Van Galder Bus Company


Van Galder Bus Company, legally Sam Van Galder, Inc. is a regional bus service headquartered in Janesville, Wisconsin. A subsidiary of Coach USA, the company had been a family-owned business for over 50 years until it was sold in 1999 to the Stagecoach Group, who retained Stephen Van Galder as president under the Coach USA banner. In 2004, Van Galder acquired Rockford Coach Lines, which provided airport service from Rockford to O'Hare, from Greyhound Lines.
The company operates school buses for the Janesville School district, coach and school bus charters, tour and travel excursions, daily airport shuttles, Amtrak Thruway service to downtown Chicago, and the only intercity service on the I-39/90 corridor. The company has bus terminals in Janesville and Rockford. It picks up curbside in Madison on North Lake Street and at the Dutch Mill Park and Ride and has two pick-ups in Rockford, one on Walton Street for O'Hare customers and one on N. Lyford Street for downtown Chicago customers. However, all buses currently only stop at the Rockford terminal on Walton Street. Service to Chicago Midway Airport was suspended March 17, 2020, and there are no plans to reinstate it.
In September, 2009, the company started double-decker bus service on the route between Madison and downtown Chicago.
In June 2024, Coach USA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, blaming corporate impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The company has plans to sell its assets, and plans to sell its Megabus subsidiaries to Bus Company Holdings, a unit of the Renco Group.

Route

As of August 2025, Van Galder operates regularly scheduled service between University of Wisconsin–Madison and Chicago Union Station in different patterns serving the following stops:
State/ProvinceTown/CityStationConnections
WisconsinMadisonNorth Lake Street near University of Wisconsin-MadisonMetro Transit, Greyhound, Jefferson Lines
WisconsinMadisonDutch Mill Park & Ride off the West Beltline Highway and Stoughton Road Metro Transit, Greyhound, Jefferson Lines
WisconsinJanesvilleJanesville Terminal off I-39/90 and Highway 14Janesville Transit System, Wisconsin Coach Lines
IllinoisSouth BeloitFas Mart/McDonald's on southeast corner of I-39/90 and Highway 75Beloit Transit
IllinoisRockfordRockford Terminal off State Street
IllinoisChicagoO'Hare International Airport - Eastbound buses stop outside of Terminals 1, 2, 3, and 5, and westbound buses stop at the Multi-Modal Facility Airport Transit System, Pace, CTA Blue Line, Metra NCS Line, Peoria Charter Coach Company
IllinoisChicagoChicago Union StationAmtrak, Metra, CTA buses, Chicago "L", Greyhound, Pace
IllinoisChicago--