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 Van Hool TD925 coach at Penn Station in March 2009 | |
| Parent | Renco Group |
|---|---|
| Founded | April 10, 2006 |
| Headquarters |
|
| Service area | United States Canada |
| Service type | Intercity bus service |
| Routes | 30 |
| Hubs | |
| Fleet | Motor Coach Industries single-deck coaches Van Hool single-and double-deck coaches |
| Operator | Coach USA |
| Chief executive | Linda Burtwistle |
| Website | us ca |
Megabus is an intercity bus service operating in the United States and Canada. It is also the operator of the Virginia Breeze bus service.
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 after the bankruptcy of Coach USA, although Coach USA remained the manager of bus operations. [11]
Source: [13]
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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.
