Some Columbia citizens have found themselves with one less way out of town. Transportation service Megabus announced last Friday it would stopping all services to Columbia and Kansas City.
Megabus has been making daily stops in downtown Columbia at Wabash station for more than five years, with services travelling as far as Atlanta multiple times a day. In an email to Customers, Megabus officials apologized to customers citing a decrease in demand as the reason behind the cancellations. Sean Hughes, director of corporate affairs for Megabus North America released this statement to KBIA Tuesday.
“Megabus.com has been proudly serving Kansas City since 2007 and Columbia since 2008 but as of Wednesday, September 30th 2015 Megabus.com will no longer be serving Kansas City and Columbia Missouri. Customer demand has been declining which Megabus.com continued to monitor with the hope it would turn around, but sadly it did not. Therefore, Megabus.com had to take this unfortunate, but necessary action. Any reservations will be refunded in full to the card used to make the booking within three to five business days. Megabus.com would like to thank you for your patronage and support through the years.”
Some customers have responded by creating a change.org petition that has received more 250 signatures as of noon Tuesday. David Wallace, creator of the petition, says that the cancellations are “unnecessary” as the buses are a vital service to some people.
“People in Kansas city and Columbia who frequently travel using the Megabus will likely tell you that those buses are normally full throughout the week and on the weekends," said Wallace. "I don’t agree with the cancellations and I do believe that if Megabus wants to discontinue daily service they should at least supplement that with weekend and holiday routes for the student population that exists in Columbia as well as travelers in Kansas City.”
A Megabus spokesperson stressed that the cancellations were “unfortunate but necessary” due to such a low number of passengers, however Megabus.com has stated that they will re-evaluate the situation from time to time.
