| Coach USA LLC | |
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| Datei:Coach USA logo.png |
Coach USA LLC ist eine Holdinggesellschaft für verschiedene amerikanische Transportdienstleister, die planmäßige Fernbusse, Nah- und Pendlerbusse, Stadtrundfahrten, Rundfahrten, gelbe Schulbusse und Charterbusse anbieten. Es gehört dem schottischen Transportunternehmen Stagecoach Group.
History Bearbeiten
Coach USA traces its history back to 1955, as Community Coach, when the Gallagher family bought a company in Paramus, New Jersey, and acquired other companies in New Jersey, which would become subsidiaries of Coach USA at its inception in 1995, when Frank Gallagher sold the firm to Notre Capital Ventures. At its inception, Coach USA consisted of six companies: Suburban Trails, Community Coach, Leisure Line, and Adventure Trails in New Jersey, Gray Line of San Francisco, and Arrow Stage Line in Arizona (not to be confused with unaffiliated Arrow Stage Lines).[1][2]. Listing on the NASDAQ in 1996 under ticker TOUR, and later switching to the New York Stock Exchange under stock ticker CYI, Coach USA, under the leadership of Richard Kristinik, would expand quickly, acquiring companies throughout the United States in the next three years to expand to over 5,000 buses and many more taxicabs, as its acquisitions also included yellow cab firms throughout the United States.
In 1998, Kristinik retired, and Larry King succeeded him.[3]. Stagecoach Group would purchase Coach USA in mid-1999 for $1.88 billion USD.[4]
Under the helm of the original owner of Coach USA's predecessor, Frank Gallagher, Coach USA under Stagecoach ownership[2], sought to continue expansion, but the company, hit hard by the loss of charter business after the September 11, 2001 attacks,[1] caused Stagecoach to crash to a loss of over ₤524 million GBP, at which point Stagecoach, having lost over 70 percent of its investment and now under the leadership of its founder, Brian Souter after the downturn cost the previous CEO of Stagecoach his job, announced that all of the taxicab operations and most of Coach USA's subsidiaries were for sale, as Stagecoach sought to focus mostly on operations in the northeastern United States, where Coach USA today maintains subsidized transit operations and scheduled service.[5][6].
Retrenching, Stagecoach sold its companies in New England to Peter Pan.[7], Companies in the Southwest, West, and Rocky Mountain regions, along with company headquarters, were sold to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts[8] to form Coach America, and companies in the southeastern United States were sold to Linconshire Management, rebranded as American Coach Lines or under the previous names of subsidiaries,[9], all at heavy losses. The contract transit division was flipped to competitor First Transit.[10] 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.
Coach USA's operations today consist primarily of scheduled services in Greater New York and Chicagoland, with a number of charter operations near Pittsburgh and scheduled operations in the Southern Tier of New York and southern Wisconsin.
Divisions Bearbeiten
Coach USA, which once had six divisions (New England (now owned by Peter Pan, Northeast, North Central, Southeast (now under the American Coach Lines brand of Coach America), South Central (now owned by Coach America), and West (now owned by Coach America)), now operates all of its operations in two divisions, Northeast and North Central.[11][12]:
- Northeast: Based in Paramus, New Jersey, this division consists of Coach USA companies based in the New York metropolitan area and the Southern Tier of New York State.
- Community Coach (headquarters of Northeast Division and Coach USA, also includes Eastern Shuttle)
- Gray Line New York
- Olympia Trails (also includes Red & Tan in Hudson County, ONE/Independent Bus, and Megabus Northeast)
- Rockland Coaches
- Short Line Bus (also includes Chenango Valley Bus Lines)
- Suburban Trails (also includes Cape Transit)
- North Central: Based in Des Plaines, Illinois, this division consists of Coach USA companies based near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Chicago, Illinois.
- Butler Motor Transit (also includes Coach USA Erie and Gad-About Tours)
- Keeshin Charter Service (Coach USA Chicago and Megabus USA (Midwest operations))
- Central Cab Company (also includes Country Road Tours, Mountaineer Coach, and Park Tours)
- Lenzner Coach Lines
- Tri State/United Limo
- Sam Van Galder, Inc.
- Wisconsin Coach Lines
Megabus and Eastern Shuttle Bearbeiten
In the midwestern and northeastern United States, Megabus, a no-frills intercity bus service, consists of two networks of services based out of Chicago and New York City, servicing cities in the Midwest from a hub in Chicago and in the Northeast from a hub in New York City. Megabus also operated from a hub in Los Angeles to points in California, Arizona, and Las Vegas, Nevada (contracting with Coach America to provide the service), but because of insufficient ridership, service in the western United States was withdrawn on 2008-06-22 after only 10 months.
In the northeastern United States, discount service is provided under the Megabus and Eastern name, the latter of which Stagecoach Group purchased in summer 2008;[13] Stagecoach also purchased a second company, Today's Bus, in fall 2008. This enabled Coach USA to gain a strong foothold in the Chinatown bus market, and to greatly expand capacity on service between New York and Philadelphia, and New York and Washington, DC. As a result, Megabus sells tickets for both Megabus and Eastern to cities serviced by both services to and from New York City (other Eastern ticket options are sold at stops and through Gotobus).
References Bearbeiten
See also Bearbeiten
- Coach America - owner of former Coach USA West, South Central, and Southeast Divisions
- Peter Pan Bus Lines - owner of former Coach USA New England Division
External links Bearbeiten
- ↑ a b Coach USA from Answers.com. Abgerufen am 21. Juni 2008.
- ↑ a b Bid to make Coach USA King of the Road (The Independent). 18. Juni 2000, abgerufen am 21. Juni 2008.
- ↑ Coach USA, Inc. Names Larry King Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (Business Wire). 15. November 1998, abgerufen am 21. Juni 2008.
- ↑ Stagecoach pays pounds 1.21bn for largest US bus operator (The Independent). 15. Juni 1999, abgerufen am 21. Juni 2008.
- ↑ Stagecoach's US ambitions come at a price (The Sunday Herald). 1. Dezember 2002, abgerufen am 21. Juni 2008.
- ↑ Coach USA up for sale after write-down drives Stagecoach into pounds (The Independent). 15. Dezember 2002, abgerufen am 21. Juni 2008.
- ↑ Rhode Island's Bonanza Bus among Five Lines Sold to Peter Pan (Providence Journal/Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News). Dezember 2002, abgerufen am 21. Juni 2008.
- ↑ Stagecoach Group agrees terms for the sale of the West and South Central regions of Coach USA. 6. Juni 2003, abgerufen am 22. Juni 2008.
- ↑ Stagecoach to sell Coach USA unit for $48m (The Independent). 25. Juli 2003, abgerufen am 21. Juni 2008.
- ↑ Stagecoach Group sells Coach USA Transit Division (Stagecoach Group press release). 22. Mai 2003, abgerufen am 21. Juni 2008.
- ↑ Stagecoach Fan Club Home Page. Abgerufen am 21. Juni 2008.
- ↑ Coach USA Contacts. Abgerufen am 21. Juni 2008.
- ↑ Coach USA Eastern Shuttle schedule