METRO Magazine chose Jim Jalbert, owner of Portsmouth, N.H.-based C&J Bus Lines, as the winner of its inaugural Innovative Motorcoach Operator of the Year.

METRO VP, bus, rail/Publisher Frank Di Giacomo presented the award to Jalbert at Marketplace 2014's Opening Ceremony "Love and Music Heals" and American Bus Association (ABA) Annual Meeting in Nashville, Tenn. on Sunday.

C&J began in 1968 as a shuttle service that ran stretch checkered taxi cabs between the seacoast of New Hampshire and Boston’s Logan Airport, following that same model right up until 1981 when Jalbert’s father died.

After he purchased the company from his mother, C&J began operating motorcoaches around the latter part of 1983 and became part of the Trailways system in 1988.

Now, with 23 motorcoaches, the company continues to thrive as an “upscale line-haul system,” providing service between Logan Airport, Boston South Station and the Port Authority of New York City originating on the seacoast region of the area, which covers southern coastal Maine, the eastern side of New Hampshire and the north shore of Newburyport, Mass. C&J also operates two bus terminals in New Hampshire and one in Newburyport.

“We have a wonderful team here and bringing in young bright ideas is important, but it’s equally important to learn from your peers in the industry,” Jalbert told METRO. “Nobody has all the answers. We always stress here that you don’t know it all. If you know it all you don’t want to work here. I learn something every day, because that is how it gets better.”

ABA Marketplace 2014 continues through Wednesday, Jan. 15.