The company that runs multiple inter-city bus routes into and out of Madison filed for voluntary bankruptcy earlier this month, but the move is not expected to result in any immediate changes to those routes.
Coach USA operates Van Galder and Megabus buses that take passengers between Madison and Chicago, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Green Bay, La Crosse and Oshkosh several times per week. It also runs Wisconsin Coach buses into and out of cities including Whitewater and Milwaukee.
It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy June 11 in Delaware after a pandemic-related drop in business made it impossible to service the debt used to finance its $270 million purchase by private equity firm Variant Equity Advisors in 2019, Reuters reported June 12.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused bus ridership to decline by 90% from 2019 to 2020, according to court documents, Reuters reported, and ridership levels last year were only 45% of pre-pandemic levels.
People are also reading…
“The company has faced significant challenges, as ridership and demand in the industry have remained well below pre-pandemic levels,” Coach USA said in a June 11 news release.
Coach USA is the largest privately owned bus company in the United States, Reuters reported. It operates in 27 locations in the United States and Canada and has 2,700 employees and 2,070 buses. Some of its routes are more than 100 years old, the company said in the news release.
Under one of three sales agreements Coach USA had in place when it entered bankruptcy, a subsidiary of private investor Renco Group would take over Van Galder, Wisconsin Coach, Megabus and nine other bus lines, the company said. Two other companies, Avalon Transportation and ABC Buses, would take over other lines and assets, with the three agreements in all covering 16 of Coach USA’s 25 lines of business, Reuters reported.
The company said the bankruptcy proceedings are structured in a way that would also let higher bidders buy the assets.
Coach USA entered Chapter 11 with $197.8 million in debt, including $37 million from a federal pandemic relief loan, and at least $134 million in other unpaid obligations, Reutaers reported.
“As we move through this process, 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,” Coach USA CEO Derrick Waters said in the news release. “We appreciate the dedication of our employees to operating with safety as a priority and serving our customers and our communities.”