Business Notes TRANSPORTATION

Is intercity bus service, badly hurt by competition from discount airfares, headed the way of the stagecoach? It did not look that way last week, as - ticket buyers by the thousands queued at bus terminals in Dallas, Atlanta and ten other Southern cities, forming ragged lines that stretched for blocks. For one hour only, the largest U.S. bus company, Greyhound Lines, offered 59 cents tickets to New York City, Los Angeles, and anywhere else its drivers go. The response to the promotional gimmick, which was designed to call attention to the company's new $59 fares on many routes, was overwhelming. About 20,000 tickets were sold. "A bus ride is sure worth the cost of a cup of coffee," said Blondeane Jones, 35, of Dallas, who stood in line overnight for a chance to visit her brother in Columbus, Ga.