MTR Western
Founded2003
HeadquartersSeattle, Washington
LocaleUSA
Service areaWestern United States
Service typecontract service, charter service
HubsSeattle (main office), Portland, Eugene, Spokane
FleetFederal Mini Coach,
Krystal Mini Coach,
Prevost H3-45, X3-45,
Setra S417,
TEMSA Safari,
Van Hool Double Decker
Chief executiveMarka Waechter
WebsiteMTR Western

MTR Western is an American motorcoach operator active in the western United States and Canada.

Services

MTR Western provides group charters, sightseeing tours, driver-narrated tour programs,[1] and on-call emergency transportation.[2]

Charter clients include corporate customers such as Microsoft, Nike, Intel, Google, and Yahoo, in addition to touring entertainers, campaigning political candidates,[3] and college and professional sports teams. They carry essentially all of the NFL and Major League Baseball teams that visit Seattle.[4]

Tour clients include Tauck World Discovery, American West Steamboat Company, Caravan Tours, Contiki Tours, and Trafalgar Tours.

MTR Western operates two lines of the POINT Intercity Bus Service in Oregon.

History

MTR Western was founded in Seattle, Washington in 2003 by Darren Berg with four Prevost H3-45 motorcoaches. By 2007, they were one of the largest premium motorcoach companies in North America, with facilities in Seattle, Portland, Spokane, Eugene, The Dalles, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Vancouver, and Calgary, and winner of the BUSRide 2006 Motorcoach Industry Achievement Award.[4]

MTR Western's three-year growth of 1,214.9% earned it national recognition in Inc. Magazine's "Inc. 500", a list of America's fastest growing private companies in 2007. The list ranks MTR Western as number 166 in the U.S., number 9 in Washington State, and number 3 in the Transportation category.[5]

In 2008 they debuted in Metro Magazine's "Motorcoach Top 50" at number 17.[6] MTR Western is known for their award-winning "compelling and creative" bus wrap designs.[7]

Darren Berg funneled millions of dollars from a Ponzi scheme into MTR Western. After Berg's arrest in 2010, he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and a bankruptcy trustee sold Berg's assets.[8] On January 14, 2011, MTR announced the sale of MTR Western and OC&W Coachways to GTO LLC.[9] The lead investor in GTO is Howard S. Wright III, co-owner of the Space Needle.[10]

Gregoire license plate controversy

On April 10, 2008, MTR Western became involved in a controversy between the Washington State Republican Party and Democratic Governor Christine Gregoire. In a press release,[11] State Republican Party Chairman Luke Esser said, "Gov. Gregoire has been making it harder and harder for businesses to survive here in our state for three years, so it's no surprise that her campaign hired a bus with Oregon license plates to save money. The symbolism of Gov. Gregoire's bus tour couldn't be plainer."

Washington-based MTR Western responded the next day with a press release[3] citing Federal law: "Our Oregon license plates are issued pursuant to the International Registration Plan (IRP), which was created by wise federal legislation put into place to simplify the registration of commercial vehicles that travel in interstate commerce," said MTR Western CEO and founder Darren Berg. "It's disheartening to be associated with misleading statements that support an opinion that business opportunities are grim in the state of Washington."

One columnist from traditionally Republican Eastern Washington wrote of the controversy, "On Thursday the state Republican Party issued a press release titled "Gregoire Driving An Oregon Bus on Re-Election Tour" that screamed of scandal... Long story short, there’s no story here, much less a full blown scandal."[12]

Associated Companies

OC&W Coachways

MTR Western purchased Eugene, Oregon-based Oregon Coachways in 2006 from owners Donald Moorehead and John Mikulvich. The company, now named OC&W Coachways, provides no-frills charter bus service in Oregon, California, and Washington.[13][14]

GeoGenius

GeoGenius was a company based in Seattle, Washington that produced travel-related audio and video content for GPS-enabled devices.[15]

GeoGenius, LLC
TypePrivately held company
IndustryTourism
Founded2007
FounderDarren Berg
HeadquartersSeattle, Washington
USA
ProductsGPS-triggered travel guides
WebsiteGeoGenius

GeoGenius was founded by CEO Darren Berg in 2007. The company's first client was the parent company, which contracted them to develop GPS-triggered audio and video content for use by their motorcoach tour customers.[16]

The GeoGenius proof of concept, a multiple channel, multiple interest, GPS-triggered 7-day tour from San Francisco to Seattle, commenced operation in May, 2007.[1] Another video tour was scheduled to be installed on MTR Western's "hop on, hop off" city sightseeing tour of Vancouver, B.C. in April 2008.[17] Historical and travel-related content is featured on other tours of Vancouver operated by MTR Western subsidiary Sightline Tours.[18]

The company was developing content for personal download to multiple platforms, allowing tourists to construct their own tours.[19]

GeoGenius development is overseen by Lorayne Deceour.[20]

References

  1. 1 2 "The Online Home of MTR Western". MTR Western company website. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
  2. ↑ "Unhappy Campers". MTR Western company website. Archived from the original on November 14, 2006. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
  3. 1 2 "MTR Western Responds to Misleading Statements about Gregoire's Motorcoach". Business Wire. Reuters. April 11, 2008. Archived from the original on July 25, 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
  4. 1 2 Hubbard, David (February 2007). "MTR Western "delivers the mail"". BUSRide. pp. 20–22.
  5. ↑ "Inc. 500 number 166: MTR Western". Inc. Magazine. 2007. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
  6. ↑ Starcic, Janna (January 2008). "Coach America Grabs the Reins in Motorcoach Top 50". Metro Magazine. pp. 22–23..
  7. ↑ "2007 BUSRide/Avery Dennison Graphics MotorVision Competition winners". BUSRide. November 2007. pp. 18–19.
  8. ↑ Grunbaum, Rami (November 16, 2010). "Bus company fueled by alleged scam to be sold". The Seattle Times. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  9. ↑ "MTR Western & OC&W Coachways Acquired" (Press release). Retrieved 2011-05-01.
  10. ↑ "Space Needle co-owner to buy Berg bus co". Puget Sound Business Journal. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  11. ↑ "Gregoire Driving An Oregon Bus on Re-Election Tour" (Press release). Washington State Republican Party. April 10, 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
  12. ↑ Mulick, Chris (April 11, 2008). "That Gregoire license plate scandal? Never mind". TriCity Herald. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
  13. ↑ "Meridian Transportation Resources, LLC Signs Agreement to Acquire Oregon Coachways and Announces Plans To Introduce New "Price Driven" Charter Motorcoach Brand" (PDF) (Press release). MTR Western. September 19, 2006. Retrieved 2008-06-20.
  14. ↑ "OC&W Coachways home page". Retrieved 2008-06-19.
  15. ↑ "MTR Western announces formation of GeoGenius" (PDF) (Press release). MTR Western. September 25, 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 31, 2009. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
  16. ↑ "MTR Western Launches New Service To Provide Content Using GPS Technology" (PDF). ABA Insider. American Bus Association. 1 (7): 7. October 15, 2007.
  17. ↑ "MTR Western Expands Vancouver Operations" (PDF). ABA Insider. American Bus Association. 1 (13): 7. January 7, 2008.
  18. ↑ "Double decks take Sightline Tours to new level". BUSRide. 45 (1): 16–17. January 2009. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03.
  19. ↑ "GeoGenius website". Retrieved June 26, 2008.
  20. ↑ "Double decks take Sightline Tours to new level". BUSRide. 45 (1): 17. January 2009. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03.
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