A Guide to the Chinatown Bus
The word is out-the least expensive way to get from one major U.S. City to another is on the’Chinatown bus’. Recently this has become transportation option of choice for budget travelers in new york, Washington DC, and Boston, and more lately on the West Coast. Students, backpackers, and an array of other savvy travelers have long liked the rock bottom prices that these bus companies offer. Regardless of the popularity of these bus lines it can still be tricky to find information on Chinatown bus service.
What exactly is a’Chinatown Bus’? Read on and you will have the near track on this great budget travel option.
Chinatown Bus history
The Chinatown bus phenomenon started in the late 1990s when a businessman in new york’s Chinatown started running daily bus service from Chinatown in new york to Chinatown in Boston. The service was directed at Asian immigrants who needed to shop or visit family in either city and needed inexpensive and convenient transportation. The service was bare bones-no advertising, shopper service, or bus stations. Shoppers simply went to the bus stop, waited for the bus ( or van ), and paid the driver upon boarding. For those ready to do without frills, they offered virtually the same service as traditional bus firms at a significantly lower cost. Before long, the word spread and all kinds of people began using the service. It became especially popular with scholars, budget travelers, or people for whom the service was simply handier.
shortly more bus corporations replicated this model and started offering service in other cities. Now you can find this kind of bus service in Philadelphia, Virginia, Baltimore Washington DC, LA, las vegas and San Francisco. At this point the term’Chinatown bus’ is used more loosely to explain this kind of low-cost/low-frills service. Many if not most, of the companies don’t have Chinatown as their main location and may not serve the immigrant population in the slightest. These operators are also often known as’curbside’ operators.
How can tickets be so cheap?
$15 between New York to Boston? $25 from las vegas to Los Angeles? It appears hard to fathom. Chinatown bus companies are able to keep costs low because they operate in an essentially different way from traditional carriers. Foremost, the service is terribly basic. There’s not much in the way of customer service or amenities. Most of these operators do not have formal stations, picking up passengers at bus stops instead. They eschew conventional advertising in favor of personal recommendation. Further, plenty of the operators play a very hands-on role in the operation-you will not see idle operatives at a tiny independent bus company. Ultimately, these operators confirm they fill their buses. That’s why Chinatown bus operators customarily only operate on heavily trafficked routes. Indeed some companies only run buses at top times.
Are they safe?
When these firms first started operating, concerns were raised about safety standards. There is still controversy in the bus industry about whether these newcomers are complying with the same laws as the traditional companies. However a task force set up by the central government to take a look at issues of safety revealed that Chinatown bus companies did not perform good or bad than other sorts of bus corporations ( ie. Charter, tour buses ). All bus corporations operating in the U.S. Must undergo the same inspection standards and must obey the same rules. Realistically there is probably a range of quality among Chinatown bus carriers. Some are fly-by-night operators trying to make a fast buck, while others are legitimate entrepreneurs who intend to grow and operate a long term business.
What you should expect
- No frills service-the driver may be the ticket collector ; there won’t be a large amount of shopper service.
- Comfortable buses. Regardless of the low fares buses are generally quite nice. Most buses are analogous to Greyhound and many are basically more deluxe.
- Communication challenges. Drivers are legally required to speak enough English to help passengers in the case of emergency. In reality this is regularly adhered to rather loosely. At the least, expect your driver to have an accent.
- Possible delays. Many of those bus routes are on highly congested roads. When the roads are busy, expect delays.
- Rest stops. Buses will have a toilet on board but there is usually a ten or fifteen minute bathroom break on trips over four hours. Don’t be late returning to the bus, the driver will not count heads before leaving at the allocated time.
- Full buses. Buses definitely sell out at top times ( weekends and evenings ). Book ahead or get there early if you’d like secure a seat.
- Plastic Bags. A strange little idiosyncrasy on Chinatown buses is that each aisle seat typically has a plastic grocery bag tied to the arm. I guess they find this is the only way to keep the buses clean.
How do I find the Chinatown Bus?
Again,’Chinatown bus’ is a term used to describe a sort of operator and not an individual bus company. Many not related bus corporations fall into this class. Since most Chinatown buses do not spend money on advertising it can be tough to discover details about schedules and bus stop locations. Lots of the carriers are becoming savvier about the Internet and a few have websites with info. Usually an internet search will yield links to bus service to your destination. There are also many directories,eg chinatown-bus.org that include links for most Chinatown bus corporations and the writer’s employer, GotoBus.com, is a centralized booking site that has schedules and sells tickets online for most Chinatown bus firms.
The Chinatown bus is not for everybody. If you want an orderly system with Yank style customer service, you should likely stick to conventional carriers. However if you know what to expect and come prepared with a sense of journey and humor, you need to enjoy the trip absolutely fine. You will also enjoy the money you save!
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