Kobussen Trailways takes four MCI®J4500s with seatbelts
SCHAUMBURG, Ill., Dec. 30, 2008—Wisconsin’s Kobussen Trailways has begun taking delivery of the first four new 2009 MCI J4500s with three-point seatbelts. MCI has made three-point seatbelts available as an option on all its new models. Though there are no current laws that require such equipment, Dan Kobussen, who helps run the family company, said: “We think seatbelts are going to be a standard part of the future coach.” Kobussen, which runs a dozen coaches, mostly MCIs, was the first operator in Northern Wisconsin to embrace MCI’s clean-diesel engines, and its latest coaches have Wi-Fi, 110-volt outlets, GPS, Saucon asset tracking and all the new features for 2009. The company got its start in 1938, when Dan’s dairy-farmer grandfather, Elwood “Goldie” Kobussen, began transporting students to and from Kaukauna High School. The company, then known as Kaukauna Bus Service, started serving schools in other communities as well, finally changing its name to Kobussen in 1976. In 1983, the company expanded into luxury motor coach charters. Today, the company, a Trailways affiliate, serves a wide variety of charter clients, continues to serve schools, runs a paratransit service, maintains a scheduled route service and moves troops for the Department of Defense. Employing some 400 people, it has five locations and adheres to the motto, “Family Pride in Every Ride.” Its website is www.kobussen.com. Motor Coach Industries, headquartered in Schaumburg, Ill., is the largest manufacturer of intercity tour coaches for the tour, charter, line-haul, scheduled service, commuter transit and conversion markets in the U.S. and Canada. The company also operates seven sales centers and nine service centers in the U.S. and Canada. MCI is additionally the industry's leading supplier of aftermarket parts for most makes and models. For more information on the company, visit www.mcicoach.com.
