Currently, the Michigan Flyer offers eight trips per day, with buses departing from East Lansing beginning at 3:30 a.m. On Nov. 15, the service will increase to 12 trips per day.

Under the new schedule, buses will begin leaving an hour earlier and the last bus will depart an hour later, cutting the time between trips from an average of about 108 minutes to about 78.

The increase in frequency is possible because of a 2012 grant from the Federal Highway Administration, which awarded Michigan Flyer $595,680 to expand its services.

The grant will be used to cover the new trips’ first-year operating expenses, said Chad Cushman, vice president for Michigan Flyer parent company Indian Trails.

Cushman said the goal to expand the number of trips stemmed from the company’s desire to serve additional passengers.

“With MSU continuing to increase in enrollment, particularly with international students … clearly we’re going to capture a bigger percentage of those students,” Cushman said. “A lot of folks that are coming in from other countries are more used to public transportation.”

Students who often use the bus to commute between East Lansing, Ann Arbor and the Detroit Metro Airport said the additional times would be a convenience.

Advertising junior Allisa VanMaren said she uses Michigan Flyer at least twice a month to visit her family in Ypsilanti, and political theory and constitutional democracy senior Frank Cillette noted the bus system was convenient for visiting his girlfriend at the University of Michigan.

“(It’s) really the only good way of getting to and from Ann Arbor (because) I don’t have a car,” Cillette said.

Cushman said the Michigan Flyer accommodations, which include free WiFi and power outlets, allow commuters to be productive during their trip and use time that would be otherwise wasted behind the wheel of a car. They also help decrease the amount of cars on the road, he said.

“The bigger part of it is removing more cars from our highways,” Cushman said. “If we can increase the frequency and get more people to use the service, it is going to be better for our environment, it is going to be better for our roadways.”

According to the Michigan Flyer website, the motorcoaches receive an equivalent of 184 miles per gallon per passenger.