With family budgets under the strain of a struggling economy, it's practical to shop for the best travel values.

If a long-distance vacation by airline isn't in the family budget, taking a bus to a more regional destination may be the ticket. According to national statistics, the motor coach industry carries more than 700 million passengers a year in this country, about the same as the domestic airlines.During the rough economic times, business has been brisk for the so-called curbside buses companies that sell tickets online and pick up and drop off passengers on street corners rather than at terminals.Low driver salaries and minimal overhead contribute to the cheaper fares for these operators, which have become the choice of many travelers over the more recognized carriers.But there is a buyer beware associated with the budget fare companies. Federal accident investigators report that last year, the fatal accident rate among low-budget curbside buses was seven times higher than the more established interstate bus companies.According to an unofficial tally kept by Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, there were 24 motor coach crashes last year, resulting in 34 fatalities and 467 injuries.This week, in the largest-ever federal crackdown on the industry, officials for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration shut down 26 companies based in six states, including Pennsylvania. The operations were mostly located along the busy East Coast corridor of I-95 between New York City and Florida.A result of a yearlong investigation, the crackdown focused on three primary companies: Apex Bus Inc. and I-95 Coach Inc., both of New York, and New Century Travel Inc. of Philadelphia. A number of other smaller bus operations involved in the federal sweep are company affiliates of these three primary companies, but are networked under different names.National Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who has lobbied congress to pass legislation for better regulations in the bus industry, defended the federal sweep, stating that operators who ignore safety rules put both passengers and other motorists at risk, and "shutting them down could save lives."All of the carriers involved in the crackdown were cited for multiple safety violations. These include using drivers who didn't have valid commercial driver's licenses, failing to administer alcohol and drug tests to drivers, operating buses that had not been regularly inspected and repaired, and drivers who ignored rest requirements in their work schedules.Driver fatigue was blamed for one of the deadliest crashes that occurred a year ago in Virginia. A bus traveling from Greensboro, N.C., to New York's Chinatown veered off I-95 and overturned, killing four passengers and injuring 50.The driver admitted falling asleep.Incredibly, the bus operator, Sky Express Inc. of Charlotte, N.C., had been cited for 46 violations of driver fatigue rules in two years. Although ordered to shut down after the accident, the company was back on the road within days under two new names.Unfortunately, this week's crackdown came too late for those unsuspecting travelers in Virginia who unknowingly put their trust in the hands a sleep-depraved driver working for a company with a cargo hold full of safety violations.By Jim Zbickjzbick@tnonline.com