Megabus cutting services in Kansas City, Columbia

Since 2007, Megabus has offered cheap transportation — sometimes as low as a couple of bucks if you time your purchase right — between Kansas City, St. Louis and Chicago. The bus service added stops in Columbia, Missouri, the following year, and has become a popular choice for college students shuttling between Columbia and KC (or St. Louis). But in an e-mail to customers sent last week, the company announced that it will be suspending services in Kansas City and Columbia, effective at the end of September. Megabus cited low ridership as the reason for the decision. 

“Customer demand has been declining, which Megabus.com continued to monitor with the hopes it would turn around, but sadly it did not,” the e-mail read. “Therefore, Megabus.com had to take this unfortunate but necessary action.”

Those who have already purchased trips for after September 30 will receive a full refund, the company said. 

Though its cheap fares make it a popular choice, Megabus has had a host of problems in the eight years it’s been operating in the United States. Driver fatigue has been cited as one of the possible explanations for the numerous accidents that have occurred on Megabus trips in recent years. In 2012, a University of Missouri student named Aditi Avhad was killed when a Megabus headed to Kansas City from Chicago crashed into a bridge pillar in southern Illinois. Avhad’s parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the company.

A change.org petition has been started in the hopes of convincing Megabus to keep its KC and Columbia routes alive. You can sign it here.