The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported yesterday afternoon that intercity bus service Megabus has recently ended its Columbus-to-Cleveland service as a part of a larger route cut between Cleveland and Atlanta. The PD reports that the scale back in service comes from declining ridership due to low gas prices across the US.
A Megabus Customer Service Specialist confirmed the route discontinuation with Columbus Underground via email yesterday evening, but provided a different explanation:
“I am sorry to advise you that this service has been discontinued. After running this route over a period of time we have determined that due to low ridership it was no longer feasible to continue. As a company we need to be able to cover all our costs and make a profit to enable us to be able to fund future vehicle purchases and replace vehicles when they reach the end of their life. Unfortunately the overall demand just isn’t sufficient to sustain service. I appreciate that this explanation was not what you were hoping for in a response, however I do hope that it at least gives you some background as to the decision taken.”
Currently, Columbus Megabus riders can only book trips directly to Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Chicago. Additional connections can be made from those cities, but due to the nature of the one-stop direct service model of the transit network, it does not guarantee timely transfers between routes, and doesn’t natively book routes with stopovers or layovers in mind.
For more information, visit us.megabus.com.