Since Winn Transportation is representing a bus crash involving children as just a "bus stuck in the mud," I must share proof. The crash report was filed by state police with local case number DIV125041479 and lists driver's loss of control of the bus as the cause. My 12yo son was on a Winn Transportation bus for a school field trip when it crashed on April 23, 2025. The driver passed the exit ramp for 150 southbound onto Hull street. The bus hit the Exit sign on the other side of the ramp, rode along the guardrail on the wrong (grass) side, drove over an embankment, and bottomed out on mud and rocks at the bottom, which stopped the bus. Children sustained concussions, injured leg. A chaperoning teacher was at the front of the bus and was covered in glass when the sign bounced up and broke the windshield. Injuries are confirmed in the crash report. I spoke with Mark Winters of Winn Transportation on May 1st to learn what actions they were taking to prevent this from happening again. I'm concerned because they're an approved contractor for future school field trips and I now have concerns about the safety of their services. He was very unwilling to consider any fault of the driver or the bus and was rude and combative that I would even imply that there was any fault on their end. He said that if I was "so worried about it, I can just drive my kid myself instead of letting them ride the bus next time." When I asked why the driver told parent chaperones and police (confirmed in police report) that the "bus lost power" and that was what caused the accident, he became very angry and said that was a lie and that the driver never said that. He also confirmed that the same bus had been used in another trip only a few days after the accident. I found this concerning because the bus had definitely been damaged in the accident, including underneath when it was stopped on the rocks. A significant amount of oil was left behind after a tow truck was used to pull the bus out. I caution you against using Winn Transportation. They displayed their disregard for the safety of a bus full of children and did not demonstrate an interest in addressing the issue in a way that would keep future trips safe. UPDATE to reply to Mark's response. I'll add as a picture, in case he edits it later. - Either Winn Transportation is not aware of the official report being a crash report with injuries and cause listed that was filed at the end of May, or he's lying. - I spoke with Mark on May 1st for more than 2 hours on the phone when I called him to ask about the crash. I am not anonymous to him. - Injuries are noted in the crash report - The damage to the bus, sign, etc., are noted in the crash report. - The other parts of his story, including the portrayal of the driver as a hero and the wet conditions of the road, can all be confirmed in the crash report as false. - In addition to "washing the mud off of the tires" I hope they also replaced the windshield and repaired whatever caused that oil spillage (see pictures). This is information he can look up and confirm. He and I agree on one thing. I also hope my children never have to ride on one of their buses again. read more

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We chartered a 55-passenger bus to take our company on a day trip to Wintergreen, and we had a fantastic experience. Our driver's name was "Driven" Ivan Harris, and he was a pleasure. Not only was he fun and energetic, but he drove and maneuvered that giant bus like a pro! If it wasn't for his skills, we'd still be stuck at Wintergreen! Great experience for our corporate trip - will definelty be booking and requesting Ivan for the future. Thanks Winn team! read more

I rented a passenger van for our family reunion and we were very disappointed. The A/C barely worked in the summer heat, which was especially tough on our elderly relatives. The step stool was also missing a piece and felt unsafe to use- not the level of comfort or safety we expected. When I reached out to voice my concerns, they were dismissed by Mark, stating that everything was working perfectly. I will not be using them again. Update: Mark, the owner, CONTINUES to lie about our experience in his rebuttal stating we left trash on the bus and other things. I will be taking my complaint to the BBB! read more

We had a very unnerving experience with a very elderly driver. He drove a van and it smelled of cigarettes and the windshield was very dirty. The driver was maybe late 70's. He wore glasses and seemed hard of hearing. He missed the directions to our drop off point, so we had to intervene. He also drove very slowly the whole 40 minute drive and braked hard any time he passed another car. It was a very concerning experience needless to say. I made our experience known to the Winn people. But nothing ever really was communicated back in regard to our experience. I will not use them again and I won't recommend them. Disappointed for sure. read more

I worked with Winn Transportation this past weekend on a large scale event. We needed two shuttle bus routes and delivery to specific locations. Mark and his team were great to work with. They were in continuous contact with us to make sure that the weekend went off without a hitch. The two shuttle bus drivers were so friendly and welcoming. I knew that my guests would see a smiling face when they walked on the shuttle bus. For the individual parties, Mark delivered a couple directly to their location because one guest was in a wheelchair. It showed my team and the couple the step above that Winn Transportation takes to ensure that their clients are well taken care. I have worked with them for two years, but I know my office has worked with them for more! I hope that we get the opportunity to work with them in the future! read more

We reserved transportation for 11 people for a Tacky Light Tour for 4 hours. We got a 10 passenger van which had low tire pressure and needed service according to the dashboard lights. Even with a small child the back seat was very uncomfortable, not to mention there were not enough seat belts. read more

Can't say enough good things about Bert and Winn Transportation. The driver was always on time and got us to and from all of our sites in a timely manner. He couldn't have been nicer and filled up the ice chest every morning so we had cold water on relatively warm days. Tina was a pleasure to work with, as well. Will definitely use this company again if I return to the Richmond area. read more

Small family owned and operated company with excellent customer service and a quality staff. I was fortunate to meet the owner on one of my travels and I was so impressed by his humility, integrity and overall demeanor I had to write a review. I highly recommend this travel company. Sincerely, Known Traveler. read more

Winn Transportation went above and beyond to help several guests (including my husband) get their phones back after leaving them on the bus after a wedding. The drivers were so kind and helpful. The next day, even though they were closed they helped us look for and get all of the phones. Really great customer service! read more

Mark and his team have been nothing short of amazing! Within the past few months of planning transportation for our wedding guests I have changed many details and they have been more than flexible with me. At each step they have not only assisted in the booking process, but answered the hundreds of questions I had for them with such kindness and genuine love for their business. Weddings are stressful enough, but they have truly made our concern of how guests will actually arrive to our wedding the most simplest process from beginning to end. It is such a relief to know that this is not just a 9-5 for them but they genuinely enjoy what they do. Its because of this that I trust them to have all of our friends and family at our wedding with no concerns...and that is such a blessing! Thank you! read more

Currently sitting in the dark on the side of the road on one of their buses. 2 back tires flew off the bus as we travel from Richmond, VA to Charlotte, NC. We have a bus full of kids and has been waiting since 4am, it is currently 6:22am and no one has come to our rescue. This is the worst experience I have ever endured. The only reason I am giving them 1 star is because they don't have a option for 0 stars. Completely dangerous, and they don't have any concern for our safety as we sit in the middle of the road. Never again. read more

Get Ivan. He rocks. One of those rare, genuinely nice people that does his job to the utmost and makes sure everyone is taken care of, has a good time, and gets home safe and sound. I can't recommend highly enough. read more

The reservation process was easy. The details not as much. I was deciding between an official tacky light tour and our own version. We wanted to do an hour stop at a restaurant and were advised by one of owners to do our own version of a tacky light tour.. Approximately 8 business days before our date we were sent an email saying our payment was late, I inquired about the date and was told this was correct by staff(" due 10'business days ahead of trip) in spite of a contract I signed that said it was due 5 business days ahead of departure. On our departure date the bus driver called and to his credit was at location early. But he complained and asked "why we hadn't sent in our location of destinations to company because they could have done this earlier." Bus driver said to get there soon so he could put them in his gps. We had a carefully timed out route with some fluff time. The driver was not efficient in his choice of routes and it took extra time to go some of his routes( one example going to Thousand Oaks was on paraham passed by hungry springs drove down to turn right on Broad street then left on Skipwith to cross HungrynSprings again.) More Than one of these issues happened. We had to miss one house bc of concern for time. Don't know whether he was too dependent on GPS and if It was misleading him? We asked to go down Monument back home and it was ignored even though we arrived back at start point 15 minutes early. Was there a communication problem? Apparently!! Hahahah. We still tipped him as it is Christmas but honestly I don't think it was derserved for execution but he was kind and kept us safe, but it felt as though he had trouble with our version of the tour. So not horrible but We had hoped for more. read more

I emailed Winn Bus Lines regarding a negative experience during a 2-day trip with my job and students at a local University. During our trip, our bus broke down in the middle of traffic for 2 hours, and had an extremely unprofessional bus driver. Along with rude comments, the bus driver also had me answer his personal cell phone calls on numerous occasions since I was sitting in the next row behind him. When voicing these concerns in an email to their COO, I provided a detailed response of the different unprofessional occurrences on our trip. I received a response via email from the COO, Mark that took zero accountability for our experience with their bus and with the driver. In the email, he mentioned that if I had a problem with answering the driver's personal calls, that "I should have simply told him that I did not want to help" instead of reprimanding his employee for such unprofessional customer service. After receiving this response which included some false statements about who paid for the driver's hotel (My company did cover the hotel and dinner for the driver), I gave Mark, the COO, a call. Mark was extremely unprofessional on the call and constantly talked over me. When I realized that I was not getting anywhere with the call or that he was not taking any accountability for his company's and employee's actions, I asked Mark who he reported to so that I may speak with them. Mark responds, "Jennifer, my wife". I asked for Mark to clarify this by asking if this is who he reports to professionally, the next in command?, he replies, "No, I am married and my wife is the only person who I report to". I have gotten my University's Contracts department to notify other departments of this unprofessional experience and will never use this company again. This is our 3rd time using the company because their prices were affordable; however, this is our second negative experience. I received a discount for the first negative experience. Their affordable prices are obviously at the expense of great customer service. Never again should anyone provide them with any business. I have already submitted a complaint to the BBB. read more

My church group chartered two Winn motor coaches for a trip to Washington DC on Saturday December 10th, 2016. The weather was very cold on trip day. One of the coaches didn't have heat. The passengers were complaining before we left the church. The driver stated the bus hadn't warmed up and it would get better as we traveled. The bus didn't warm up. We stopped in Dale City, VA for a bathroom break and I asked again about the heat. The driver did some work to the bus and the heat started working. I called the emergency number and someone called me back and stated the heat was fixed (per the driver). However, the passengers stated it was not, the bus was still cold. I asked the driver again about the heat, he stated he did all he could and we was working above his job duties. The temperature for the day was 30 degrees in Richmond and Washington, DC. The bus was filled with Senior Citizens and children, who traveled while wearing their outerwear, hats, and gloves on a 2 hour bus ride. After my initial call complaining to the company, my call has yet to be returned. I will never use this company again. read more