GO Riteway acquires Cardinal Buses

Riteway Bus Service Inc., d/b/a GO Riteway Transportation Group, acquired Cardinal Buses Inc. of Middlebury, Indiana. Milwaukee investment bank, Bridgewood Advisors, represented GO Riteway in the transaction.

GO Riteway is headquartered in Oak Creek, Wisconsin and has 1,475 employees in 22 locations with over 1,250 passenger transportation vehicles, including school buses, motorcoaches, mini-coaches, black cars, and airport shuttles. Cardinal Buses also has satellite offices in Mishawaka, Indiana and Holland, Michigan. The company has 120 employees operating over 50 vehicles.

When the companies are combined, the GO Riteway/Cardinal Bus operation will become one of the largest diverse fleets in the Midwest. The owners of Cardinal Buses were nearing retirement age and were looking for a business partner who would maintain the company legacy.

Cardinal Buses was started in 1923 when Branston Shoup purchased Middlebury Bus Lines. Branston’s son John took over the business in 1954 and today the company is owned by John’s sons, Matt and Dan Shoup. GO Riteway was founded in 1957 by Rollie and Pearl Bast with four school buses in Germantown, Wisconsin. Today, it is co-owned by four members of the Bast family: Ronald, Rochelle, Wendy, and RJ.