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Megabus (North America)

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Megabus
Van Hool TD925 coach at Penn Station in March 2009
ParentRenco Group
FoundedApril 10, 2006; 18 years ago (2006-04-10)
Headquarters
Service areaUnited States
Canada
Service typeIntercity coach service
Routes30
Hubs
FleetMotor Coach Industries single-deck coaches
Van Hool single-and double-deck coaches
OperatorCoach USA
Chief executiveLinda Burtwistle
Websiteus.megabus.com (U.S.)
ca.megabus.com (Canada)
Former station at Ninth Avenue in Manhattan
Dispatch desk at 34th Street in Manhattan
M21 traveling west on 23rd Street in Manhattan

Megabus is an intercity bus service operating in the United States and Canada. It is also the operator of the Virginia Breeze bus service.

History

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On April 10, 2006, Stagecoach Group, operator of Megabus (Europe), introduced the Megabus brand in the United States through its Coach USA subsidiary with routes in the Midwestern United States.[1]

In August 2007, Megabus introduced service to Arizona and California using Coach America as a contractor.[2] Ridership was sluggish and in early 2008, Megabus discontinued services in Arizona and California.[3]

In late May 2008, Megabus began service to/from New York City, with service to/from Albany, Atlantic City, Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Toronto and Washington, D.C. Further expansions included service to Syracuse, Rochester, Hartford and Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Megabus returned to the West Coast on December 12, 2012, initially serving San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Sacramento, Reno, Riverside and Los Angeles.[4][5]

By May 2013, the service had served 25 million passengers.[1] By October 2014, it served 40 million passengers.[6]

In April 2019, Stagecoach Group sold its North American operations, including Megabus, to Variant Equity Advisors.[7][8]

In August 2024, Peter Pan Bus Lines took over operations of the Megabus routes in the northeast and mid-Atlantic states.[9] Some routes were taken over by Fullington Trailways. By that month, Megabus has served over 50 million passengers.[10]

In November 2024, Megabus was sold to Renco Group, although Coach USA remained the manager of bus operations.[11]

Destinations served

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United States

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Northeast

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Texas

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Canada[13]

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Fleet

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The Megabus fleet has the megabus.com name on the front and sides in yellow against a blue base and the Megabus logo on the left side of the coach (facing forward) and rear of the bus. The DATTCO fleet used for Megabus service also has Megabus logos, but with a DATTCO logo instead of a Coach USA logo for Megabus buses owned and operated by DATTCO. Buses on the M25 Megabus route operate with Academy Bus livery.

Megabus service began with used Motor Coach Industries 102EL3 Renaissance coaches, often transferred from other Coach USA operations, with some services utilizing Chicago- and Wisconsin Coach Lines buses. In 2007, Coach USA updated its Chicago-based Megabus fleet with new MCI J4500 single-deck and Van Hool TD925 double-deck motorcoaches.

In May 2008, Megabus expanded to the Northeastern United States with a fleet of primarily brand-new Motor Coach Industries D4505 coaches, several new Van Hool TD925-double decker buses, and some buses purchased secondhand or transferred from the Chicago fleet. This expansion came as Megabus exited from the West Coast market.[3] Further expansion in the Northeast came in the fall and winter of 2008-2009, when additional double-decker buses were delivered, resulting in much of the single-deck buses being transferred to sister operation Eastern Shuttle, pushing many of the EL3s to retirement. The fleet transferred to Eastern Shuttle was eventually returned to mainline Coach USA duty following divestiture a few months later.

The Canadian Megabus fleet consists of 15 2009 TD925 buses operated by Trentway-Wagar. All of the Canadian fleet is equipped with electrical outlets and Wi-Fi. The Canadian buses are pooled with the US fleet for NYC-Toronto or Philadelphia-Toronto runs, with drivers swapping at Buffalo to stay within their certified country. On these runs, the buses will typically only have Wi-Fi service available in the home country for the bus being used; i.e., Canadian buses will turn off their WiFi at the US border, and American buses will turn off WiFi upon entering Canada. This is to avoid roaming charges from the cellular carriers that provide internet service.

Collisions

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  • On September 1, 2008, a Detroit-bound M1 coach was pulled over by Michigan State police after officers noticed the bus swaying and speeding outside Benton Township, Michigan. The bus's driver was arrested when he was found to have a blood alcohol level of .07, well above the .04 limit for commercial bus operators. It was the first drunk driving incident in Coach USA history. A replacement driver was brought in to bring the 30 passengers to their final destination.[14]
  • On September 11, 2010, around 2:30 a.m., a Toronto-bound M34 double-decker coach missed an exit to the William F. Walsh Regional Transportation Center in Syracuse, NY, and hit a railway overpass carrying the St. Lawrence Subdivision along NY Route 370 2 miles (3.2 km) farther away. Four passengers were killed, all in the front of the upper deck, crushed into the lower deck in the crash, and 17 others were injured.[15][16] Megabus settled the resulting lawsuits, including one for $3.1 million.[17]
  • On August 2, 2012, a St. Louis-bound M5 service Megabus coach with 64 passengers slammed into a concrete bridge pillar on Interstate 55 near Litchfield, Illinois. At least one passenger was killed, and 30 were hurt. Police attributed the crash to a blown tire.[18][19]
  • On February 21, 2016, a double-decker Megabus traveling from Chicago to Milwaukee turned around an hour into its trip citing a need to "change buses" to its passengers.[20][21] Shortly after turning around, the bus stopped on the side of U.S. Route 41 in Lake Forest with a flat tire and caught fire before exploding.[22] All passengers, including the driver, had evacuated the bus before the explosion and were unharmed, but all passenger belongings still stowed on the bus were destroyed.[20] The incident was liveblogged by then-The New York Times columnist Lucas Peterson.
  • On May 22, 2022, a Megabus carrying 47 passengers traveling from New York City to Washington, DC rolled over on its right side on Interstate 95 northeast of Baltimore, injuring 27 people, 15 of whom went to the hospital.[23]
  • On August 9, 2022, a Megabus from New York City to Philadelphia hit a pickup truck on the New Jersey Turnpike (Interstate 95). They lost control, causing the double-decker bus to crash into barriers and roll over on its right side at the ramp for the Thomas Edison Service Area. The crash killed two passengers and seriously injured two others and the bus driver.[24]

Safety of intercity bus lines

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The safety of intercity bus lines came under scrutiny in 2011 after the World Wide Tours bus crash, operated by one of the Chinatown bus lines, caused 14 fatalities.[25] The National Transportation Safety Board conducted a six-month study and found that while bus travel was considerably safer than by car, curbside buses had seven times the fatality rates of traditional bus lines.[26][27]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Megabus.com Reaches 25 Million Passengers" (Press release). PR Newswire. May 8, 2013.
  2. ^ Raine, George (August 2, 2007). "Bargain bus company riding into Bay Area next week". San Francisco Chronicle.
  3. ^ a b Chang, Andrea (May 17, 2008). "Megabus to halt service in L.A." Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 21, 2008.
  4. ^ Roberts, Chris (November 28, 2012). "$1 Buses to Los Angeles Return". KNTV.
  5. ^ "Megabus.com begins new service to/from Los Angeles, San Francisco and six cities" (Press release). PR Newswire. December 12, 2012.
  6. ^ "Megabus.com Reaches 40 Million Customers" (Press release). PR Newswire. October 30, 2014.
  7. ^ "Sale of North America Division for Estimated Enterprise Value of US$271M" (Press release). Stagecoach Group. December 19, 2018.
  8. ^ "Stagecoach sells off North American division for $271m". Coach & Bus Week. December 21, 2018.
  9. ^ "Family-owned Peter Pan Bus Lines Takes Over Megabus Routes in Northeast Corridor". Peter Pan Bus Lines. August 15, 2024.
  10. ^ "Fullington Trailways Captures Key Megabus Routes Amid Discontinued Service, Expands Service Across Major Northeast Corridors". American Bus Association. August 19, 2024.
  11. ^ "Coach USA Completes Transaction with Affiliates of The Renco Group" (Press release). PR Newswire. November 1, 2024.
  12. ^ "Megabus to open Atlanta Hub". American City Business Journals. October 24, 2011.
  13. ^ "Bus Stops | megabus".
  14. ^ Skoller, Jenna (September 3, 2008). "MegaBus driver arrested on DUI charges in Southwest Mich". The Michigan Daily.
  15. ^ Lisi, Nicholas (September 11, 2010). "Megabus passengers awake to crash, blood and cries for help". The Post-Standard.
  16. ^ Chen, Peter (September 11, 2010). "Canadians not among 4 killed in bus crash". The Globe and Mail. Associated Press.
  17. ^ O'Brien, John (July 9, 2013). "Megabus settles lawsuits over crash that killed 4 near Syracuse". The Post-Standard.
  18. ^ "Police: Blown tire likely caused Megabus crash". CBS News. Associated Press. August 3, 2012.
  19. ^ Jaffe, Matthew (August 3, 2012). "Megabus Crash in Illinois: At Least 1 Dead, 30+ Injured". ABC News.
  20. ^ a b Peterson, Lucas (February 22, 2016). "The Day My Megabus Caught Fire". The New York Times.
  21. ^ Peterson, Lucas [@frugaltraveler] (February 21, 2016). "An hour into trip, turning around to "switch buses." Currently learning that on @megabus, you get what you pay for" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  22. ^ "Megabus Catches Fire on Illinois Highway". ABC News. February 22, 2016.
  23. ^ Sims, Barry (May 23, 2022). "27 injured after Megabus crashes, rolls onto its side on I-95". WBAL-TV.
  24. ^ Mele, Jillian; Gallagher, Bryanna (August 11, 2022). "2 dead after Megabus traveling to Philadelphia crashes on New Jersey Turnpike; 17 injured". 6abc/WPVI-TV.
  25. ^ McFadden, Robert D. (March 12, 2011). "Carnage on I-95 After Crash Rips Bus Apart". The New York Times.
  26. ^ Grynbaum, Michael M. (October 31, 2011). "High Fatality Rate Found for Low-Cost Buses". The New York Times.
  27. ^ Kille, Leighton Walter (February 27, 2013). "National Transportation Safety Board: Report on Curbside Motorcoach Safety". Journalist's Resource.
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