Van Galder Bus Company, legally Sam Van Galder, Inc. is a regional bus service headquartered in Janesville,

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. A subsidiary of

Coach USA Coach USA, LLC is a holding company for various American transportation service providers providing scheduled intercity bus service, local and commuter bus transit, city sightseeing, tour, yellow school bus, and charter bus service across the ...

, the company had been a family-owned business for over 50 years until it was sold in 1999 to the

Stagecoach Group Stagecoach Group is a transport group based in Perth, Scotland. It operates buses and express coaches in the United Kingdom. Stagecoach was originally founded in 1976 as ''Gloagtrotter'', a recreational vehicle and minibus hire business. Dur ...

, who retained Stephen Van Galder as president under the Coach USA banner. In 2004, Van Galder acquired Rockford Coach Lines, which provided airport service from Rockford to O'Hare, from

Greyhound Lines Greyhound Lines, Inc. is an American operator of Intercity bus service, intercity bus services. Greyhound operates the largest intercity bus network in the United States, and also operates charter and Amtrak Thruway services, as well as interci ...

. The company operates school buses for the Janesville School district, coach and school bus charters, tour and travel excursions, daily airport shuttles,

Amtrak Thruway Amtrak Thruway is a system of through-ticketed transportation services to connect passengers with areas not served by Amtrak trains. In most cases these are dedicated motorcoach routes, but can also be non-dedicated intercity bus services, transi ...

service to downtown

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, and the only intercity service on the

I-39 Interstate 39 (I-39) is a north–south Interstate Highway in Illinois and Wisconsin that runs from an interchange at I-55 in Normal, Illinois, to State Trunk Highway 29 (WIS 29) approximately south of Wausau, Wisconsin. In to ...

/ 90 corridor. The company has bus terminals in Janesville and Rockford. It picks up curbside in Madison on North Lake Street and at the Dutch Mill Park and Ride and has two pick-ups in Rockford, one on Walton Street for O'Hare customers and one on N. Lyford Street for downtown Chicago customers. However, all buses currently only stop at the Rockford terminal on Walton Street. Service to Chicago Midway Airport was suspended March 17, 2020, and there are no plans to reinstate it. The corridor served by Van Galder's regularly scheduled service is from: * Madison **

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

200 block of North Lake Street (between Dayton and Johnson Streets), adjacent to the Gordon Commons terrace. (For GPS, use "250 N. Lake St".) ** Dutch Mill Park & Ride off the West Beltline Highway and Stoughton Road ( Highway 51) * Janesville (Terminal off I-39/90 and Highway 14) * South Beloit (Fas Mart/

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

on southeast corner of I-39/90 and Highway 75) * Rockford Terminal off State Street ( U.S. Route 20 Business) to *

O'Hare International Airport Chicago O'Hare International Airport is the primary international airport serving Chicago, Illinois, United States, located on the city's Northwest Side, approximately northwest of the Chicago Loop, Loop business district. The airport is ope ...

** Chicago Union Station In September, 2009, the company started

double-decker bus A double-decker bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. Double-deckers are used primarily for commuter transport, but open-top models are used as sightseeing buses for tourists, and there are coaches too for long-distance travel. They app ...

service on the route between Madison and downtown Chicago. In June 2024, Coach USA filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

, blaming corporate impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The company has plans to sell its assets, and plans to sell its Megabus subsidiaries (including Van Galder) to Bus Company Holdings, a unit of the Renco Group.

References

External links

Van Galder Bus Company at Coach USA website
{{StagecoachGroup Bus transportation in Illinois Bus transportation in Wisconsin Stagecoach Group bus operators in the United States and Canada Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2024 Bus companies of the United States Janesville, Wisconsin 1947 establishments in Wisconsin Transportation companies based in Wisconsin