Suburban Express

Suburban Express was a bus service that provided transport services to students at six universities in the American Midwest, primarily to and from the Chicago area. Airport shuttles were operated under the name "Illini Shuttle". The company contracted buses from other carriers, and was based in Champaign, Illinois.

Illini Shuttle, operated by Suburban Express, at Illinois Terminal in Champaign, Illinois.
Founded1983
Ceased operationMay 7, 2019
Service areaIllinois, Indiana, Iowa
Service typeIntercity coach service
DestinationsSix universities served and Chicago suburbs
Chief executiveDennis Toeppen, President
Websitewww.suburbanexpress.com

In the 1980s, Suburban Express broke the bus monopoly[1] that Greyhound had between Champaign and Chicago, leading to a price war that cut student fares by more than half.

Since 1994, it filed at least 200 lawsuits over dishonored payments, fraud, and alleged violations of its terms of service, leading students to criticize the bus service online.

Suburban Express ceased operations on May 7, 2019.[2]

History

Suburban Express began operating in late 1983.[3] At that time, scheduled bus service between Champaign and the Chicago area in Illinois was a monopoly[4] operated by Greyhound Lines,[1] and reinforced by exclusive ticket sales through the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (UIUC).[5] Between November and December 1983, Greyhound Lines suffered a nationwide strike by its drivers.[6][7][8] For the Thanksgiving break during the Greyhound strike,[9] Dennis Toeppen, then a 19-year-old student at UIUC, and later Suburban Express' founder, chartered six buses, sold tickets through a local travel agent, spent $600 on advertising, and undercut Greyhound's fares by $4 to $8. The Thanksgiving 1983 service carried nearly 300 students.[1]

In January 1984, and then named Western Trails Transportation, the company announced regular weekly and holiday service.[9] UIUC's travel center, saying it relied on commissions from Greyhound and feared losing revenues, initially refused to sell competing tickets, despite their lower price.[5] The travel center also briefly offered its own competing charter service.[1]

In 1984, a fare war between the company and Greyhound[10] cut prices between Champaign and Chicago by more than fifty percent. Reacting to new competition, Greyhound lowered its prices from around $36 to $14.75 and filed two complaints with the Illinois Commerce Commission.[1] In February 1985, the company, by then called Suburban Express, charged Greyhound with predatory pricing, claiming the $14.75 price was below Greyhound's costs and designed to drive competitors out of business.[11] According to Suburban Express' lawyer, after the Department of Justice sent a letter to Greyhound, the bus service raised their rate by $3.[1]

Suburban Express expanded its service to Eastern Illinois University in 1985,[1] and to Illinois State University in 1989.[12] In 2002, the company introduced self-service ticket kiosks in the Champaign area.[13] The company's Illini Shuttle began service connecting UIUC to Chicago's Midway and O'Hare airports in October 2004.[14] Service to the University of Iowa began during the 2006–2007 academic year.[15]

The company closed its office on the University of Illinois campus during 2018.[16] The company's website stated that the campus office was closed due to nearby demolition and construction and listed current telephone hours.[17]

Suburban Express shut down on May 7, 2019, just over a year after Illinois Attorney General filed a civil lawsuit against the company, and a month after company reached a settlement with the Attorney General.[18]

Transportation services

As of September 2015, Suburban Express offered weekly service to Chicago-area locations from four universities: the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,[19] Illinois State University,[20] Purdue University,[21] and the University of Iowa.[22] The company's Illini Shuttle ran daily from Champaign to O'Hare International Airport and the suburbs.[23] According to the company, it hired only non-smoking drivers, had free wi-fi on most buses,[24] and in the year prior to April 2013, carried around 100,000 passengers on up to 75 buses a day.[25]

Business practices, lawsuits, and controversies

Suburban Express' business, legal, and media practices have been the topic of numerous media discussions since early 2013.[25][26] At that time, the company's terms of service said passengers would be charged a $100 convenience fee for using an "invalid, altered or duplicate ticket" and $500 for "disruptive behavior".[27] In April 2013, the company sought $500 payment from a passenger whom they alleged engaged in disruptive behavior on a bus, leading to an active social media discussion. The passenger was upset by the driver's words and actions, and an account of the situation was widely seen on Facebook and in a college newspaper.[28][29][30]

The case led to discussion online, a threat by the company to sue the subreddit's moderator over false and libelous comments, a Freedom of Information Act request by the company to UIUC, and a page on the company's website directed at the complaining passenger.[31][32]

Suburban Express also maintaines a "page of shame" where the company posted the name, email, phone number, and address of customers, many of them University of Illinois students, whom the company claims have "dishonored payments" or are "fare cheaters".[33]

Suburban Express initiated 209 lawsuits between April 1994 and April 2013, of which most were small claims cases alleging terms of service violations by customers, while four were against competitors.[25] A group of 126 lawsuits were filed in Ford County, Illinois in early 2013. Students complained that the company's choice of Ford County (30 miles from UIUC), made them ineligible for free legal aid from UIUC.[34] In explaining its small claims actions, Suburban Express stated that some students broke the company's rules by "printing out multiple copies of the tickets and allowing others to use them," or "using tickets on the incorrect dates, or altering the dates listed on the printed copy."[35] Some students asked why Suburban Express chose not to refuse invalid tickets during boarding. Suburban Express said processing during loading would be "too slow."[28] After a backlash from UIUC students,[36] 116 of the suits were withdrawn from Ford County, and later, 20 suits were changed to permit refiling in another venue.[34] Suburban Express indicated it would switch its litigation to Champaign County, so that students would have access to free UIUC legal aid. The company also eliminated convenience fees from the terms of service in response to complaints.[27][27][28][37][38]

In December 2017, Suburban Express sent an email promoting the benefits of riding, including: "you won’t feel like you’re in China when you’re on our buses." This drew criticism for what many perceived as an anti-Chinese bias. The situation was enflamed when the company sent an apology email which criticized to the University of Illinois for enrolling a large number of Chinese students and "selling our university to the highest foreign bidder."[39]

The company had a history of controversy surrounding its interactions with students dating back to 2013.[40][41]

Lawsuit against Suburban Express by Illinois Attorney General

On April 23, 2018 Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed a lawsuit against Suburban Express in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois citing violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, right to privacy and illegal contract terms.[42][43]

Suburban Express posted a response to the lawsuit on its Facebook page, stating that it does not discriminate against any protected class, that it has used "Go Home" on English-language posters since 1985, and that it does not post customer credit card numbers online. The company denied that it harasses customers, but said that it defends itself against harassers.[44]

On April 28, 2018, Suburban Express consented to operate under an agreed order. The agreed order called for Suburban Express to take down any personally identifying information from their website and lawsuits, notify customers whose information had been made public, stop penalizing customers who left negative reviews, and remove language from its terms and conditions that threatened to ban customers for online disparagement. The agreed order was extended twice, through July 20, 2018, when AG Madigan asked for it to be turned into a preliminary injunction, although there is no evidence that it ever was.[45][46][47]

Settlement assistance counsel was appointed to Suburban Express in October 2018.[48] Additionally, the company sought and was granted legal defense from its insurance carrier, Hartford Insurance. Hartford rejected company's insurance claim and sought a court judgment to not pay the costs of their legal defense.[49]

On April 1, 2019, new Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and Toeppen reached a settlement in the form of a three-year consent decree, which was approved in court on April 9, 2019. Defendants did not admit liability but would pay the state's Consumer Trust Account $100,000, agreed to a no-retaliation clause, agreed to not disclose customer personal identifiable information, agreed to not discriminate, to post a no-discrimination notice on buses and in all advertisements, to provide anti-discrimination training, and to retain and report complaints and disclose contracts with passengers.[50][51][52]

A week later, the Attorney General's office claimed Suburban Express was already breaking the consent decree, and filed a motion seeking $10,000 per defendant. The Attorney General's motion was denied.[53]

On May 7, 2019, Suburban Express announced that it would be shutting down all operations.[2]

gollark: Would JS to track scroll position be acceptable? The thing sends you to the top of threads even if you've seen some already.
gollark: * subforae
gollark: Out of all the possible things things mean, it is at least four of them.
gollark: I see.
gollark: Also, actual admins may need powers like IP-ban, arbitrary database beeing, sitewide config, and debug logs.

References
  1. Rozek, Dan (October 20, 1985). "Fare wars - Bus service run by student butts heads with Greyhound" (PDF). Daily Herald (Arlington Heights).
  2. "Suburban Express shuts down". www.news-gazette.com. Retrieved 2019-05-08.
  3. Rozek, Dan (October 20, 1985). "Fare wars - Bus service run by student butts heads with Greyhound" (PDF). Daily Herald (Arlington Heights). [In October 1983] Toeppen hit on the idea of chartering equipment. A little research showed it just might be profitable and a Greyhound driver's strike added momentum to the idea.
  4. Rozek, Dan (October 20, 1985). "Fare wars - Bus service run by student butts heads with Greyhound" (PDF). Daily Herald (Arlington Heights). The one-man service broke Greyhound's monopoly on the route
  5. Rozek, Dan (October 20, 1985). "Fare wars - Bus service run by student butts heads with Greyhound" (PDF). Daily Herald (Arlington Heights). The university travel center...refused to sell Toeppen's tickets...published a letter encouraging students to take Greyhound...University officials said they did not want to sell both types of tickets because they feared Greyhound would not approve and would dump the university as a ticket agent, meaning less ticket revenue for the university...We were concerned about (Greyhound's) reaction.
  6. Townsend, Ed (4 November 1983). "Strike against Greyhound forces customers to leave driving to somebody else". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  7. "Ray Phillips and the 1983 Strike". ATU Local 1700. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  8. Townsend, Ed (5 December 1983). "Tentative settlement in Greyhound strike". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  9. Rubey, Peter (28 January 1984). "New cut-rate bus company to begin service next week" (PDF). Daily Illini. Retrieved 9 April 2014. Western Trails Transportation Co., a new bus service which operated during the Greyhound bus driver's strike, will begin regular cut-rate weekly service next Friday
  10. Rozek, Dan (October 20, 1985). "Fare wars - Bus service run by student butts heads with Greyhound" (PDF). Daily Herald (Arlington Heights). Fare wars... ignited a price war that dropped fares dramatically for both Greyhound and Toeppen's Suburban Express.
  11. Taylor, Barbara (16 February 1985). "Greyhound pricing illegal, bus service official claims" (PDF). Daily Illini. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  12. Russell's Guides (September 1999). GLI Schedule 397.
  13. "Suburban Express Self-Service Ticketing". suburbanexpress.com. Suburban Express (subject's website). Archived from the original on 2002-02-01. Retrieved 22 April 2014. Suburban Express is pleased to introduce self-service ticketing.
  14. "Illini Shuttle - O'Hare & Midway Schedules". illinishuttle.com. Suburban Express. Archived from the original on 16 October 2004. Retrieved 11 April 2014. Schedules...will begin operating October 12, 2004...October 27, 2004. We will begin accepting reservations and selling tickets on September 30, 2004.
  15. "Weekend Bus Service from Iowa City to Oakbrook Mall and Woodfield Mall" (PDF). suburbanexpress.com. Suburban Express (company website). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 February 2007. Retrieved 22 April 2014. $9.95 Introductory Fare Extended through February 16
  16. Zigterman, Ben (23 August 2018). "Suburban Express vacates Campustown office; destination unknown". News-Gazette. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  17. "Suburban Express:Office Hours".
  18. "Suburban Express shuts down". News-Gazette. Retrieved 2019-05-08.
  19. "Special Weekend Coach Service Between U of I and Chicago Area!". Suburban Express. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  20. "Fall 2015 Schedule". Suburban Express. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  21. "Special Weekend Service Between Purdue and Chicago Suburbs!". Suburban Express. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  22. "Schedules & Fares Fall 2015". Suburban Express. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  23. "Illini Shuttle Typical Schedule". Illini Shuttle. Suburban Express. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  24. "Frequent Service Between Champaign and O'Hare, Chicago Suburbs!". Illini Shuttle. Archived from the original on 28 September 2015.
  25. Ruff, Corinne (April 28, 2013). "Suburban Express lawsuits reach 125 this year; conversation continues on Reddit". Daily Illini. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  26. Richard, Chalkey (April 25, 2013). "UI Should Defend International Students". Daily Illini. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  27. Neil, Martha (May 3, 2013). "Cheap bus ticket included a trip to small-claims court for unwary students". ABA Journal. Retrieved January 4, 2014.
  28. Geiger, Kim (May 1, 2013). "Bus company's lawsuits anger students, parents". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 4, 2014.
  29. Ruff, Corinne (April 28, 2013). "Suburban Express lawsuits reach 125 this year; conversation continues on Reddit". The Daily Illini. Champaign-Urbana. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  30. 20 dismissals were vacated, meaning those cases could be refiled anywhere; Suburban Express indicated they would file in Champaign County. Brumleve, Will (July 31, 2013). "Judge allows bus company to refile some claims against passengers". The News-Gazette. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
  31. Gallagher, Sean (February 13, 2013). "Troll road: Bus company posts "dirt" on complaining passenger". Ars Technica.
  32. Gallagher, Sean (May 2, 2013). "Nonstop to schadenfreude: Suburban Express' u-turn on reddit lawsuit". Ars Technica.
  33. Francis, Jacqueline (12 Oct 2017). "'Page of Shame' causes concern among U of I students". Fox Illinois. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  34. Brumlee, Will (26 June 2013). "Bus company wants to reinstate some lawsuits". The News-Gazette (East Central Illinois). Retrieved 9 July 2014. One issue raised by UI students: They are not eligible to receive free representation from the UI's Student Legal Services, which only offers such assistance for cases filed in Champaign County.
  35. Brumleve, Will (April 26, 2013). "Bus firm's lawsuits criticized". The News-Gazette. Ramais said some of the alleged violations are related to students buying their tickets online, then printing out multiple copies of the tickets and allowing others to use them. Another issue has been students using tickets on the incorrect dates, or altering the dates listed on the printed copy, she said.
  36. Brumleve, Will (30 July 2013). "Judge allows bus company to refile some claims against passengers". The News Gazette (Central Illinois). Retrieved 9 July 2014. After a backlash from UI students, Toeppen filed motions to dismiss 103 of the cases "with prejudice" on April 30;
  37. "Suburban Express terms of service". April 29, 2013. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
  38. Brumleve, Will. "Judge allows bus company to refile some claims against passengers". The News-Gazette (Central Illinois). Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2014. Toeppen said most of the cases that will be refiled will be brought to Champaign County Circuit Court, so the many UI students named as defendants can have access to free legal representation by the UI's Student Legal Services.
  39. "Bus company stokes outrage over racially charged ad sent to U. of I. customers". Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  40. "Suburban Express owner sends second apology after UI condemns company". Retrieved 4 December 2017. In 2013, an employee of a subcontracted bus company made insensitive comments toward a customer, Toeppen said, which resulted in the company losing business among Asian students.
  41. Masterson, Matt (4 December 2017). "Suburban Express Bus Line Facing Blowback from 'Offensive, Bigoted' Ad". WTTW News. Retrieved 8 May 2019. The company received backlash in 2013 after it filed more than 120 lawsuits against its own customers for terms of service violations. Many of those cases were later withdrawn, but the bus line also reportedly fined a grad student $500 and banned him for life after he went online to complain about a bus driver who made a derogatory comment to a non-English speaking passenger....
  42. CBS Chicago video on Facebook
  43. https://dailyillini.com/news/2018/04/23/attorney-general-files-lawsuit-against-suburban-express/
  44. "Suburban Express Facebook Page". Retrieved 30 January 2019. Suburban Express has served hundreds of thousands of happy customers in its 35 year history. We have held down fares in multiple college markets through vigorous competition with other carriers. The world is a better place as a result of Suburban Express. The Twitter account @SuburbanExpress linked by Attorney General Madigan in her tweet about Suburban Express is a parody account which a detractor set up in 2013. We do not control that account.
  45. Zigterman, Ben (July 13, 2018). "Attorney general seeks to convert restraining order against Suburban Express to preliminary injunction". News-Gazette. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  46. Zigterman, Ben (April 27, 2018). "UPDATE: Judge approves temporary restraining order for Suburban Express". News-Gazette. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  47. Zigterman, Ben (June 26, 2018). "Restraining order against Suburban Express extended to July 20". News-Gazette. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  48. Zigterman, Ben (February 14, 2019). "UI student rebuffed in attempt to retrieve items left on Suburban Express bus". News-Gazette. Retrieved February 14, 2019. As negotiations continued, Toeppen's lawyer withdrew from the case in September due to what he said were unpaid fees and a strategic impasse. Another attorney was appointed in October to help Toeppen negotiate a settlement.
  49. "Suburban Express insurer lawsuit PDF" (PDF). news-gazette.com. 18 July 2018. Retrieved 2018-07-20.
  50. "Suburban Express reaches consent decree with Illinois attorney general". news-gazette.com. 9 April 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2019. About a year after then-Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan sued Suburban Express and its owner, Dennis Toeppen, for alleged discrimination and harassment of its customers, the company has reached a consent decree subjecting it to three years of monitoring.
  51. "Suburban Express Consent Decree PDF" (PDF). 9 April 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  52. "Illinois Attorney General - Attorney General Raoul Announces Consent Decree with Suburban Express". illinoisattorneygeneral.gov. 9 April 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2019. The consent decree was entered today by Judge Andrea Wood in the Northern District of Illinois to resolve allegations that Toeppen and Suburban Express discriminated against customers on the basis of race, national origin and religion; harassed customers with public shame and ridicule; and intentionally compromised customers’ personal information. Suburban Express is a company that provides bus services to students at colleges and universities in Illinois, Iowa and Indiana to the suburban Chicago area and Chicago airports.
  53. "Attorney general: Toeppen, Suburban Express already violated consent decree". news-gazette.com. 17 April 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2019. According to a motion filed Wednesday morning by the AG seeking a $10,000 fine, Suburban Express posted defamatory webpages of customers and failed to post a nondiscrimination statement everywhere it was required to.
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