A Guide to the Chinatown Bus

The word is out-the cheapest 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 the Big Apple, Washington DC, and Boston, and more latterly 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.  Notwithstanding the admiration for 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 latter 1990s when a businessman in the Big Apple’s Chinatown started running daily bus service from Chinatown in the Big Apple to Chinatown in Boston.  The service was directed at Asian immigrants who needed to shop or visit relations in either city and needed inexpensive and convenient transportation.  The service was bare bones-no advertising, customer service, or bus stations.  Purchasers simply went to the bus stop, waited for the bus ( or lorry ), and paid the driver on boarding.  For those willing to do without frills, they offered almost the same service as standard bus corporations at a significantly lower cost.  Before long, the word spread and all sorts of people started using the service.  It became especially popular with scholars, budget travelers, or people for whom the service was simply more acceptable. 

shortly more bus corporations duplicated this model and began offering service in other towns.  Now you’ll find this type of bus service in Philadelphia, Virginia, Baltimore Washington DC, los angeles, Vegas and San Francisco.  At this point the term’Chinatown bus’ is used more loosely to describe this sort of low-cost/low-frills service.  Many if not most, of the companies don’t have Chinatown as their main location and may not cater to the immigrant population in any way.  These operators are also sometimes called’curbside’ operators. 

How can tickets be so cheap?

$15 between Big Apple to Boston?  $25 from Vegas to Los Angeles?  It appears hard to fathom.  Chinatown bus companies are able to keep prices low because they operate in a basically different way from traditional carriers.  Foremost, the service is very basic.  There’s little in the way of client service or amenities.  The majority of these operators don’t have formal stations, picking up passengers at bus stops instead.  They eschew traditional advertising in favour of personal recommendation.  Further, lots of the operators play a particularly hands-on role in the operation-you will not see idle middle management at a tiny independent bus company.  Ultimately, these operators confirm they fill their buses.  That’s why Chinatown bus operators usually only operate on heavily trafficked routes.  Indeed some companies only run buses at top times.

Are they safe?

When these companies initially began operating, concerns were raised about safety standards.  There’s still controversy in the bus industry about whether these newbies are complying with the same regulations as the standard companies. However a task force set up by the government to take a look at questions of safety revealed that Chinatown bus companies did not perform good or bad than other kinds of bus companies ( ie.  Charter, tour buses ).  All bus companies operating in the U.S.  Must undergo the same inspection standards and must comply with the same rules.  Realistically there’s probably a variety of quality among Chinatown bus carriers.  Some are fly-by-night operators attempting to make a fast buck, while others are legitimate entrepreneurs who intend to grow and operate a long term business. 

What you must expect

• No frills service-the driver could be the ticket collector ; there will not be a lot of purchaser service.
• Comfortable buses.  Regardless of the low fares buses are usually quite nice.  Most buses are comparable to Greyhound and many are basically more luxury.
• Communication challenges.  Drivers are legally required to speak enough English to help passengers in the case of emergency.  In reality this is frequently sticked to rather loosely.  At the least, expect your driver to have an accent.
• Possible delays.  Many of these 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’s generally a ten or 15 minute bathroom break on trips over 4 hours.  Don’t be late returning to the bus, the driver won’t count heads before leaving at the appointed time.
• Full buses.  Buses definitely sell out at peak times ( weekends and evenings ).  Book ahead or get there early if you need secure a seat.
• Plastic Bags.  A strange small idiosyncrasy on Chinatown buses is that every aisle seat generally has a plastic grocery bag tied to the arm.  I guess they find this is the best way to keep the buses clean.

How do I find the Chinatown Bus?

Again,’Chinatown bus’ is a term used to describe a type 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.  Many of the carriers are becoming savvier about the Internet and a few have websites with information.  Usually an internet search will yield links to bus service to your destination.  There are many directories,eg chinatown-bus.org that include links for most Chinatown bus firms and the writer’s employer, GotoBus.com, is a centralized booking site that has schedules and sells tickets online for most Chinatown bus companies. 

The Chinatown bus isn’t for everybody.  If you need an orderly system with Yankee style customer service, you should likely stick to traditional carriers.  However if you know what to expect and come prepared with a sense of journey and humor, you must enjoy the trip absolutely fine.  You will also enjoy the money you save!

To read more about travel topics, visit famouswonders.com and while you are at it, check out Labrang Monastery China.