Taking the bus in Canada has taken on a decidedly more British flavour, with Coach Canada announcing Wednesday that it has launched a fleet of double-decker buses that will travel select routes in Ontario, Quebec and New York state for discount rates.

The company has invested $16 million in 15 buses, which seat 81 people. They feature free WiFI, DVD players, seatbelts, reclining seats and are wheelchair accessible.

The additional fleet is an expansion of the double-decker discount bus service the company began operating on the Toronto-New York City route last year.

The buses will be part of a daily express bus service, with eight departures a day between Toronto and Montreal and nine between Toronto and Kingston. There will be four departures between Toronto and New York City, as well as three other destinations in New York state: Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse.

The discount bus service is run by Megabus, which operates in the U.S. and the U.K. and is owned by StageCoach, the company that owns Coach Canada. The vehicles themselves are manufactured by Belgium firm Vanhool and are built to European standards, says StageCoach CEO Brian Souter.

He says the coaches are only about 35 centimetres higher than conventional tour buses and are built in an integrated fashion rather than on a conventional chassis, making them safe at high speeds.

"They have a very low centre of gravity," he said. "They're probably safer than conventional coaches."

The buses are a green alternative to airplane or car travel because they are low on emissions, expending the equivalent of three litres of fuel per passenger between Toronto and Montreal, says Souter.

"These vehicles leave less of a carbon footprint," he said.

To promote the new bus service, Coach Canada is selling selected seats online for $1 (plus a 50-cent booking fee and GST), starting noon Wednesday. The promotion will run until the 10,000 tickets set aside for it are sold and is good for travel until November.

"People are looking for affordability," says Souter. "This takes a discount airline model and applies it to the bus market."

He says customer response in the two weeks the buses have been in circulation has been "fantastic."