BY GROUP SIZE
Start From How Many People Are Actually Riding
Headcount is the first thing that decides your vehicle and the last thing most groups pin down. These pages work through each size band the way we do when we size a job: seated capacity as a hard number, then what everyone is carrying, then whether the vehicle can physically reach the curb at every stop on your list.
Seated capacity is a legal limit, not a suggestion — we book to it and everyone has a seat for every mile. Your vehicle, hours and total are set in the written contract.
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How do I know what size vehicle my group needs?
Count everyone who will be on board at the fullest point of the trip, including people joining at a later stop, then add whatever they are carrying. Book to seated capacity, never to a marketing number. If the count sits within two people of a vehicle's limit, size up: a party bus rated for twenty is comfortable at sixteen and unpleasant at twenty in winter coats.
49 CFR 383.5 (CDL passenger-endorsement threshold) · FMCSA Licensing and Insurance · Every vehicle we send out
| Size bands covered | 4 |
|---|---|
| How capacity is booked | Seated capacity, everyone seated |
| Biggest sizing mistake | Counting people but not luggage |
| Who drives | A chauffeur assigned to your trip, named on the contract |
| Group size | What we can send | Vehicles in our fleet | What changes at this size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 8 | limo sprinters, executive sprinters, stretch limousines | 3 | A stretch or a sprinter usually beats a bus here on price and on parking. Luggage, not seats, is what runs out first. |
| 9 to 14 | limo sprinters, executive sprinters, stretch limousines | 11 | The awkward band: more people than most stretches hold, fewer than it takes to fill a party bus economically. |
| 15 to 22 | party buses, coach buses, stretch limousines | 12 | Party buses and the smaller coaches start here. A vehicle designed for sixteen or more people, the driver counted among them, is a commercial passenger vehicle under 49 CFR 383.5, so its chauffeur holds a CDL with a passenger endorsement. |
| 23 to 40 | party buses, coach buses | 18 | Cost per person falls and boarding time rises. We build the loading window into the schedule rather than assuming everyone is at the curb on time. |
| 41 to 56 | party buses, coach buses | 9 | One full-size coach or two smaller vehicles. Coaches carry luggage in bays underneath; party buses have only the aisle. |
How do we count a group?
- •The peak headcount, not the starting headcount — mid-route pickups still need a seat.
- •Luggage, gear bags, instruments and coolers, which consume as much space as people.
- •Anyone who needs a lift, a securement position, or a companion seat beside them.
- •Whether the group stays together all night or splits, which can change vehicle count.
When does the curb decide the vehicle?
- •Parking garages with height bars rule out coaches and most party buses.
- •Residential pickups on narrow streets need turning room the vehicle may not have.
- •Venue loading zones often have scheduled windows and a length limit.
- •Two smaller vehicles sometimes beat one large one purely on access.
Continue with a specific guide
Transportation for 6 PassengersStretch limousines and limo Sprinters, and why six people plus luggage is not the same as six people.
Transportation for 10 PassengersThe awkward size: too many for a stretch, not enough to fill a party bus economically.
Transportation for 20 PassengersWhere party buses and mini coaches start to make the per-person cost drop sharply.
Transportation for 30+ PassengersFull-size coaches, multi-vehicle runs, and the loading logistics nobody plans for.Get Started
Tell Us the Headcount and the Stops
Tell us the date, the headcount and where you are going, and we will come back with the vehicle, the hours and the price. Three ways to reach us — pick whichever is easiest.