Coach USA LLC’s Megabus service celebrated its one-year anniversary in Iowa in May, and officials are pleased with how the service has taken hold.

Megabus provides travel between Des Moines, Iowa City and Chicago, and the company said it has served 86,000 passengers on the route in the first year, and more than 100,000 passengers have now booked a ride.

“This has exceeded all our expectations,” said Edward Hodgson, vice president of operations for Megabus, in a statement to the Business Record.

CEO Dale Moser said in a December interview that numbers on the route to that point had been 25 to 30 percent higher than what officials had anticipated. He attributed that to a pent-up demand for “value-added economical service” that is an alternative to other forms of transportation.

Hodgson said the average fare in the first year was $19.50.

He said the popularity of the route has the company looking at expanded service in Iowa.

Megabus declined to release specific numbers based on time of day or departure and arrival location.