Which charter bus fits your group?

Representative shapes. Operators’ vehicles vary. More than 56 people? The quote form adds buses, or mix sizes.

Start with your headcount

Count everyone who rides: chaperones, staff, guides, the person with the clipboard. The driver isn't part of the count. Pick the class that fits with a little room to spare. If you're right at a class limit, look at the next size up when your group is bringing suitcases or gear, or when anyone uses a wheelchair. Both can take room that would otherwise be a seat.

• Up to 15 riders: Sprinter
• 16 to 26 riders: mini bus
• 27 to 56 riders: coach bus
• 57 or more: two or more buses, which the form adds

Seats vs. luggage

A seat count tells you how many people fit, not how many bags. Federal rules define an over-the-road bus, the legal term behind “motorcoach” (what we call a coach bus), as a bus with the passenger deck raised over a baggage compartment (49 CFR 37.3). Those under-floor bays are where suitcases, coolers and equipment cases ride.

A Sprinter has no under-floor bay; bags ride in the space behind the last row. A mini bus has a rear compartment or an under-floor bay, depending on the model. If your group is bringing more than a small bag each (an airport run, a tournament with equipment, a band with instruments), set Luggage to “Heavy (checked bags / gear)” when you get your price and say what you're bringing in Anything else?, so the match leans toward a bus with the room.

Restrooms

Don't assume a bus has an onboard restroom, at any size: many don't. If you need one, tick Onboard restroom when you get your price, and only a bus with one is booked. Plan rest stops on long drives either way.

A coach restroom may not be wheelchair-accessible, and federal rules allow for that. On an express run of three hours or more without a rest stop, if a rider with a disability can't use the onboard restroom and asks for an unscheduled stop, the operator must make a good-faith effort to accommodate. At any rest stop, riders with disabilities may get off and back on like everyone else, with help from the operator as needed (49 CFR 37.201).

Wheelchair lifts: what the rules say

If anyone in your group uses a wheelchair or can't manage steps, tick the wheelchair-lift box when you get your price, or tell us as soon as you know. Lift-equipped buses are available on advance request, and the details are confirmed with you before the trip. Asking for a lift never changes the price.

For charters on over-the-road coaches, the U.S. DOT's Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) rules say (49 CFR 37.189):

• The operator must provide an accessible bus to a rider with a disability who asks for one.
• It may require up to 48 hours' advance notice.
• With less notice, it must still provide one if it can do so with a reasonable effort.
• The rule's own example: a group books a charter four weeks ahead and learns a week before the trip that a rider needs an accessible bus. If the group tells the bus company more than 48 hours before the trip, the company must provide one.

Inside an accessible coach

An accessible coach has a lift or other boarding device and at least two wheelchair securement spaces. Those spaces can have fold-down seats that can't be used while a wheelchair is there, so the seat count can drop. Coach lifts must be designed for a load of at least 600 pounds, so if a rider's mobility device is especially large or heavy, mention it early (49 CFR 38.159).

If more riders use wheelchairs than there are spaces, spaces go first come, first served, and riders who can transfer are offered a regular seat (49 CFR 37.205). The operator can't require family or friends to handle routine boarding help unless the rider asks for it or agrees (49 CFR 37.207).

The 48-hour rule is written for over-the-road coaches. Smaller buses fall under other ADA sections (49 CFR 37.103 and 37.105), and an accessible bus 22 feet long or less may have only one securement space (49 CFR 38.23). The advice is the same at any size: tell us when you book, or as soon as you know.

Charter bus, coach, mini bus, Sprinter, school bus: what the words mean

These terms get used loosely. Here's what each one means.

• Charter bus: how the bus is hired, not a kind of bus. In federal terms, a charter is a group traveling together for a common purpose under one contract, with exclusive use of the bus (49 CFR 390.5). Any size can be a charter.
• Coach bus or motorcoach: the full-size highway bus. Federal law gives “motorcoach” the same meaning as “over-the-road bus”: a bus with the passenger deck raised over a baggage compartment.
• Mini bus: a trade name, not a separate federal class. To federal safety standards it's simply a bus, meaning a vehicle built to carry more than 10 people. Designs vary: luggage rides in a rear compartment or an under-floor bay, depending on the model. If you need a restroom, tick Onboard restroom rather than assuming one.
• Sprinter: a van-based shuttle, named after a common model. Built out for passengers it seats up to 15, with bags behind the last row or on laps.
• School bus: a federal category of its own, sold for carrying students to and from school or related events, with its own seating and crash-protection standard. SimpleShuttles never books school buses; the instant price covers the three classes on this page.

More than 56 people

The coach bus class goes up to 56, so a bigger group needs more than one bus. Enter your real headcount and the form adds buses of the size you pick, each priced like the first: 80 people is two coach buses. A bus running between two points all day is the form's Shuttle trip type. A round trip that comes back on a later day keeps the bus with your group, priced day by day. Extra stops go in the form and don't change the price unless they add a lot of miles.

What to sort out before you book

Tick the wheelchair-lift box on the form if you need one, set Luggage and Onboard restroom to match, and put the rest of this list in Anything else?:

• Your real headcount, including staff and chaperones
• Luggage and gear: suitcases, coolers, instruments, equipment cases
• How many riders use wheelchairs
• A restroom, if the drive is long
• Optional paid extras such as WiFi or leather seats. These are requested from the operator, not guaranteed; if the bus doesn't have one, it comes off your bill.

Who provides the bus

SimpleShuttles owns no buses. Your trip runs with an independent operator from its vetted network, which provides the bus and driver. Every operator is vetted before booking. Your confirmation email gives the operator's USDOT number and a link to its FMCSA SAFER record, and the day before the trip you get the driver's name and number. Planning a specific kind of trip? See group trips.

What the instant price covers

Instant price: one day or more on a Sprinter (up to 15 passengers), mini bus (up to 26) or coach bus (up to 56), with buses added past the class size, all-in (driver, fuel, gratuity, tolls, parking, repositioning miles and any tax). Extra stops go in the form. Past 56 people the form adds buses. Shuttles between two points are their own trip type. An overnight or multi-day round trip gets an instant price too.

How the price is built, what it includes and how booking works: How it works.

Common questions

Keep planning

• How far can a charter bus go in a day?Federal rules give charter bus drivers 10 hours of driving and 15 on duty. What counts, how trucking differs, and when a day needs a second driver.
• Plan a group trip by charter busField trips, church retreats, team travel, corporate events, weddings and public-agency trips: a planner for each, plus how to pick the right bus.