We now have for your perusal a fleet snapshot of all NJT-owned units as of January 1, 2002. This list was recently published in Motor Coach Today.

Coach USA Status Clarification

Dear Mr. Mackey,

Please may I be permitted to explain through your excellent Fan Pages the
situation at Coach USA.

Our founder and CEO of the Stagecoach Group is currently reviewing all
businesses in the Coach USA family nationwide. He has already announced the
impending sale of our New England Region to Peter Pan.

The North East Region, (which operates around 10 Companies in New York and
New Jersey), is is not currently for sale. Your readers will have observed
the success of our Grayline sightseeing double decker buses and the
re-branding and recent improvements in service to the Newark Airport
Express.

A great deal of work is going on behind the scenes to introduce further
exciting innovations which will improve our scheduled line coach services
and make passengers more aware of what we have to offer them.

So far as the exchange of routes between Coach USA and Academy is
concerned, I assure your readers that this was a regional decision which
makes perfect business sense and has nothing to do with the larger review
to which I referred above.
Shortly, Suburban will transfer route 9 to Academy and Academy will
transfer the former Funaway Atlantic City line runs to Leisure Line in
Paramus.There will also be some other minor swaps of trips.

I do hope this clarifies the situation.

Yours sincerely,
Roger Bowker


Roger W Bowker
Senior Vice President
North East Region
Coach USA

Academy Wins Suburban's Half Of Rt 139 - Temporarily

Academy Lines will begin offering Rt 139 service to Port Authority on December 30, 2002. Suburban Trails will cease operating this route tomorrow.

Academy's role as co-operator of the 139 won't last long. According to a report in today's Asbury Park Press, NJT will become sole operator of Rt 139 in five years (late 2007/early 2008). Additionally, Suburban Trails will take over Academy's Wall Street service, with NJ Transit also having the option to offer service to downtown NYC for the first time ever. However, NJT is taking a wait and see attitude toward Wall Street, understandably fueled by the loss of many jobs in lower Manhattan since the tragedies of September 11, 2001.

Very Very Few MC9's Left! Take Pictures NOW!

At this writing only 31 of the 1114 MC9's are left in service in NJT paint. Howell Garage has the last three MC9A's, 6102-6104. These were the first three non-demo MC9's delivered to NJT, serial numbers CP037499-37501. Howell also has these MC9B's left: 5001, 5035, 5090, 5135, 5147, 5150, 5155, 5157, 5163-5164, and 5167.

Egg Harbor's remaining MC9B's run mostly 559 service from Lakewood to Atlantic City, so look for 'em on Route 9. They are 5045, 5100, 5113-5122, 5124, 5128, 5161, 5368 and 5373

Coach USA Prepares NJ Exit; Sale Of Some Assets To Academy Imminent

If you read the item below, we opined that Academy may be interested in helping Coach USA close up shop in NJ. According to an item on a Yahoo! group, Academy and Coach have agreed for Academy to purchase Suburban Trails, Short Line and parts of Community Coach and Cape Transit (Adventure Trails). Academy is already a presence in Atlantic City, operating some of the casino employee shuttle routes (using, among others, its fleet of 1989 MC-9's, among the last of that model ever produced) as well as up and down the Route 9 corridor (Wall Street service).

Also, with a transit strike looming in New York, there is talk that the number of cars that are being allowed into NYC during rush hours will be drastically reduced, with no less than four in a car at peak times. It is likely that NJT will add extra service, whether rail or bus, into the city to alleviate the situation. (Of course, how you get around once in the city is up to you - good luck finding a cab!)

On December 15, 2002, Suburban Trails will cease service on Rt 139, which is co-operated by NJT and Suburban. Yet to be determined is if NJT will operate this route alone or some successor company taking over Suburban's interest in the route.

With this week's announcement of Coach USA beginning to fold its US operations at the behest of its corporate parent Stagecoach, there is a strong possibility that the New Jersey properties of Coach - which include Suburban, Community Coach, Hudson Transit (Short Line), Hudson Bus (Red & Tan), Rockland Coaches (Red & Tan), amd Leisure Time Tours (Leisure Line) - may have a potential buyer in the already-massive Academy Lines. A similar deal was struck last week with Peter Pan Bus Lines picking up all of Coach USA's significant New England operations including Bonanza, Maine Line, Arrow Line, Pawtuxet Valley and Coach USA Boston.

Just a note on the item below: at the moment, Chet Furmanek still owns Y-710, but he is looking for a buyer for it and several other buses. A while back he sold his company, Central Jersey Bus, to Stout's Charter Service, and is in the process of selling all his historic buses. I think he's down to his last eight or so. The hobby is extremely grateful to have had Chet actively involved in procuring and restoring buses. I hope that whoever buys Y-710 (and he's already got several prospects lined up) follows through on Chet's wish to ultimately restore it back into Public Service livery.