A Guide to the Chinatown Bus
The word is out-the most cost-effective technique to get from one major U.S. City to another is on the’Chinatown bus’. In recent years this has become transportation option of choice for budget travelers in new york, 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. 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 inside track on this great budget travel option.
Chinatown Bus history
The Chinatown bus phenomenon began in the latter 1990s when a businessman in NY’s Chinatown started running daily bus service from Chinatown in NY to Chinatown in Boston. The service was directed at Asian immigrants who wished to shop or visit relatives in either town and needed inexpensive and convenient transportation. The service was bare bones-no advertising, customer service, or bus stations. Customers simply went to the bus stop, waited for the bus ( or wagon ), and paid the driver on boarding. For those ready to do without frills, they offered almost the same service as normal bus companies at a significantly lower price . Before long, the word spread and all sorts of folks began using the service. It became especially well liked by students, budget travelers, or people for whom the service was simply more acceptable.
shortly more bus companies replicated this model and started offering service in other towns. Now you’ll find this type of bus service in Philadelphia, Virginia, Baltimore Washington DC, LA, Vegas and San Francisco. At this point the term’Chinatown bus’ is used more loosely to explain this type 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 any way. These operators are also often known as’curbside’ operators.
How can tickets be so cheap?
$15 between Big Apple to Boston? $25 from las vegas to Los Angeles? It seems hard to fathom. Chinatown bus companies are able to keep costs low because they operate in a fundamentally different way from normal carriers. Foremost, the service is very basic. There’s not much in the way of purchaser service or facilities. Most of these operators don’t have formal stations, picking up passengers at bus stops instead. They eschew conventional advertising in favour of recommendation by friends. Further, plenty of the operators play a very hands-on role in the operation-you will not see idle executives at a small independent bus company. Finally, these operators ensure they fill their buses. That’s why Chinatown bus operators often only operate on heavily trafficked routes. Indeed some companies only run buses at peak times.
Are they safe?
When these companies initially began 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 standard corporations. However a task force set up by the central government to have a look at questions of safety revealed that Chinatown bus corporations did not perform better or worse than other sorts of bus firms ( ie. Charter, tour buses ). All bus corporations operating in the U.S. Must go through the same inspection standards and must go along with the same rules. Realistically there is probably a variety of quality among Chinatown bus carriers. Some are fly-by-night operators trying to make a fast buck, while others are bonafide entrepreneurs who intend to grow and operate a long-term business.
What you should expect
- No frills service-the driver could be the ticket collector ; there will not be lots of customer service.
- Comfortable buses. Despite the low fares buses are usually quite nice. Most buses are analogous to Greyhound and many are really more deluxe.
- Communication challenges. Drivers are legally required to speak enough English to help passengers in the case of emergency. In truth this is regularly sticked to rather loosely. At the very 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 can on board but there’s usually a 10 or fifteen minute lavatory break on trips over four hours. Don’t be late returning to the bus, the driver won’t count heads before leaving at the delegated 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. An odd little affectation on Chinatown buses is that each aisle seat generally has a plastic grocery bag tied to the arm. I assume 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 explain a sort of operator and not an individual bus company. Many not related bus companies fall into this class. Since most Chinatown buses don’t spend money on advertising it can be difficult to discover details about schedules and bus stop locations. Many of the carriers are becoming savvier about the web and quite a few have websites with information. Sometimes a Net search will yield links to bus service to your destination. There are also many directories, for example chinatown-bus.org that include links for most Chinatown bus firms and the author’s employer, GotoBus.com, is a centralized booking site that has schedules and sells tickets online for most Chinatown bus companies.
The Chinatown bus is not for everyone. If you want an orderly system with Yank style customer service, you should likely stick to standard carriers. However if you know what to expect and come prepared with a feeling of adventure 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.
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