trips to 1,000 different customers. The biggest component of our business is collegiate travel. We provide services to Michigan State University, Eastern Michigan University, Albion, Alma, Olivet and others. And not just athletic team travel, but also bands, alumni clubs and other school groups,” Dean said.

Dean, a former Michigan State University football player recruited by Duffy Daugherty, also owns Dean Transportation, the largest school bus contractor in Michigan serving more than 70 school districts. All told, the Dean group of companies includes 1,100 employees and over 900 vehicles.

“Our business philosophy has always been to provide the best travel experience we can to our customers, to provide motorcoach travel in a courteous manner, with professional drivers who are welltrained, driving clean vehicles,” Dean said.

Dean joined Special Transportation Inc. in 1986 and the name changed in 1991 after he entered a purchase agreement to acquire the company from Lyle L. Stephens. Dean founded the motorcoach division, then known as Dean Charters and Tours, in 1995.

Dean Trailways offers daily trips to Soaring Eagle Casino in Mt. Pleasant from multiple Michigan cities. Day trips to places like Greenfield Village and Frankenmuth are still popular, Dean said. The company also works with a diverse group of travel planners who contract with Dean Trailways to provide longer excursions to New York City, Chicago, Toronto and Myrtle Beach.

“The leisure travel component of Dean Trailways is growing. We work with church groups, senior citizens groups and school groups to offer a wide variety of experiences. End-of-year school trips are extremely popular and make for our busiest time of the year,” Dean said.

Dean’s luxury touring coaches seat 55 with high-quality interiors that include TV monitors with Bose sound systems and complimentary XM Satellite Radio service. Soon to be added is Wi-Fi connectivity to the Internet.

“Our buses are clean and as green as possible. We are burning a low-sulfur diesel fuel, which burns clean with fewer particulates emitting from the vehicle. We also use oil and fuel additives to reduce emissions,” Dean said.

Businesses can utilize Dean Trailways VIP Corporate Travel Program, which includes luxury motorcoaches with portable boardrooms in which to conduct meetings or sales presentations or to entertain clients.

“We are actively looking to expand our executive and hospitality travel segments. We have a small fleet of these 21-passenger VIP buses that can be used by businesses for group travel or be rented for wedding receptions and other special occasions,” Dean added.

Dean encourages his employees to be involved in the community and has often provided transportation services to worthy causes, including Hurricane Katrina relief and military travel.

“We are able to do those types of things because of the great employees we have. They care enough to get involved, and we are happy to help where we can,” Dean said.

Meanwhile, Indian Trails recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of its Michigan Flyer motorcoach service from East Lansing to Metro Airport in Detroit. The daily service provides round trip transportation to both business and leisure travelers flying out of Metro Airport.

“We have been pleased with the growth in numbers and happy with the results. It’s proving to be more economical than driving and parking for many people,” said Gordon Macky, president of Indian Trails.

The Michigan Flyer offers seven daily round trips departing from the East Lansing Marriott City Center Complex. It includes stops in Jackson and Ann Arbor.

Indian Trails is nearly 100 years old and began as a shuttle service carrying automobile employees to Flint to work for General Motors. It now provides much of the state with a variety of charter and executive services with the state’s largest fleet of motorcoaches (55) and 130 employees at several locations across the state, including its headquarters in Owosso.

“Nearly 70 percent of our business is now charter work. We still run daily route service from Lansing to Mt. Pleasant and points north, but the majority of our focus is on charter leisure travel, everything from casinos to shopping trips. There has been tremendous growth in group travel. We have a good cross section of business,” said Macky, who has been with Indian Trails since 1972.

Macky sees a trend toward mass transit services as high fuel prices make taking the bus a more attractive alternative to driving oneself.

“As a country we have to find a better way and more economical way for transportation, and our industry is very poised to help in that area. We should be looking for better alternatives to travel and looking to build a true intermodal and acceptable mass transit system in this country,” Macky said. “For example, we should make riding the local CATA bus in Lansing a more fluid interchange between different long-range carriers, from rail to air to bus.”