Coach USA will stop running its bus routes from Orange, East Orange and South Orange to Newark on Oct. 8.
“We attempted to find a solution that would allow service to continue but none prevailed,” said Dan Rodriguez, vice president of public affairs at Coach USA. “Routes managed by operators such as O.N.E Bus, DeCamp Bus Lines and A&C Bus Corp are legacy lines that in most cases were created long before the New Jersey Transit was, and as years progressed and costs went up, became increasingly difficult to make financially viable and fully operational. We have attempted every course of action to have prevented this, but without government assistance there is no alternative.”
Newel Scoon, vice president of the east for Coach USA, said it is no longer possible for the bus company to run the routes, which are numbered 24, 31 and 44.
“We attempted to run uninterrupted service on those lines, but with decrease in ridership, driver shortages, inflationary pressures on all operating expenses and our strong desire in providing the most affordable mode of transportation, it simply became untenable to continue,” Scoon said.
Coach USA does not receive any subsidy from the government to run the lines.
“In an environment with consistently lower passenger counts and higher incurred costs, the losses are substantial. Revenue only covers about half of the current cost of operating the service,” Scoon said.
Rodriguez said that Coach USA “will continue to work with state and other officials so as to make the change less impactful on those customers affected by it.”
Coach USA has operated the bus lines and managed bus routes in the Newark area for more than 30 years.
Coach USA has given notice to its unions, NJ Transit, the governor’s office and elected officials who represent the affected areas. Coach USA is also in the process of informing the customers of this service of the impending changes. All other existing Coach USA routes continue to operate as scheduled and this announcement does not impact any other Coach USA service.
Coach USA operates 2,250 vehicles and has more than 3,000 employees who serve millions of passengers. Coach USA provides critical local and intercity transport services for communities throughout the United States and Canada via Coach Canada.
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