Two of New York City’s biggest bus tour companies will have to pay more than $2.5 million after striking illegal deals that limited competition and reduced service for tourists seeking a bird’s-eye view of the city, state officials said.
Big Bus and Twin America had a series of collusive agreements in which Twin America stopped running its own hop-on/hop-off buses in exchange for high commissions on reselling Big Bus tour tickets, according to state Attorney General Letitia James, who announced the settlements Wednesday.
The companies also took steps to conceal the arrangement, James’ office said. Big Bus allegedly operated several of Twin America’s buses to give the appearance of competition, while allowing Twin America to hold onto valuable bus stop permits…