메가버스 파산: 저렴한 시외 여행 옵션의 감소

### 메가버스의 쇠퇴: 시외버스 업계가 직면한 도전 과제
* 🚌 한때 대학생과 청년층에게 인기 있고 저렴한 여행 옵션이었던 메가버스는 **모기업인 Coach USA가 파산 신청**을 하면서 심각한 어려움에 직면해 있습니다.
* 💰 2003년 영국에서 시작되어 2006년에 미국에 도입된 메가버스는 **1달러 티켓을 포함한 저렴한 요금**과 Wi-Fi 및 전원 콘센트와 같은 편의시설로 초기에는 그레이하운드와 같은 경쟁사보다 고객들의 선택을 받았습니다.
* 📉 하지만 **2010년대 중반부터 시외버스 업계는 유가 하락, FlixBus와의 경쟁 심화, 대형 사고로 인한 안전 문제** 등으로 인해 어려움을 겪기 시작했습니다.
* 📊 2019년 Variant Equity Advisors에 매각된 이후, Coach USA는 **부채 부담**을 안게 되었고, 코로나19 팬데믹으로 인해 여행이 중단되면서 **재정적 의무를 이행할 수 없게** 되었습니다.
* 🚍 팬데믹 이후 버스 산업은 크게 위축되어 **면허를 받은 버스 회사 수가 약 3,000개에서 절반 수준**으로 감소했으며, 이는 항공사와 비교하여 정부의 지원이 부족했기 때문입니다.
* 🏢 또한 **비용 상승, 운전자 및 정비사 부족, 버스 터미널에 대한 현지의 저항**과 같은 운영상의 문제도 상황을 더욱 복잡하게 만들었습니다.
* ⚖ 버스가 특히 소외된 지역과 농촌 지역에서 실행 가능한 교통 수단으로 남아 있도록 공공 정책 옹호를 강화해야 한다는 요구가 있지만, **저렴한 버스 여행의 미래는 여전히 불확실**합니다.
* 🚧 여행의 역학관계가 변화함에 따라 **마스코트 시드 더 퀴드가 있는 메가버스의 상징적인 이미지는 곧 과거의 유물**이 될 수 있으며, 여행자들은 **더 적은 옵션과 잠재적으로 더 비싼 옵션**을 선택할 수 있게 될 것입니다.

메가버스는 시외버스 업계의 광범위한 어려움을 반영하듯 파산이 임박하면서 쇠퇴의 길을 걷고 있습니다.

Narrator: If you were in college over the last 20 years or so, you might have some memories of Megabus, the big blue double-decker bus with a giant yellow mascot painted on the sides. Maybe you went on a neat little weekend getaway with friends. Other times, you probably got stuck in traffic, or the bus broke down on the trip. For all of its flaws, Megabus was a decent and affordable way to get around for years. But now it's in trouble. The parent company, Coach USA, has filed for bankruptcy. And Megabus is handing over some of its routes to other operators and discounting others altogether. Business Insider's Emily Stewart looked into what's happened to Megabus and whether the double-decker icon can or should survive. These buses are actually pretty important to get people from point A to point B, especially people who maybe can't afford a train ticket or who can't afford a plane ticket.

Narrator: Stagecoach Group, which is based in the UK, first launched Megabus there in 2003. They offered seats for 1 pound, or a quid, which is where the mascot, Sid the Quid, gets his name. They brought Megabus to the US in 2006. Emily: Megabus was kind of hip. It had outlets that worked kind of most of the time, if not all of the time, so you could plug your phone in. It had Wi-Fi that worked kind of none of the time, but, like, you could pretend like it was going to work. You could also buy the tickets online, which was kind of novel, and so Megabus felt like kind of cooler than like a Greyhound. Narrator: And it was cheap. Megabus could lure people in with $1 tickets. Emily: Now to be clear, maybe there was like a seat on the bus that was a dollar, and that wasn't going to be your seat.

Narrator: Millennials loved it. Along with Greyhound, Megabus became one of the two main intercity bus carriers in the US. But in the mid-2010s, the tides started to turn. Gas prices fell in 2015 and 2016, which made other forms of transportation that customers might prefer, like driving and flying, cheaper. And FlixBus, an operator out of Germany, launched in the US in 2018, which meant more competition. While Megabus was ahead with the power outlets and Wi-Fi, everybody else caught up. And some high-profile accidents may have left some with safety concerns, too. Then, in 2019, Stagecoach sold Coach USA to Variant Equity Advisors in a $271.4 million deal. So basically, when this private equity firm comes in and buys Coach USA, they do what a lot of private equity firms do, which is that they load it up with a bunch of debt.

That happens in 2019, and in 2020, the pandemic hits. And the bus industry, like a lot of travel, just completely grinds to a halt. And so if they're not bringing any money in, there's no way to service those debt payments. Narrator: A lot of that debt is still outstanding, and so Coach USA filed for bankruptcy in the middle of 2024. Megabus is sort of a microcosm of what's happening in the intercity bus industry, which has been struggling. Emily: I was trying to take a bus from New York City to Atlantic City over the summer, and I was kind of shocked at how few buses there were. I could still get them, but it wasn't like, at least I felt like it was five years ago, when there were a bunch of options at all times. Narrator: According to one insider, there were about 3,000 licensed bus

and motor coach companies before the pandemic. Now it is about half the size. The industry has had a hard time recovering, in part because it didn't get the government assistance that airlines did during COVID. Policymakers tend to treat it as an afterthought. There are also problems on the operational side, like rising costs for parts and the shortage of both drivers and mechanics. Bus terminals are becoming a problem, too. Some localities are pushing back against them, because they sometimes have an unsavory reputation. I've taken a bus before, and I think, you know, sometimes it is nice to be in a terminal and not just waiting on the side of the road, wondering if this magical bus is going to appear or not. Narrator: Making the issue even worse is that 33 of Greyhound's terminals have been sold to a commercial real estate investor, and they have other plans for the space.

that can make them more money. One thing that hasn't really helped the bus industry is the involvement of finance. They don't really care if the public has a great place to pick up the local bus. Narrator: In other words, the intercity bus industry is facing a lot of headwinds. Of course, if you want to hop on a bus from Boston to New York for the weekend, you still can. It just might not be a Megabus. It'll probably be a Peter Pan or Greyhound or Flix, or something else, but your options might be more limited than they were before, and more expensive. I think it is tough to think about a solution. I did find that there was kind of mention of trying to lobby a little bit more in public policy spaces to try and kind of get across to policymakers, to lawmakers, that buses do matter, whether it be providing more funding so that they can get to rural areas,

or that they can get to underserved areas. You want a bus terminal in your city, and you don't want it to be 20 miles out of town where nobody can get to it. Narrator: Still, travel in America may never be what it once was, and the days of dollar seats and Sid the Quid rolling down the highway could soon be gone for good.

Why Cheap Bus Travel Is Disappearing In America | Business Insider Explains | Business Insider

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저렴한 여행과 상징적인 이층 버스로 유명한 메가버스는 모기업인 Coach USA가 파산 신청을 하면서 현재 어려움에 처해 있습니다.

이 회사는 생존을 위해 노선을 줄이고 할인을 제공하고 있습니다.

메가버스는 2003년 영국에서 시작되어 2006년 미국으로 확장되었으며, 1달러의 저렴한 티켓과 현대적인 편의시설로 인기를 얻었습니다.

메가버스와 시외버스 산업의 쇠퇴

메가버스는 밀레니얼 세대 사이에서 인기를 끌었지만 2010년대 중반에 유가 하락과 FlixBus와의 경쟁 심화로 인해 어려움을 겪었습니다.

유명세를 탄 사고와 소유권 변경으로 인해 Coach USA는 부채 부담이 커졌고, 결국 2024년에 파산 신청을 했습니다.

시외버스 업계는 예년에 비해 여행객이 선택할 수 있는 옵션이 줄어들면서 어려움을 겪고 있습니다.

시외버스 업계는 팬데믹 이후 규모가 절반으로 축소되어 정부의 지원 없이는 회복하기 어려운 상황에 처해 있습니다.

운영 비용 상승, 운전기사 및 정비사 부족, 버스 터미널에 대한 반발로 인해 업계의 어려움이 가중되고 있습니다.

그레이하운드의 터미널을 상업 투자자에게 매각하면서 상황이 더욱 복잡해져 승객의 여행 옵션이 제한되고 비용이 더 많이 들게 되었습니다.

도시의 버스터미널은 교통 소외 지역으로 이동하는 데 매우 중요하며, 중앙에 위치했으면 하는 바람이 있습니다.

기존의 저렴한 여행 옵션이 사라지고 있을지도 모릅니다.

내레이터는 저렴한 비용으로 쉽게 접근할 수 있는 여행의 시대가 끝날 수 있다고 말합니다.