OurBus calls off Indianapolis-Chicago bus service
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New York City-based transportation startup OurBus, which began offering a daily route from Indianapolis to Chicago in mid-2019, has stopped offering the service, the company confirmed Wednesday.
The service was launched after Indiana withdrew funding for Amtrak’s Hoosier State train service from Indianapolis and Chicago in July 2019. The route, which offered stops in Zionsville and Lafayette, was suspended temporarily in 2020 due to the pandemic but had been in service ever since.
In a written statement, OurBus said two “setbacks” led to the decision to quietly cancel the route as of June 24.
One setback involved redevelopment plans in Chicago that forced a bus stop to be moved several blocks away, to under a freeway overpass, removing connections to Amtrak routes. OurBus said ridership on the route fell 30% after the move.
OurBus said visitation by families and tourists from Indiana spending the weekend in Chicago was also down significantly, which the company attributed to media coverage of crime in Chicago.
OurBus isn’t a traditional transportation company and doesn’t own a fleet of buses. The company, which considers itself a tech company, handles routes and scheduling, ticket sales and customer service. It contracts with local providers who supply the buses and drivers.