Chinatown bus lines

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This article refers to intercity bus travel. For Chinese-owned public transit within a single city, see Dollar Van.

Chinatown bus lines, also called 野雞車 (Pinyin: yě jī chē), which translates as wild chicken buses in Chinese, refers to the private transportation industry that has arisen in the Chinatown communities of the East Coast of the United States since 1998. Similar Chinese American-run bus services are cropping up on the West Coast.

Although the term 野雞車 may imply that the buses operate illegally, the industry in the US is subject to federal and local regulations such as unannounced inspections.^[1]

The companies typically use large (50 to 60 passenger) buses comparable to those used by other passenger bus lines and often screen movies for riders.

[edit] History

The first company to offer such services was the Fung Wah Bus, which began routes between New York City and Boston in 1998.^[2] The bus service was originally intended for transporting ethnic Chinese restaurant workers from one Chinatown to Chinatowns in other cities. Now, some bus lines are also used to transport large groups of mainly Chinese and Vietnamese immigrants to and from casinos such as Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, which are located in Connecticut. These gambling buses built upon the popularity of older bus routes to Atlantic City that also targeted Asian American customers.^[3]

Given their relatively competitive fares to the mainstream Greyhound Lines, it has become popular among non-Chinese customers as well, especially students. The bus service has gained such popularity that it was mentioned in several articles in the New York Times and on the radio programs Marketplace and Morning Edition on National Public Radio.^{[original research?]} Recently, competition has come from the Jewish-owned Washington Deluxe and Vamoose, both of which have mostly non-Chinese customers.^[4] Unlike the Chinatown buses, however, these bus companies observe the Jewish Sabbath and do not run on Friday nights or Saturdays.

Increasing popularity has also led to increasing regulatory interest. In September 2004, the City of Boston required Chinatown bus services to shift their operations from the city's Chinatown to the South Station transportation terminal.

[edit] Operation

In addition to New York City and Boston, several bus line companies also link to the Chinatowns of Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Doraville in the Atlanta, Georgia area, and other cities. On the West Coast, buses link the Chinatowns in the San Francisco Bay Area, Silicon Valley, Los Angeles Chinatown and the San Gabriel Valley, and the Las Vegas Chinatown and casinos.

Many competitors offer discount prices that undercut the major bus lines. Typical fares between East Coast cities range from $10 to $20. The industry has become highly competitive with companies offering hourly service between major cities. The Appalachian extensions of these lines tend to offer less of a price advantage: in August 2006, one-way fares from New York to Pittsburgh on the Chinese-owned All State were $35 compared with $45 advance through Greyhound Lines, while tickets from State College, Pennsylvania to New York were $35, compared to $46.00 for Greyhound.^[2]

The bus routes have expanded with three bus companies now running between Manhattan Chinatown and Virginia Beach/Norfolk. Today's Bus has a station in Norfolk and Tiger Travel has one in Virginia Beach.

[edit] Service

Chinatown buses run express, usually making no stops between the departure and destination points. This typically results in shorter travel times. The aforementioned trip from State College, PA to New York City takes about four hours on the Chinatown bus, compared to over seven hours on Greyhound.

The use of such lines is very informal. Often, ticket booths are walk-up windows on the street, or are located inside restaurants and bakeries throughout a given Chinatown community. Some lines even simply collect cash-payment after passengers have boarded the bus. However, tickets are often sold online, either by the bus companies themselves or by portals such as Gotobus, and print-outs of confirmation emails are used as tickets.

Except in Boston, the lines use rarely stations of their own. Passengers are usually directed to wait along a given curbside for the arrival of the bus, although many companies offer waiting areas at or near the pickup points. Several bus stops are also near major hotels and in the parking areas of major Chinese supermarkets. In New York, several bus lines pick up passengers on a stretch of Forsyth Street at the foot of the Manhattan Bridge. The sidewalk here, between Canal Street and East Broadway, serves as a de facto terminal.

Because of the informal "no-frills" nature of Chinatown bus service, disabled passengers have complained about the lack of handicapped access.^[5]

[edit] Immigrant dimension

During the push to centralize Chinatown bus operations in Boston at South Station, largely at the behest of Peter Pan Lines, Steven Bailey of the The Boston Globe characterized the Chinatown operators as underdog immigrant success stories battling against a monopolist bully.^[6] Some non-Chinese passengers have held the Jewish-owned competitors Washington Deluxe and Vamoose as having better service, including an easier time communicating with bus company staff in English.^[4][7]

[edit] Safety

• On March 18, 2005, a Boston-bound Chinatown bus operated by Lucky Star/Travel Pack stopped and evacuated its passengers on the Massachusetts Turnpike shortly before bursting into flames. No one was injured.^[8]
• On August 16, 2005, a New York-bound Fung Wah bus caught fire on Interstate 91 near Meriden, Connecticut. Though the passengers later criticized the driver for being unhelpful and untrained in evacuating the bus, all passengers were eventually evacuated and no injuries were reported.^[9]
  • After the August 16 incident, the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Energy instituted a policy of holding three surprise inspections per month on all bus companies that leave South Station in Boston. New York senator Chuck Schumer proposed a four-point federal plan that includes surprise inspections and creating a national safety standard for bus operators. New York may institute a similar policy; however, inspections would be difficult in New York because the buses do not all leave the city from the same location.^[10]
• On January 20, 2006, a surprise inspection on Forsyth Street in New York's Chinatown resulted in two Washington-bound buses being pulled temporarily out of service and a driver running away from authorities.^[11]
• On August 15, 2006, a Shun Fa bus travelling from New York to Pittsburgh crashed; 10 passengers were seriously injured, with 5 requiring hospitalization. One person was killed.^[12]
• On September 6, 2006, a Fung Wah bus rolled over in Auburn, Massachusetts, and caused minor injuries to 34 passengers.^[13] Excessive speed was cited as a factor and the bus company was fined.^[14]
• On January 3, 2007, a Fung Wah bus lost its back two wheels in Framingham, Massachusetts, early on a trip to New York. No injuries were reported. ^[15]
• On February 14, 2007, a Fung Wah bus en route to New York lost control and hit a guardrail on the Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90) in Allston, Massachusetts. No injuries were reported. State officials had advised Fung Wah to suspend operations because of the winter storms that day.^[16]
• On February 18, 2007, a bus (owned by Tremblay Motorcoach) operated by Sunshine Travel caught fire on the Massachusetts Turnpike near interchange 10A in Millbury, Massachusetts. All 50 passengers were evacuated and no injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is unknown. The bus was returning to the Chinatown in Boston from Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville, Connecticut. ^[17]
• On March 23, 2007, a New York-bound Fung Wah bus from Boston got stuck on a concrete barrier in front of a tollbooth on the Massachusetts Turnpike at Route 128 in Weston, Massachusetts, when the bus drove up on a cement lane divider. The driver had entered an automobile-only lane and tried to change lines. No one was injured in the incident, but the bus was taken out of service and passengers boarded another Fung Wah bus that arrived later.^[18]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Chinatown Bus Information and other low cost, non-Chinatown bus lines in New York City.
• Brief History of Chinatown Bus, Gotobus, updated in 2006.