Coach USA Will Pull Plug On Bus Routes In Newark, Orange, East Orange

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Coach USA is planning to discontinue service on three bus lines that serve riders in Newark, Orange and East Orange, South Orange and Elizabeth, the company says.

O.N.E. bus routes 24, 31 and 44 will be discontinued on Oct. 8, Coach announced earlier this week.

The company blamed a “decrease in ridership, driver shortages and inflationary pressures on all operating expenses” for the upcoming changes. All other existing Coach USA routes will continue to operate as scheduled.

“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.

“We have attempted every course of action to have prevented this, but without government assistance there is no alternative,” Rodriguez added.

Newel Scoon, vice president of the east for Coach USA, offered some additional details about the decision:

“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 … We are acutely aware of the importance of these lines to those in the communities we have been serving, but there is simply no way we can continue to do so. [The] O.N.E. Bus operates very similarly to New Jersey Transit but with a key distinction: We are not provided with an operating subsidy. 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.”

Coach USA said it has given notice about the changes to its unions, NJ Transit, the governor’s office, and elected officials who represent the affected areas.

One of those officials – Newark Mayor Ras Baraka – called the decision “unconscionable and irresponsible” in a statement to NJ.com.

Riders who will be impacted by the changes are also blasting the move.

“There’s going to be a riot,” a commuter told TAPintoNewark. “You know people are going to be mad about that. They’re going to be in the street with posters. You know how it’s going to go.”

Coach USA isn’t the only private bus company to recently pull the plug on commuter service in Essex County.

In March, DeCamp Bus Lines – which ran several routes from North Jersey to New York City – announced that it will be ending commuter services across the Hudson River. According to the company, it struggled to recapture daily commuter passengers after the coronavirus pandemic, with monthly ridership averages at 20 percent or less of pre-COVID levels.

“DeCamp has sustained commuter services up to this point, thanks to the various federal and state financial assistance programs,” spokespeople said. “But, without further assistance on the horizon, the economic losses from continued operations of the commuter services are too much to bear.”

• See Related: End Of An Era For DeCamp Bus: NJ Company Stopping NYC Routes

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