The Antelope Valley Times

Your community. Your issues. Your news.

  • Home
  • Latest News
  • Local
    • Palmdale
    • Lancaster
    • Los Angeles County
    • Littlerock
    • Lake Los Angeles
    • Rosamond
    • Edwards AFB
    • Acton
  • Crime
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Advertise
    • About
    • Contact Us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    Show Search

Op-ed: California motorcoach industry decimated by COVID-19

by Opinion • April 16, 2020

An Open Letter to California Congressional Delegation:

We are California’s motorcoach industry. We are family and independently-owned businesses you represent, transporting 24 million residents and tourists annually across the region. From our national parks to city centers, we are visible in every community and vital to America’s transportation network.

Before COVID-19, we employed 9,367 hardworking individuals across California and contributed $1.7 billion in economic revenue.

Like many transportation industries, that has all changed and virtually every bus company across America has stopped operating. We support the public health restrictions put in place to help flatten the spread of COVID-19, but when people emerge from this crisis, we want our employees to have jobs and bring visitors back here. But today, our future is very uncertain.

Before Congress left Washington, DC for a one-month hiatus they passed a $2 trillion aid package to help large and small business. That package included nearly $100 billion for every mode of passenger transportation (airlines, Amtrak, transit) except for private buses.

Our voice in Congress was ignored, leaving our industry and our employees on the side of the road.

As the federal government focuses on recovery, we urge you to remember that we bring your constituents to work; your kids on school trips; evacuate your citizens during natural disasters; and we drive tourism in our state…literally.

We connect America. If we go away, those experiences go away. We need your support now.

Sueng Kim, LA Coach Inc

Melissa Romero, Bay Area Charters

Phil Rudnick, Valet Express

Chris Riddington, Classic Charter, Inc.

Richard Dorr, Discovery Charters

Linn Li, Gary Express Inc.

John Neumann, Neumann Transportation

Vyacheslav Panchenko, SIV Transport LLC

Shiloh Foust, Delta Charter Bus

Tom Giddens, Pacific Coachways Charter Services, Inc

Victoria Cole, American Stage Tours

Xavier Valls, Julia Group

Robert Vaughn, BEST-VIP Chauffeured Worldwide

Eddie Wong, Fast Deer Bus Charter

Robert Saucedo, Carreras Tours

Rigo Gonzalez, San Jose Charters, Inc

Jodi Merritt, H&L Charter Co, Inc.

Eric Gregory, Certified Transportation Services, Inc.

Matthew Strack, StrackGround

Eduardo Sanchez, Mex-American Entertainment Group Inc

Nick Weathers, Specialty Coaches

Mark Wilkerson, Gold Coast Tours

Curtis Riggs, VIA Adventures Inc

Nick Benavides, Storm Trooper Coaches

David Uziel, UrbanBCN Worldwide

Terry Fischer, Transportation Charter Services Inc

and the entire California motorcoach industry.

Filed Under: Opinion

Recent Comments

  • Stinger on Readers Speak Out! (new): “I knew it was you all along, and not old man Withers, like those meddling kids said! ;-)” May 26, 13:26
  • Tim Scott on Newsom warns of statewide watering restrictions if local efforts fall short: “LOL…”it’s so easy a democrat can do it”…so you republicants keep taking it into your little pin heads that you…” May 26, 11:20
  • Tim Scott on 7 cited, none arrested for DUI at Lancaster checkpoint: “No, I was actually making a point about people who only do the right thing for fear of the law…” May 26, 11:12
  • America's Most Licentious Luddite on Readers Speak Out! (new): “***** TRUST NO ONE ****** That’s the conventional wisdom.” May 26, 09:48
  • Stinger on Readers Speak Out! (new): “Ah, BeeEss, we all know that your intent is merely to troll with RWNJ nonsense, not to engage in any…” May 26, 08:32

Copyright © 2022 · The AV Times LLC. All rights reserved. Terms of Use