Tourmobile was a sightseeing company that operated in Washington DC from 1969 until 2011. The company was founded as a subsidiary of

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with three buses and grew to become an independent company carrying more than 700,000 passengers per year at $32 per ticket on its fleet of 45 vehicles. Passengers were able to board and alight as often as they liked on the day in which a ticket was purchased. Tourmobile operated a legal monopoly for guided tours of the

National Mall The National Mall is a Landscape architecture, landscaped park near the Downtown, Washington, D.C., downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institu ...

and

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

, which prevented the DC Circulator,

Capital Bikeshare Capital Bikeshare (also abbreviated CaBi) is a bicycle-sharing system that serves Washington, D.C., and certain counties of the Washington metropolitan area, larger metropolitan area. it had 700+ stations and more than 5,400 bicycles. The memb ...

, WMATA, and other organizations from providing services in highly-traveled parts of the city. This monopoly was highly controversial from the start. The

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

received an estimated $330,000 per year from the arrangement. After the termination of the Tourmobile contract, companies including Gray Line Worldwide and Open Top Sightseeing began providing National Mall tours. The company's fleet consisted of a distinctive style of bus, the newest of which was manufactured in 1976. Tourmobile plaque

References

{{authority control Companies based in Washington, D.C. Travel and holiday companies of the United States National Mall National Mall and Memorial Parks Conservation and restoration of vehicles Transportation companies based in Washington, D.C.