NYC tour bus firms agree to $7.5 million anti-trust settlement

NEW YORK Tue Mar 17, 2015 2:33am EDT

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(Reuters) - Two New York City tour bus companies have agreed to pay $7.5 million and forfeit about 50 stops, including highly prized locations in Manhattan, to settle an anti-trust lawsuit brought by state and federal prosecutors, officials said on Monday.
Coach USA Inc, City Sights LLC and their joint venture, Twin America LLC, which was created by the two former rivals in 2009, were accused of monopolizing the market, the U.S. Justice Department and New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a statement.
The two companies accounted for virtually all of the hop-on, hop-off bus business in the city prior to 2009 and were able to boost ticket prices some 10 percent and block smaller operators from being competitive, the statement said.
"The largest operators of New York City's iconic double-decker tour buses were able to raise prices and deprive city visitors of the benefits of a free and fair market," Schneiderman said in the statement.
The settlement figure is in addition to the $19 million reached last May to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by riders who argued that they were overcharged.
Coach USA and City Sights both run open-topped, double-decker buses that ferry tourists around the city, but will have to give up stops at Times Square, the Empire State Building and elsewhere under the settlement, the statement said.
"We are pleased at the continuing progress toward an agreed settlement," Sean Hughes, associate director of corporate affairs for Coach USA, told the New York Times.
The settlement must now be approved in federal court in Manhattan, according to the statement.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond; Writing by Curtis Skinner; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell) If you are not redirected automatically, follow the link to Easy Money

Passenger removed from United flight at Dulles

Passengers averted a potentially dangerous situation in the skies Monday night when they subdued a young man who appeared to threaten a hijacking.
A United Airlines jet bound for Denver returned to Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C. on Monday night after passengers pounced on a man who had yelled “Jihad! Jihad!” witnesses said.
United Flight 1074 returned to Dulles at around 10:40 p.m. after a “disturbance onboard,” said Kimberly Gibbs, a spokeswoman for Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
Law enforcement personnel removed a passenger from the aircraft and took him to a hospital for evaluation, she noted.
Videos posted to Reddit showed a young man with facial cuts who had been subdued by several passengers, but neither airport officials nor United representatives confirmed that an attempted hijacking had taken place.
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White House official: GOP has failed to 'put any points on the board'

Senior White House adviser Brian Deese applied a sports analogy to the political playing field recently, saying that the Republicans who control both houses of Congress are just playing defense.
Republican lawmakers, Deese said, have failed to put any "points on the board" with regard to President Obama's proposed agenda. Despite an aggressive offensive position, however, the Wall Street Journal reports that "Obama's legislative agenda has gotten little traction in Congress."
The Republican-controlled Congress and the White House have clashed on immigration, the Keystone Pipeline, the budget, and most recently, the GOP senators' letter to Iranian leaders warning of non-cooperation with the Obama administration's proposed nuclear deal.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) spokesman confirmed that tensions are high, saying in response to Deese's comments that it "doesn't sound like a team that wants to work with Congress. We're over here passing bills, not thumping our chest to the press." Teresa Mull If you are not redirected automatically, follow the link to Easy Money