Maybe you went on a neat little weekend getaway with friends.

也許你和朋友們一起度過了一個愉快的週末。

Other times, you probably got stuck in traffic or the bus broke down on the trip.

其他時候，你可能會在旅途中遇到交通堵塞或公共汽車拋錨。

For all of its flaws, Megabus was a decent and affordable way to get around for years.

儘管存在種種缺陷，但多年來，Megabus 一直是一種既體面又實惠的出行方式。

But now, it's in trouble.

但現在，它遇到了麻煩。

The parent company, Coach USA, has filed for bankruptcy, and Megabus is handing over some of its routes to other operators and discounting others altogether.

母公司 Coach USA 已申請破產，Megabus 正在將部分線路移交給其他運營商，並對其他線路全面打折。

Business Insider's Emily Stewart looked into what's happened to Megabus and whether the double-decker icon can or should survive.

Business Insider 的艾米麗-斯圖爾特（Emily Stewart）調查了 Megabus 的遭遇，以及雙層巴士是否能夠或應該繼續生存下去。

These buses are actually pretty important to get people from point A to point B, especially people who maybe can't afford a train ticket or can't afford a plane ticket.

實際上，這些公共汽車對於把人們從 A 點送到 B 點非常重要，尤其是那些可能買不起火車票或飛機票的人。

Stagecoach Group, which is based in the UK, first launched Megabus there in 2003.

總部設在英國的 Stagecoach 集團於 2003 年首次在英國推出 Megabus。

It offered seats for one pound or a quid, which is where the mascot, Sid the Quid, gets his name.

它提供一英鎊或一英鎊的座位，吉祥物 Sid the Quid 也是以而得名。

They brought Megabus to the U.S. in 2006.

2006 年，他們將 Megabus 帶到了美國。

Megabus was kind of hip.

Megabus 還挺時髦的。

It had outlets that worked kind of most of the time, if not all of the time, so you could plug your phone in.

它的插座即使不能一直工作，也能在大部分時間工作，所以你可以把手機插進去。

It had Wi-Fi that worked kind of none of the time, but you could pretend like it was going to work.

它的 Wi-Fi 功能在任何時候都不起作用，但你可以假裝它會起作用。

You could also buy the tickets online, which was kind of novel.

您還可以在網上購票，這有點新奇。

And so Megabus felt kind of cooler than a Greyhound.

是以，Megabus 感覺比灰狗更酷。

And it was cheap.

而且價格便宜。

Megabus could lure people in with $1 tickets.

Megabus 可以用 1 美元的車票吸引乘客。

Now, to be clear, maybe there was like a seat on the bus that was a dollar and that wasn't going to be your seat.

現在，說白了，也許公車上有一個一美元的座位，但那不會是你的座位。

Millennials loved it.

千禧一代非常喜歡。

Along with Greyhound, Megabus became one of the two main inner-city bus carriers in the U.S.

Megabus 與灰狗公司一起成為美國兩大市內巴士運營商之一。

But in the mid-2010s, the tides started to turn.

但在 2010 年代中期，潮流開始轉向。

Gas prices fell in 2015 and 2016, which made other forms of transportation that customers might prefer, like driving and flying, cheaper.

2015 年和 2016 年油價下跌，這使得客戶可能更喜歡的其他交通方式（如駕車和乘飛機）變得更加便宜。

And Flixbus, an operator out of Germany, launched in the U.S. in 2018, which meant more competition.

而德國運營商 Flixbus 於 2018 年在美國推出，這意味著競爭更加激烈。

While Megabus was ahead with the power outlets and Wi-Fi, everybody else caught up.

雖然 Megabus 在電源插座和 Wi-Fi 方面走在了前面，但其他所有人都迎頭趕上。

And some high-profile accidents may have left some with safety concerns, too.

一些備受矚目的事故可能也讓一些人對安全感到擔憂。

Then in 2019, Stagecoach sold Coach USA to Variant Equity Advisors in a $271.4 million deal.

隨後在 2019 年，Stagecoach 以 2.714 億美元的價格將 Coach USA 出售給 Variant Equity Advisors。

So basically when this private equity firm comes in and buys Coach USA, they do what a lot of private equity firms do, which is that they load it up with a bunch of debt.

是以，基本上，當這傢俬募股權公司進入並收購 Coach USA 時，他們會像很多私募股權公司一樣，用大量的債務來支撐它。

That happens in 2019.

這將在 2019 年發生。

In 2020, the pandemic hits and the bus industry, like a lot of travel, just completely grinds to a halt.

2020 年，大流行病襲來，巴士行業和許多旅行一樣，完全陷入停滯。

And so if they're not bringing any money in, there's no way to service those debt payments.

是以，如果他們沒有帶來任何資金，就沒有辦法償還債務。

A lot of that debt is still outstanding.

很多債務仍未償還。

And so Coach USA filed for bankruptcy in the middle of 2024.

就這樣，美國蔻馳公司於 2024 年中期申請破產。

Megabus is sort of a microcosm of what's happening in the inner-city bus industry, which has been struggling.

Megabus 是市內公交行業的一個縮影，該行業一直在苦苦掙扎。

I was trying to take a bus from New York City to Atlantic City over the summer, and I was kind of shocked at how few buses there were.

今年夏天，我試圖乘坐公共汽車從紐約市前往大西洋城，我對公共汽車數量之少感到震驚。

I could still get them, but it wasn't like I, at least I felt like it was five years ago when there were a bunch of options at all times.

我仍然可以買到它們，但它不像我，至少我感覺不像五年前那樣，隨時都有很多選擇。

According to one insider, there were about 3,000 licensed bus and motor coach companies before the pandemic.

據一位業內人士稱，在大流行之前，大約有 3,000 家有執照的公共汽車和長途汽車公司。

Now it is about half the size.

現在，它只有原來的一半大小。

The industry has had a hard time recovering, in part because it didn't get the government assistance the airlines did during COVID.

該行業很難恢復，部分原因是它沒有像航空公司在 COVID 期間那樣得到政府的援助。

Policymakers tend to treat it as an afterthought.

政策制定者往往事後才想到這一點。

There are also problems on the operational side, like rising costs for parts and the shortage of both drivers and mechanics.

營運方面也存在一些問題，如零部件成本上升、司機和機械師短缺等。

Bus terminals are becoming a problem, too.

汽車總站也成了一個問題。

Some localities are pushing back against them because they sometimes have an unsavory reputation.

一些地方正在對它們進行反擊，因為它們有時名聲不佳。

I've taken a bus before, and I think sometimes it is nice to be in a terminal and not just waiting on the side of the road, wondering if this magical bus is going to appear or not.

我以前也坐過公車，我覺得有時候在終點站也挺好的，不用在路邊等著，不知道這輛神奇的公車會不會出現。

Making the issue even worse is that 33 of Greyhound's terminals have been sold to a commercial real estate investor, and they have other plans for the space that can make them more money.

更糟糕的是，灰狗公司的 33 個終點站已經賣給了一家商業地產投資商，他們對這些空間另有打算，以便賺取更多的錢。

One thing that hasn't really helped the bus industry is the involvement of finance.

金融的介入並沒有真正幫助巴士行業。

They don't really care if the public has a great place to pick up the local bus.

他們並不真正關心公眾是否有一個很好的地方來搭乘當地的公共汽車。

In other words, the intercity bus industry is facing a lot of headwinds.

換句話說，城際公交行業正面臨著諸多不利因素。

Of course, if you want to hop on a bus from Boston to New York for the weekend, you still can.

當然，如果您想在週末從波士頓搭乘巴士前往紐約，也是可以的。

It just might not be a megabus.

只是可能不是巨型巴士。

It'll probably be a Peter Pan or Greyhound or Flix or something else, but your options might be more limited than they were before and more expensive.

可能會是 Peter Pan 或 Greyhound 或 Flix 或其他什麼，但你的選擇可能比以前更少，價格也更貴。

I think it's tough to think about a solution.

我認為要想出一個解決辦法是很難的。

I did find that there was kind of mention of trying to lobby a little bit more in public policy spaces to try and kind of get across to policy makers, to lawmakers that buses do matter, whether it be providing more funding so that they can get to rural areas or that they can get to underserved areas.

我確實發現，有人提到要在公共政策領域進行更多的遊說，試圖讓政策制定者和立法者認識到公共汽車的重要性，無論是提供更多的資金，讓公共汽車能夠開到農村地區，還是開到服務不足的地區。

You want a bus terminal in your city and you don't want it to be 20 miles out of town where nobody can get to it.

你希望在你的城市裡有一個公共汽車總站，但你不希望它在離城 20 英里遠的地方，沒有人能到達那裡。

Still, travel in America may never be what it once was, and the days of dollar seats and Sid the Quid rolling down the highway could soon be gone for good.

儘管如此，美國的旅行可能再也回不到從前了，一美元座位和 Sid the Quid 在高速公路上飛馳的日子可能很快就會一去不復返了。