CLEVELAND, Ohio — The shuttering of long-time Cleveland-based bus company Lakefront Lines isn’t just bad news for Northeast Ohio travelers. It may foreshadow additional closures throughout the industry, which has been devastated by the coronavirus pandemic.
Low-cost service on Megabus in Cleveland remains on hold, while Greyhound runs a dramatically reduced network. Group tour operators and charter companies, meanwhile, continue to delay and cancel upcoming bus excursions.
“Lakefront could be the tip of the iceberg, unfortunately,” said professor Joseph Schwieterman, a transportation expert and director of the Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development at DePaul University in Chicago. “It’s one of the first big shoes to drop in the Midwest.”
Bus travel is down dramatically in recent months, according to Schwieterman, and unlike the airlines, the industry hasn’t received government relief aid to help it survive.
Transportation and tour companies, including Lakefront, were hopeful that recovery from the pandemic would be quicker and more sustained, particularly as colleges resumed classes this fall. “The prospect for recovery is fading,” said Schwieterman.
One possible glimmer of hope: Federal aid for the bus industry is being discussed in Congress.
But any aid, if it comes, will be too late for Lakefront.
Coach USA, the New Jersey-based parent company of Lakefront Lines, notified the state of Ohio last week that it planned to permanently close Lakefront in September, laying off 339 employees, including 255 drivers. The company maintains offices in four Ohio cities – Brook Park, Columbus, Toledo and Cincinnati – with headquarters at its suburban Cleveland location.
Sean Hughes, director of corporate affairs for Coach USA, called the decision to close Lakefront “very challenging.” He added, “We certainly thank our employees for their commitment.”
Lakefront has deep roots in Cleveland, founded in 1962 by the Goebel family. The family sold the company in 2008, and later founded Barons Bus, another Cleveland-based transportation company.
Over the years, Lakefront has offered group tours to popular destinations, from nearby casinos to the Grand Canyon. It also provided charter bus service to local schools, church groups, conventions gatherings and other groups.
In recent years, the company also operated routes for sister company Megabus.com, offering scheduled service to New York City and other destinations.
Megabus, meanwhile, has not yet resumed service to and from Cleveland, which was halted in March. According to a recent analysis by Schwieterman, Megabus is operating perhaps 15% of its pre-pandemic routes across the U.S.
Greyhound, meanwhile, has re-instituted about 40% of its previous routes, according to Schwieterman’s analysis.
Megabus, known for its double-decker buses and gimmicky $1 fares, offered transportation to both Chicago and New York City from Cleveland before the pandemic. (Previous routes to Columbus, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh were canceled years ago.)
Including Lakefront and Megabus, Coach USA is the parent company of 25 transportation companies across the United States.
Hughes said three, including Lakefront, were shuttered in recent weeks. Lakefront was targeted, in part, because of its reliance on the leisure tour business, which isn’t expected to fully rebound from the pandemic-related downturn for many months if not years.
Hughes said Coach USA, unlike some smaller bus companies, was not eligible for help through the federal Paycheck Protection Program.
The bus industry, too, was left out of early versions of the federal CARES Act stimulus dollars, which provided relief to both the airline industry and Amtrak.
A bill to provide as much as $10 billion in aid to the motorcoach industry is currently pending in the U.S. Senate.
Hughes said more than half of his nearly 5,000 co-workers at Coach USA have been furloughed, and the rest have taken significant pay cuts. “We need help,” he said.
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