America’s largest private bus company covering 500 cities across US files for bankruptcy

The future of Megabus – the budget alterntive to Greyound –  is under threat.

That is because its owner Coach USA, whch also runs other commuter bus lines in the US and Canada, has filed for bankruptcy.

Megabus, which covers 500 cities across America, is known for its tickets from $1 – and has been a competitor to the pricier, more established Greyhound.

Since launching in 2006, Megabus has served more than 50 million Americans. Manwhile, Coach USA – across its various brands that also include Dillon’s Bus Company and Go Van Galder – serves 38 million people a year.

Coach CEO Derrick Waters said that buses will continue to run as normal during the company’s bankruptcy.

‘Our top priority remains safely carrying the millions of passengers who choose our buses each year and working closely with our valued contract customers and transportation agency partners,’ Waters said in a statement.

Coach USA operates in 27 locations in the US and Canada, with 2,700 employees and 2,070 buses operating. It carries 38 million passengers a year.

The company operates several other bus brands in addition to Coach and Megabus, including Dillon’s Bus Company and Go Van Galder.

Coach filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware late Tuesday, seeking to sell its assets and shed debt incurred in an ill-timed 2019 private equity buyout.

It the largest privately-owned bus company in the US, and was acquired by private equity firm Variant Equity Advisors for $270 million, mostly using debt that is still on the company’s books.

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