Coach USA cutting 20 NJ Transit bus routes in North Jersey

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Thousands of North Jersey riders will be affected next month when Coach USA stops cross honoring tickets. The private bus company says it will no longer operate NJ Transit local bus service in Hudson, Bergen and Passaic counties. The decision affects riders that use 20 local bus routes. The bus company sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month. In a statement about canceling its contracts with NJ Transit, a Coach USA spokesperson said, "We are working to transition service by Aug. 16 and in the meantime, we are continuing to operate service on those routes." NJ Transit told News 12 New Jersey that Coach USA abandoned three of their five contracts with them and said they are exploring every available option to limit the impacts on bus service in the state. "This very limited advance notice is clearly less than ideal and, as we have stated publicly after we absorbed the abandoned routes from private carriers DeCamp, A&C and O.N.E. last year, this presents significant challenges for NJ Transit’s resources, given the ongoing and fierce competition for recruiting CDL drivers from a limited pool of qualified candidates," a NJ Transit spokesperson said. Service across more than 50 other commuter routes in New Jersey and New York, including services to and from points in New York and New Jersey to various points in Manhattan, will still be provided, Coach USA said. Click here for schedule information. "