Founded in 1998 , Royal Excursion has been continuously owned and operated by Kaser Fleet LLC . Shannon Kaser entered the passenger transportation market fresh out of college in the late 90 ’ s and quickly grew to become one of the largest privately held passenger transportation companies in Indiana .
Royal Excursion provides management and operation of fixed-route public transit systems , operation and management of charter services , as well as operation and management of various universities , corporate and other shuttle systems .
Jennifer has worked in the motorcoach industry since 1994 . During the past 27 years , Jennifer has worked in every position , including safety , training , dispatch , charter representative , general manager , and vice president .
Jennifer has been responsible for the fleet operations of over one hundred buses as well as providing safe , quality and reliable charter and shuttle transportation for several thousand passengers on a daily basis . In the past , she has been instrumental in building , growing and managing commuter shuttle services for such clients as Northwestern University , Loyola University , Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Robert Morris College , MACOG , City of Valparaiso ; as well as several Northwest Indiana Casino Lines .
My career began with the Van Der Aa Family in South Holland , IL at Royal American Charter Lines . Eventually , we relocated to Chicago , concentrating solely on Fixed Route Services . I remained there for 14 years , serving as both company GM and VP of Fixed Route Services .
A chance encounter at an industry event in Nashville the early 2000 ’ s with Shannon Kaser began a relationship between the two companies that lasted for several years until Royal American Charter Lines closed in 2008 . During this time , Royal Excursion significantly began to grow & expand . I joined the Royal Excursion
Team in 2009 , where I now serve as our company GM and Director of Fixed Routes & Safety . Combined , Shannon and I have successfully managed and executed the startup plans of over fifty ( 50 ) major contracts for elite , influential clientele with contract revenues of over $ 15million plus .
In 2012 , we opened our second location in Hammond , IN bordering Chicago City limits . This location allows us easy access to both Chicago and neighboring Northwest Indiana cities where we service three casino line runs .
In January of 2018 , we acquired Excursions in Fort Wayne , IN thus becoming our third location . Shortly afterwards in August of 2018 , we opened a fourth location in Valparaiso , IN after being awarded the City of Valparaiso Fixed Route Transit Services contract .
Our latest venture was in the winter of 2020 , with the successful launch and startup of Royal Zoom Airport Shuttle Service . Our line run service ran from South Bend , Michigan City , Valparaiso , and Griffith , IN transporting passengers to both O ’ Hare & Midway Airports in Chicago . The service went live on March 3 , 2020 and ceased operations on March 15 due to COVID .
Pre-pandemic , Royal Excursion employed over three hundred employees , operating over one hundred revenue vehicles . Due to our diversified clientele and contracts , we have been able to remain operating approximately 40 % of our Fixed Route Services in 2020 . Charter Services were severely down approximately 95 %. We are hopeful for a steady increase in Charter Services and the return of stalled Fixed Route Services to begin resuming travel as restrictions ease and COVID numbers continue to go down .
We can ’ t wait for the day until we are welcoming back all of our employees , traveling with all of our customers , and looking out the window to an empty bus parking lot again !
INDIANA
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