MTR Western

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MTR Western
250px
Slogan "Driven by Passion"
Founded 2003
Headquarters Seattle, Washington
Locale Canada, USA
Service area Western United States and Canada
Service type contract service, charter service
Fleet Federal Mini Coach,
Krystal Mini Coach,
Prevost H3-45, X3-45,
Setra S417,
TEMSA Safari,
Van Hool Double Decker
Chief executive Darren Berg (2003-2011)
Website MTR 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, Oakland, and San Francisco.[4]

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

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 America, number 9 in Washington, 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]

  • December 1, 2010 - According to the Seattle Times,[8] Darren Berg was denied bail as result of potential flight risk in association with Federal charges alleging he orchestrated a ponzi scheme of approximately $100 million in losses for investors into his Meridian group of companies. MTR Western is in the process of being sold by a bankruptcy trustee.
  • January 14, 2011 - MTR issued a press release announcing the sale of MTR Western and OC&W Coachways to GTO LLC.[9]
  • January 15, 2011 - According to the Seattle Times,[10] "Financial scandals have trailed Frederick Darren Berg across the Northwest for more than 25 years — each linked to his unusual lifelong fixation on tour buses."
  • March 25, 2011 - According to the Seattle Times,[11] "Berg diverted as much as $85 million to his personal use, including $45 million channeled into the luxury bus company he established, MTR Western."
  • February 8, 2012 - According to the Seattle Times, "Darren Berg Sentenced to 18 years in Washington States Largest Ponzi Scheme." http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2017465361_meridian10.html
  • February 8, 2012 - According to www.mercerislandpatch.com, "Mercer Island Man sentenced to 18 years." (Including rare video footage of Darren Berg in a video made for the (last) MTR Western Company wide Christmas party held in Huntington Beach CA. December, 2008) http://mercerisland.patch.com/articles/mercer-island-man-sentenced-to-18-years-in-prison-for-state-s-largest-ever-ponzi-scheme#video-9083296

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,[12] 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."[13]

Environmental Initiatives

MTR Western is committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions. In 2008, they offset more carbon dioxide emissions than they created, achieving a net negative carbon footprint.[14] The company has six major environmental initiatives:[15]

In 2008, MTR Western was awarded the UMA inaugural "Green Highway" award, honoring a corporation for its dedication to improving the environment.[18][19]

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.[20][21]

Sightline Tours

Sightline Tours is a Canadian sightseeing company located in Vancouver, British Columbia. They exclusively use MTR Western coaches and driver/guides.[19]

GeoGenius

GeoGenius is a U.S. company that produces travel-related audio and video content for GPS-enabled devices.[22]

Notes

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  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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