Coach USA: Difference between revisions

| headquarters = 160 [[New Jersey Route 17|NJ Route 17]] North<br>[[Paramus, New Jersey|Paramus, NJ]] 07652

| ceo = LindaDerrick BurtwistleWaters

'''Coach USA, LLC''' is a [[holding company]] for various American transportation service providers providing scheduled [[intercity bus service]], local and commuter bus transit, [[Sightseeing Bus|city sightseeing]], tour, yellow [[school bus]], and charter bus service across the [[United States]] and [[Canada]]. It is owned by the private equity firm, Variant Equity Advisors, based in Los Angeles.

Coach USA traces its history back to 1922 as Lackawanna Bus and later Consolidated Bus Lines, a small outfit operating local service in [[Bergen County]], [[New Jersey]] and later along the [[Jersey Shore]] and throughout the [[New York metropolitan area]] founded by Jim and Denis Gallagher.<ref name=CC>{{cite web|url=http://www.coastcitiesbus.com/history.html |title=Coast Cities Bus History |access-date=October 3, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501095105/http://www.coastcitiesbus.com/history.html |archive-date=May 1, 2011 }}</ref> [[Community Coach]], today the headquarters of Coach USA, began operations in 1958 under Denis's brother, John. The latter took over the operations of Consolidated Bus Lines, using the operating authority of another company that the Gallagher family had purchased in [[Paramus, New Jersey]] three years prior; through other acquisitions by the Gallagher family, six of these companies would become subsidiaries of Coach USA at its inception in 1995, when Frank Gallagher sold the firms to Notre Capital Ventures of Houston, Texas.

At its inception, Coach USA consisted of six companies: [[Suburban Trails]], [[Community Coach]], Leisure Line, and Adventure Trails in New Jersey, Grosvenor Bus (Gray Line of [[San Francisco]]) and Arrow Stage Line in [[Arizona]] (not to be confused with unaffiliated Arrow Stage Lines).<ref name="Answers">{{cite web|url=http://www.answers.com/topic/coach-usa?cat=biz-fin|title=Coach USA from Answers.com |website=[[Answers.com]] |access-date=June 21, 2008}}</ref><ref name="King">{{cite news |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_20000618/ai_n13948856/pg_1?tag=artBody;col1 |title=Bid to make Coach USA King of the Road (The Independent) |access-date=June 21, 2008 |work=The Sunday Herald|date= June 18, 2000 }}</ref> Listing on the [[NASDAQ]] in 1996 under ticker TOUR, and later switching to the [[New York Stock Exchange]] under stock ticker CUI, Coach USA, under the leadership of Richard Kristinik, would expand quickly, acquiring Progressive Transportation Services Inc. a contractor of municipal transit systems in [[Upstate New York]]. Coach USA acquired additional companies throughout the United States in the next three years to expand to over 5,000 buses and many more [[taxicabs]], as its acquisitions also included [[yellow cab]] firms throughout the United States. During this time, the Gallagher family would start another company, [[Student Transportation of America]], based in the area of its Coast Cities operation.<ref name=CC/>

In 1998, Kristinik retired, and Larry King succeeded him.<ref>{{cite press release |title=Coach USA, Inc. Names Larry King Chairman and Chief Executive Officer |url=https://www.theautochannel.com/news/press/date/19981103/press000109.html |website=theautochannel.com |access-date=September 10, 2018 |date=November 3, 1998}}</ref> [[Stagecoach Group]] would purchase Coach USA in mid-1999 for $1.88&nbsp;billion.<ref name="Acquisition">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/stagecoach-pays-pounds-121bn-for-largest-us-bus-operator-1100307.html|title=Stagecoach pays pounds 1.21bn for largest US bus operator|publisherwork=[[The Independent]]|date=June 15, 1999|access-date=October 28, 2013|location=London|first=Andrew|last=Verity}}</ref>

Under Stagecoach ownership and the helm of Frank Gallagher, the owner of its predecessors,<ref name="King"/> Coach USA sought to continue expansion, but the company, hit hard by the loss of charter business after the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]],<ref name="Answers"/> caused Stagecoach to crash to a loss of over £524&nbsp;million, at which point Stagecoach, having lost over 70 percent of its investment and now under the leadership of its founder, [[Brian Souter]], after the downturn cost the previous CEO of Stagecoach his job, announced that all of the taxicab operations and most of Coach USA's subsidiaries were for sale, as Stagecoach sought to focus mostly on operations in the [[Northeastern United States|northeast]], where Coach USA today maintains subsidized transit operations and scheduled service.<ref name="Sale2">{{cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_20021201/ai_n12580119|title=Stagecoach's US ambitions come at a price (The Sunday Herald)|date=December 1, 2002|access-date=June 21, 2008|work= The Sunday Herald| first=Kenny | last=Kemp}}</ref><ref name="Sale">{{cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20021205/ai_n12661365|title=Coach USA up for sale after write-down drives Stagecoach into pounds (The Independent)|date=December 15, 2002|access-date=June 21, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070303215132/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20021205/ai_n12661365|archive-date=March 3, 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Retrenching, Stagecoach sold its companies in [[New England]] to [[Peter Pan Bus Lines]].<ref>{{Cite web| title = Peter Pan to acquire five Coach USA affiliates| access-date = May 17, 2015| url = http://www.metro-magazine.com/management-operations/news/280498/peter-pan-to-acquire-five-coach-usa-affiliates}}</ref><ref name=OnStage51>Coach USA sell-offs keep strategy on track ''[[On Stage (periodical)|On Stage]]'' issue 51 July 2003 page 4</ref> Companies in the [[Southwestern United States|Southwest]], [[Western United States|West]], and [[Rocky Mountains|Rocky Mountain]] regions were sold to [[Kohlberg Kravis Roberts|KKR]] to form [[Coach America]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stagecoach.com/media/news-releases/archive/2003-06-06.aspx|title=Stagecoach Group agrees terms for the sale of the West and South Central regions of Coach USA|date=June 6, 2003|access-date=June 22, 2008}}</ref> and companies in the southeastern United States were sold to [[Lincolnshire Management]], rebranded as American Coach Lines (which was merged with Coach America in 2006),<ref>Group agrees $48m Coach USA deal ''On Stage'' issue 52 October 2003 page 2</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.loeb.com/lincolnshiremanagementincsellsamerican/|title=Lincolnshire Management Inc. sells American Coach Lines, Inc.|date=May 11, 2006|access-date=July 12, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070708085955/http://www.loeb.com/lincolnshiremanagementincsellsamerican/|archive-date=July 8, 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> all at heavy losses. The contract transit division (Progressive Transportation) was sold to competitor [[First Transit]].<ref name=OnStage51/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stagecoachgroup.com/scg/media/press/pr2003/2003-05-22/ |title=Stagecoach Group sells Coach USA Transit Division (Stagecoach Group press release) |date=May 22, 2003 |access-date=June 21, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516225750/http://www.stagecoachgroup.com/scg/media/press/pr2003/2003-05-22/ |archive-date=May 16, 2008 }}</ref> As a result of the sale of most of Coach USA's operations, the company's headquarters were relocated from [[Texas]] to the [[Community Coach]] garage in [[Paramus, New Jersey]]. Eight of the sold companies would be reacquired when Coach America declared bankruptcy in 2012, along with Lakefront/Hopkins in [[Ohio]], with the intent of expanding (and in the case of [[California]], reintroducing) the Megabus brand.

Coach USA's operations today consist primarily of scheduled services in the [[New York metropolitan area|New York]] and [[Chicago metropolitan area]]s, with a number of charter operations near [[Pittsburgh]] and scheduled operations in the [[Southern Tier]] of New York and southern [[Wisconsin]], along with its Megabus operations throughout the eastern and central United States. In December 2018 Stagecoach announced it had agreed to sell all of its North American operations to Variant Equity Advisors subsidiary Project Kenwood Acquisition with the deal concluded in April 2019.<ref>[https://www.stagecoach.com/media/news-releases/2018/2018-12-19.aspx Sale of North America Division for Estimated Enterprise Value of US$271M] Stagecoach December 19, 2018</ref><ref>[https://cbwmagazine.com/stagecoach-sells-off-north-american-division-for-271m/ Stagecoach sells off North American division for $271m] ''[[Coach & Bus Week]]'' December 21, 2018</ref><ref>Stagecoach agrees to sell Coach USA ''[[Buses (magazine)|Buses]]'' issue 767 February 2019 page 6</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20190418100920/http://otp.investis.com/clients/uk/stagecoach/rns/regulatory-story.aspx?cid=273&newsid=1253284 Completion of North America sale] Stagecoach April 16, 2019</ref> Coach USA closed [[Chicago Trolley & Double Decker Co.]] in 2019. Coach USA closed Lakefront Lines in [[Ohio and Butler Motor Transit]] and Central Cab in [[Pennsylvania]] in 2020, due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United States|pandemic]].<ref>{{Cite web| title = Lakefront Lines permanently shutting down, cutting more than 300 jobs| date = July 31, 2020| accessdate = 2021-10-11| url = https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/state/lakefront-lines-permanently-closing-down-all-four-locations-including-cleveland-cutting-more-than-300-jobs}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| title = Motorcoach Industry Seeks Federal Aid to Mitigate Losses| work = Transport Topics| accessdate = 2021-10-11| date = 2020-07-27| url = https://www.ttnews.com/articles/motorcoach-industry-seeks-federal-aid-mitigate-losses}}</ref>

Coach USA includes the following local operating companies:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.coachusa.com/ftr.contactus.asp|title=Contact Us|author=Coach USA|access-date=October 11, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| title = Coach USA {{!}} Travel Agent & Reseller Signup| accessdate = 2021-10-11| url = https://web.coachusa.com/coachusa/booking.asp?action=AgencySignup}}</ref>

*All West Coachlines ([[Sacramento, California|Sacramento, CA]] / [[Reno, NV]])<ref name="fed">{{Cite web| title = Stagecoach Group plc and Coach USA, Inc., et al.-Acquisition of Control of Assets-American Coach Lines of Atlanta, Inc.; CUSA AT, LLC; CUSA AWC, LLC; CUSA ELKO, LLC; CUSA, KBC, LLC; CUSA PCSTC, LLC; CUSA PRTS, LLC; CUSA RAZ, LLC; Dillon's Bus Service, Inc.; and Lakefront Lines, Inc.| work = Federal Register| access-date = December 29, 2016| date = June 22, 2012| url = https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2012/06/22/2012-15287/stagecoach-group-plc-and-coach-usa-inc-et-al-acquisition-of-control-of-assets-american-coach-lines}}</ref>

*American Coach Lines of Atlanta/Megabus Southeast ([[Atlanta, GA]])<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americancoachofatlanta.com/our-company/|title=Our company|author=American Coach Lines of Atlanta|access-date=October 1, 2016}}</ref><ref name="fed"/>

*[[Coach Canada]] ([[Toronto|Toronto, ON]])

*Coach Erie (Butler Motor Transit) ([[Erie, Pennsylvania|Erie, PA]])

*Coach USA Airport Express ([[Waukesha, Wisconsin|Waukesha, WI]])

*Coach USA Elko ([[Elko, Nevada|Elko, NV]])<ref name="fed"/>

*[[Community Coach]] ([[Paramus, New Jersey|Paramus, NJ]])

*Dillon's Bus Service ([[Hanover, Maryland|Hanover, MD]])<ref name="fed"/>

*Gad-About Tours ([[Pittsburgh|Pittsburgh, PA]])

*[[Gray Line Worldwide|Gray LineMontreal]] New York Sightseeing (New York[[Montreal|Montreal, NYQC]])

*Kerrville Bus Company/Megabus Southwest ([[San Antonio|San Antonio, TX]])<ref name="fed"/>

*Lenzner Coach Lines ([[Sewickley, Pennsylvania|Sewickley, PA]])

*Mountaineer Coach ([[Beaver, West Virginia|Beaver, WV]])

*[[Olympia Trails]]/Megabus Northeast ([[Elizabeth, New Jersey|Elizabeth, NJ]])

*Powder River Transportion ([[Gillette, Wyoming|Gillette, WY]])<ref name="fed"/>

*[[Rockland Coaches]] ([[Westwood, New Jersey|Westwood, NJ]])

*[[Short Line Bus]] ([[Chester, Orange County, New York|Chester, NY]])

*Pacific Coast Sightseeing Tour and Charters/Megabus West ([[Anaheim, California|Anaheim, CA]])<ref name="fed"/><ref>[http://www.ocregister.com/articles/union-703061-coach-company.html Coach USA bus drivers, mechanics vote against joining union, 118 to 73]</ref>

*[[Suburban Transit]] ([[New Brunswick, New Jersey|New Brunswick, NJ]])

*[[Van Galder Bus Company]] ([[Janesville, Wisconsin|Janesville, WI]])

*[[Wisconsin Coach Lines]] ([[Waukesha, Wisconsin|Waukesha, WI]])