In October, Starlight Express announced the company was dropping route service from Charlotteville, Va., to New York City after 15 years.
The company is giving up its long-distance bus line in the face of competition from Megabus, which recently began running rides for as low as $5 and $80 on average. Starlight was offering rides along the same route—with free drinks and snacks—for $99. “It’s clear that there’s no way we can compete with a national conglomerate. It’s not that they’re a bad company and it’s good for consumers to have lower prices, but they are a different type of competitor with a lot of resources,” Dan Goff, of Ruckersville-based A. Goff Limousine and Bus Co., which owns Starlight Express, told The Daily Progress.
He said his company will continue to provide limousine services, charter buses and executive transport. Megabus’ Charlottesville to New York route is operated by Dillon’s Bus Service, a Maryland-based company owned by Coach USA.
