Frustrated passengers stranded for hours after bus breaks down in Garner

JOHNSTON COUNTY (WTVD) -- It was a travel nightmare for dozens of passengers early Tuesday morning when they became stranded for hours after their bus broke down.

Around 1 a.m., a Megabus broke down in the Cleveland Community on Commerce Parkway in Johnston County.

"We got here and the bus, they shut it down," Megabus passenger Robert Miller said. "And when they tried to start it back up it never started back up. Air conditioning's not working, people getting hot on there. We got babies, sick."

Approximately 40 passengers were stranded when the bus stopped to switch drivers at the Garner Sleep Inn.

The passengers said they increasingly become frustrated as word on when a replacement bus would arrive kept changing, and they ran out of resources they had bought with them.

"My daughter's 8-years-old, and she's running a fever and we ran out of Tylenol," Megabus passenger Angela Riggs said. "Sadly, Megabus was not responsive to that, nor were they responsive to the needs of people who didn't have water. All of us have been very patient, since 1 o'clock in the morning, with no sleep. My child was lying on the ground because we were asked to remove ourselves from the bus at 1 o'clock because it was going to be towed. And you can see that it's still here."

"They tell us 30 to 90 minutes, 60 to 90 minutes," Miller added. "They keep coming back with the same answer! We need to get home!"

While a tow truck tried to move the bus around 10 a.m., passengers made do inside the hotel and staff provided a place to wait, out of the rain.

Meanwhile, Megabus did confirm to ABC11 in a statement that one of their buses did have a mechanical issue Tuesday morning and passengers were taken care of.

"All the passengers were given food and were invited to sit in the temperature controlled hotel conference room where the bus broke down," the statement said in part. "All the passengers will be receiving refunds. Megabus apologizes for any inconvenience this may have caused. The relief bus is enroute and will be there shortly."

Around 1 p.m., the replacement bus finally arrived, and almost got stuck in the parking lot before taking on passengers. However, travelers were thankfully able to continue their trip to Atlanta, Georgia.

7