Like that midnight train to Georgia, the last Megabus to serve Chattanooga drove off at 10 p.m. Saturday, headed toward Atlanta.
The low-cost bus service, which doesn't have brick-and-mortar bus stations like Greyhound, couldn't make it here after being moved around to four different stops since it first arrived in 2011, dogged by complaints that its passengers loitered and caused a nuisance during long layovers.
City officials asked Megabus to vacate its most-recent stop at West Main and Chestnut streets near Finley Stadium because of complaints. It was across from T-Bone's Sports Cafe, whose co-owner Susan Danner said Megabus passengers camped out on her deck, helped themselves to T-Bone's' bathrooms and cursed T-Bone's' staff.
Megabus may come back to Chattanooga, though, since news of its departure spurred other business owners here to step forward and offer their properties as potential Megabus stops, said Sean Hughes, director of corporate affairs for North America for Megabus.
"We have not given up," Hughes said. "Some people have been coming out of the woodwork and reaching out to us and saying you can possibly use our area."
Hughes said he couldn't get into specifics.
"We'd certainly love to come back because we do love Chattanooga," he said.
Ideally, Hughes said, Megabus would stop at an intermodal transportation center, which is under consideration in Chattanooga.
"Intermodal stations are great, because it connects all of transit together," he said, citing Megabus' Nashville stop near that city's bus system as a good example.
"I think it's like half a block away or a block away, from the main [Nashville] bus area, so everybody can be connected," he said. "We have yet to hear a complaint from there. I think there's even a hot dog guy that set up his cart over there. We like to joke around and say we gave that guy a job."
Megabus passengers spend roughly $900,000 in the local Chattanooga economy annually, Hughes said, calling that a "low-ball" estimate based on each passenger spending about $70 a day on hotel rooms, food and souvenirs.
Danner wished Megabus well - but was glad to see it leave West Main Street.
"You hate to be mean, but it's been such a trial with those people," she said. "Hopefully, they can find a place that's comfortable for them. I think it was just not planned properly from the beginning."
Contact staff writer Tim Omarzu at tomarzu@timesfreepress.com or www.facebook.com/MeetsForBusiness or twitter.com/meetfor business or 423-757-6651.