Wikipedia

Coach USA

(Redirected from Kerrville Bus Company)

Coach USA, LLC is a holding company for several operators of intercity bus service, local and commuter bus transit, sightseeing buses, school buses, and charter bus services in the United States and Canada. It is owned by Renco Group.

Coach USA, LLC
A Coach USA bus in Newburgh, New York
Parent
Founded1995; 31 years ago (1995)
Headquarters160 NJ Route 17 North
Paramus, New Jersey 07652
LocaleUnited States
Service areaNew York, Pittsburgh and Chicago metropolitan areas, Southern Tier of New York, southern Wisconsin
Service typeLocal, commuter, charter, contract, and yellow school bus service, Megabus
RoutesNortheast Division (excluding Megabus):
  • 55 directly owned
  • 43 under contract

North Central Division (excluding Megabus and school buses):

  • 9 directly owned
  • 4 under contract

Megabus:

  • 11 directly owned
  • 1 under contract
OperatorVarious Coach USA companies, see #Operating companies below
Chief executive
Derrick Waters
Websitewww.coachusa.com

Coach USA's operations consist primarily of scheduled services in the New York metropolitan area and the Chicago metropolitan area, with charter operations near Pittsburgh and scheduled operations in the Southern Tier of New York and southern Wisconsin as well as Toronto and Montreal.

History

edit

20th century

edit

Coach USA traces its history back to 1922 as Lackawanna Bus, which provided bus service in Bergen County, New Jersey, and later along the Jersey Shore and other places in the New York metropolitan area. It was founded by Jim and Denis Gallagher.[1]

Community Coach began operations in 1958 under Denis's brother, John. It 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.[2]

Coach USA acquired and owned 6 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).[2]

In 1995, Frank Gallagher sold the firms to Notre Capital Ventures II, L.P., which recapitalized the company. At that time, the company was valued at $88.4 million and had 760 buses.[2]

In March 1996, Richard Kristinik (1939-2017), formerly a partner at Arthur Andersen, was named chairman and CEO of the company.[3]

In May 1996, the company became a public company via an initial public offering, selling 3,600,000 shares at $14 each.[4][2]

By late 1998, Coach USA had completed more than 70 acquisitions since its IPO.[2][5]

During this time, the Gallagher family started another company, Student Transportation of America, based in the area of its Coast Cities operation.

In November 1998, Kristinik retired, and was succeeded by Larry King.[6]

By 1999, Coach USA had about 9,000 buses operating in 35 states, Canada, and Mexico.[2]

Stagecoach Group purchased Coach USA in mid-1999 for $1.88 billion.[7] Stagecoach also took on $630 million in debt held by Coach USA.[2] Frank Gallagher became CEO of Coach USA.[2]

In 2000, the company announced a partnership with Six Flags Theme Parks whereby Coach USA offered special rates to customers of the amusement parks.[2]

21st century

edit

The company reported losses due to the decline in travel after the September 11 attacks. It then reduced its Houston headquarters staff by 40%, eliminated 10% of all non-driver employees, and took 330 buses off the road.[2] By the end of 2001, Coach USA had cut costs by $25 million.[2]

In December 2002, Stagecoach sold its companies in New England to Peter Pan Bus Lines.[8]

In June 2003, Companies in the Southwest, West, and Rocky Mountain regions were sold to KKR to form Coach America.[9]

Companies in the southeastern United States were sold to Lincolnshire Management, rebranded as American Coach Lines (which was merged with Coach America in 2006).[10][11]

In July 2003, the contract transit division, Progressive Transportation, was sold to competitor First Transit for $22.5 million.[12]

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.

In April 2006, Stagecoach launched Megabus as a subsidiary of Coach USA.[13]

In 2012, when Coach America declared bankruptcy, Coach USA re-acquired 8 companies it previously sold, along with Lakefront/Hopkins in Ohio.

In April 2019, Stagecoach sold all of its North American operations to Variant Equity Advisors for $271 million.[14][15][16][17]

In December 2019, Coach USA closed Chicago Trolley & Double Decker Co. and Airport Supersaver.[18][19][20]

Coach USA closed Lakefront Lines in Ohio and Central Cab in Pennsylvania in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[21][22]

In June 2021, Community Transportation Inc., a Coach USA company, received a $19 million contract to operate certain public bus lines in New Jersey previously operated by Number 22 Hillside LLC/Corp.[23]

In June 2024, Coach USA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, blaming corporate impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.[24] The bankruptcy was later converted to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation.[25]

Avalon Transportation acquired Lenzner, Kerrville, All West and ACL Atlanta. Wynne Transportation acquired Powder River and the Butler Motor Transit shop.[26]

Effective August 2024, Peter Pan Bus Lines took over Megabus operations in the Northeastern United States.[27] The company also stopped operating 20 routes in New Jersey; the routes were taken over by New Jersey Transit.[28]

In November 2024, Renco Group acquired the remainder of the company.[26][29]

Effective September 2025, Coach USA closed its operations and facility in Elko, Nevada, leading to 149 job losses.[30][31]

Operating companies

edit

Safety incidents

edit

References

edit
  1. ↑ "COACH USA, INC., - against -GROUND OPTIONS, LLC, D/B/A GO GROUND" (PDF). Sportico. August 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Coach USA, Inc. History". FundingUniverse.
  3. ↑ "Coach USA SCHEDULE 14A INFORMATION". United States Securities and Exchange Commission. May 1, 1998.
  4. ↑ "APPLICATION FOR APPROVAL OF TRANSFER OF CAPITAL STOCK" (PDF). Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. August 10, 1999.
  5. ↑ "Federal Register Volume 62, Number 100". Federal Register. May 23, 1997 – via GovInfo.
  6. ↑ "Coach USA, Inc. Names Larry King Chairman and Chief Executive Officer". The Auto Channel (Press release). November 3, 1998.
  7. ↑ Verity, Andrew (June 15, 1999). "Stagecoach pays pounds 1.21bn for largest US bus operator". The Independent. London.
  8. ↑ "Peter Pan to acquire five Coach USA affiliates". Metro Magazine. December 6, 2002.
  9. ↑ "Stagecoach sells US buses". BBC News. June 6, 2003.
  10. ↑ "Lincolnshire Management Inc. sells American Coach Lines, Inc". Loeb & Loeb LLP. May 11, 2006.
  11. ↑ Keating, Dave (June 12, 2006). "Lincolnshire exits American Coach with 35% IRR". Private Equity International.
  12. ↑ "First Transit acquires Coach USA transit services". Metro Magazine. July 1, 2003.
  13. ↑ Wright, Harley (May 14, 2013). "Megabus.com Reaches 25 Million Passengers". Michigan Chronicle.
  14. ↑ "Variant Equity Completes Acquisition of Coach USA and Coach Canada" (Press release). Coach USA. April 16, 2019.
  15. ↑ "Stagecoach sells off North American division for $271m". Coach & Bus Week. December 21, 2018.
  16. ↑ "Stagecoach agrees to sell Coach USA". Buses. January 17, 2019.
  17. ↑ "Stagecoach pulls out of United States". BBC News. December 20, 2018.
  18. ↑ "Chicago Trolley And Double Decker Company Closing After 25 Years". CBS News. December 30, 2019.
  19. ↑ Jimenez, Abdel (December 30, 2019). "Chicago Trolley & Double Decker Co. to shut down after New Year's Eve". Chicago Tribune.
  20. ↑ Pete, Joseph S. (December 12, 2019). "Coach says it will slash bus service to Chicago airports". South Bend Tribune.
  21. ↑ "Coach USA announces Cleveland-based Lakefront Lines is ceasing operations by September, 2020". WKYC. July 16, 2020.
  22. ↑ "Motorcoach Industry Seeks Federal Aid to Mitigate Losses". Transport Topics. July 27, 2020.
  23. ↑ "New bus company will take over NJ Transit routes in busy N.J. county". NJ.com. June 9, 2021.
  24. ↑ Phakdeetham, Janine (June 11, 2024). "Coach USA files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware". Bloomberg Law.
  25. ↑ "Coach USA, Inc. Case Background". Kroll Inc.
  26. 1 2 "Coach USA Completes Transaction with Affiliates of The Renco Group" (Press release). PR Newswire. November 1, 2024.
  27. ↑ "Exciting New Megabus Announcement – Learn More!". Peter Pan Bus Lines.
  28. ↑ Zukowski, Dan (August 13, 2024). "NJ Transit will rescue bus riders after Coach USA abandons service". Industry Dive.
  29. ↑ "Coach USA sale to The Renco Group finalized; will have no impact on commuters". Bus & Motorcoach News. November 5, 2024.
  30. ↑ Hidalgo, Jason (July 15, 2025). "149 Nevadans losing jobs as major bus company plans to shut down facility". Reno Gazette Journal.
  31. ↑ "Coach USA Elko to close and lay off employees". KTVN. July 15, 2025.
  32. ↑ "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". Federal Register. June 22, 2012.
  33. ↑ Heyward, Giulia (December 11, 2025). "Coach USA bus slams into Midtown building, officials and company say". Gothamist.
  34. ↑ Finley, Louis (December 11, 2025). "FDNY: One injured after bus hits scaffolding in Midtown". NY1.
  35. ↑ Guadalupe, Julian Leshay (March 18, 2016). "Watch bus crash into railroad bridge, losing part of its roof". North Jersey Media Group.
edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Coach_USA&oldid=1355874465"