Chinatown bus lines are discountintercity bus services in the United States, often operated byChinese Americans, primarilyFujianese.[1] They operate with lower overhead and lower fares compared to competing services. Destinations include most major cities as well as casinos popular with Asian Americans.
As a result of safety issues and several fatal crashes, most Chinatown bus lines were shut down by regulatory authorities in 2012. Others continue to operate with increased oversight.
Chinese-operated intercity bus service began when the Chinese working class and new immigrants, particularlyChinese restaurant workers who found jobs in other cities, needed to travel to and fromNew York City,Boston, andAtlantic City.[2][3][4][5][6] The first companies to offer Chinese intercity bus service had minimal features, including unmarked curbsidebus stops and noadvertising orcustomer service;[7] this greatly reducedoverhead costs.[8] In 1998, two companies began operations:Fung Wah Bus Transportation, between New York and Boston, andEastern Bus, between New York andPhiladelphia.[9] At first, very few non-Chinese made use of the services.[10][11] As word spread, they became popular with non-Chinese travelers due to lower fares and the demographics of these bus lines became similar to those of other intercity bus lines.[5][7][11][12][13][14]
Competition andprice wars between newly successful companies, combined with online ticket sales,[5] led to a reduction in fares.[1][15][6][10] Service to smaller cities by Chinatown bus lines had less of a price advantage.[9] The fierce competition led to gang violence in which rival bus operators killed or injured each other.[6] Because of their low fares, Chinatown bus lines had very lowprofit margins; some went bankrupt and ceased operations.[10] However, the services became more popular and the number of trips by Chinatown bus lines increased.[8]
In 2004, a fully-booked bus net at least $340 profit per round trip after expenses.[10] In 2004,Vamoose Bus was launched byHasidic Jews to compete with Chinatown bus lines.[16]
By 2006, many Chinatown bus lines operated service to/from casinos popular with Chinese andVietnamese immigrants.[18][19][20] All riders receive free-play vouchers, and some low-income or homeless people sell them before returning to New York.[19]
In 2008,BoltBus was established byGreyhound to compete with the less-expensive Chinatown bus lines;[21] it ceased operations in July 2021.[22]
By 2010, service expanded to many major cities across the U.S.[23]
By 2012, riders of Chinatown buses made up over half the ridership of northeastern intercity buses, bringing annual intercity ridership to over 7 million passengers.[11]
On May 25, 2013, a bus operated by Lucky Star was taken out of service when amanhole cover became lodged in its undercarriage.[15] The company was shut down on June 5 due to "flagrant disregard for motor coach passenger safety".[33] Lucky Star conducted an extensive bus upgrade and driver program, passed required inspections, and resumed operations in November 2013.[34]
The shutdowns led to an increase in bus fares and some say the shutdowns were unnecessary. Jim Epstein, a writer forlibertarian publicationReason, called the FMCSA practices overly harsh, writing that the agency targets Chinatown bus companies because owners are rarely fluent in English and alleging that inspectors were overly strict about defective components, confiscating several buses for minor issues.[15][35]
Despite these shutdowns, in 2015, Chinatown bus lines operated 5.3 million passenger trips and 48.5 million annual miles of service, up 14% from 2013 and up 26% since 2008.[36]
In May 2019,Eastern Bus, a Chinatown bus line, reached a deal withFlixbus, in which Flixbus handles all marketing and sales for the company.[37]
In 2003 and 2004, bus burnings, driver assaults, murders, and othergang violence in New York City were linked to the possible infiltration of Asianorganized crime gangs in the industry.[38]
Among the crimes associated with gang activity was a deadly shooting in May 2003 on a busy street, which may have been in retaliation for a driver backing his bus into a rival;[1] in revenge, two buses were set on fire the following year.[13] Fatal stabbings occurred in October 2003[6][13] and in 2004.[13] The boyfriend of a bus-company employee was fatally shot in an apparent bus feud in January 2004,[6][1] and a Chinatown bus operator was shot to death two months later.[1] In a June 2004 incident tied to criminal gangs, two people—a Chinatown bus driver and a bystander—were murdered in a bar inFlushing, Queens; another was shot in the leg. The accused shooter was arrested inToronto in 2011, and was extradited to the United States.[13] After the 2004 shootings, theNew York City Police Department increased its enforcement of Chinatown-bus laws.[1] Bus-feud crime subsided by 2007.[39]
In 2008, the Banya Organization, a Chinesegang, was accused of assaulting employees of Chinatown bus lines in an attempt to extort partial ownership and a share of the profits.[40]
In 2013, police confiscated 254 guns and arrested 19 members of the largest gun-smuggling ring in New York City history; the suspects were accused of shipping guns via Chinatown bus lines.[41] In 2020, Chinatown bus lines were again accused of being a conduit for gun trafficking.[42]
Chinatown buses have been involved in several incidents, and there were 34 intercity bus crashes across the United States from 2001 to 2011.[15] On a 2006 safety scale of 0 to 100, where 0 was the safest and 100 the most dangerous, Chinatown bus lines were rated between 71 and 99; Greyhound was rated 0.[6] "Calculations of safety and risk are inverted," according to a 2013City University of New York study.[11] A report in 2011 found that curbside Chinatown buses were often more dangerous than buses that stop in terminals.[43] As of 2011, many travelers were not discouraged.[44] Intercity bus crashes are rare.[39]
In February 2004, after several murders connected with employees of rival Chinatown bus companies, officials conducted a surprise inspection and seized buses.[45]
In 2012, General Bus, a Chinatown bus line, was noted to have a safety record worse than 99.5% of other intercity bus lines.[46]
In 2017, federal data showed that three Chinatown bus lines were among the worst safety violators among U.S. intercity bus lines.[47]
February 8, 2003 – A bus operated by Dahlia transporting passengers to the Taj Mahal Casino Resort inAtlantic City, New Jersey, spun off theGarden State Parkway and flipped on its side on a snowy embankment, killing two people and injuring 28 people.[48]
March 18, 2005 – A Boston-bound Chinatown bus operated by Lucky Star/Travel Pack stopped and evacuated its passengers on theMassachusetts Turnpike shortly before it burst into flames. No one was injured.
August 16, 2005 – A New York-bound bus operated byFung Wah Bus Transportation caught fire onInterstate 91 nearMeriden, Connecticut. Although the passengers later criticized the driver for being unhelpful and untrained in evacuating the bus, no injuries were reported.[49] After the August 2005 bus fire, the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Energy began conducting three surprise inspections per month on all bus companies leaving Boston's South Station terminal.SenatorChuck Schumer ofNew York proposed a four-point federal plan which would includes surprise inspections and a national safety standard for bus operators.[50]
August 15, 2006 – A Shun Fa bus traveling from New York to Pittsburgh crashed. Ten passengers were injured, five of whom were hospitalized, one in critical condition.[6][51]
February 14, 2007 – A bus operated byFung Wah Bus Transportation en route to New York went out of control and struck atraffic barrier on theMassachusetts Turnpike,I-90, inAllston. No injuries were reported. State officials had advisedFung Wah Bus Transportation to suspend operations because of awinter storm that day.[55] Fung Wah reached an agreement with regulators in which its buses would be subject to inspections and driver checks for 30 days. The company agreed to improve safety, including removing unclean, unsafe buses from service.[56]
February 18, 2007 – A bus owned by Tremblay Motorcoach and operated by Sunshine Travel caught fire on the Massachusetts Turnpike near interchange 10A inMillbury, Massachusetts. All 50 passengers were evacuated, and no injuries were reported. The cause of the fire was unknown. The bus was returning toChinatown, Boston from theMohegan Sun casino inUncasville, Connecticut.[57]
March 23, 2007 – A New York-bound bus operated byFung Wah Bus Transportation from Boston got stuck on a cement lane divider at a tollbooth on the Massachusetts Turnpike atMassachusetts Route 128 inWeston, Massachusetts, when the driver tried to change lanes. No one was injured, and passengers boarded a later bus.[58]
May 20, 2007 – A New York-bound bus crashed in Pennsylvania, killing 2 riders and injuring 32 more.[6][59]June 23, 2008Fung Wah Bus Transportation bus crash
June 23, 2008 – A bus loading passengers was struck by an out-of-controldump truck at the intersection ofCanal Street and the Bowery in New York's Chinatown. The impact pushed the bus onto the sidewalk and into a bank. A sign attached to a light pole fell, injuring a 57-year-old woman who later died. Several people, including two police officers, were treated for minor injuries.[60][61] State Department of Transportation inspectors found that the dump truck, owned by CPQ Freight Systems, had eight mechanical issues including faulty brakes which led to the crash.[62]
March 14, 2011 – On theNew Jersey Turnpike, a bus crash killed the driver and injured 40, two critically.[63][64][65] In March 2011, these two crashes led officials to confiscate six buses for inadequate brake air pressure, steering violations, and missing driver paperwork.[66]
May 31, 2011 – A commercial tour bus operated by Sky Express crashed on Interstate 95, killing four people and injuring dozens.[67][68]
September 21, 2014 – A Chinatown bus overturned and killed two people and injured 48 people in Delaware.[69]
March 31, 2015 – A Chinatown bus hit and killed a pedestrian in Virginia.[70]
September 23, 2017 – A bus operated by Dahlia Group slammed into a city bus in Flushing, killing Dahlia’s driver, a city bus passenger, and a pedestrian, and injuring 16 people.[71][72]
January 5, 2020 – A Chinatown bus crash killed five people and injured over 60 people on thePennsylvania Turnpike.[73]
Some surviving passengers have said that the driver, Ophadell Williams, fell asleep at the wheel. He was not charged initially, pending investigation.[78] Williams said that he was awake and sober at the time of the crash.[79] The bus driver blamed the crash on atractor-trailer that he swerved to avoid, causing the bus to flip on its side and crash into an overhead highway sign which split the bus in half. He said the two possibly hit each other.[80] The crash triggered an investigation by theNew York State Police andNational Transportation Safety Board.[81]
The truck driver was located by authorities, denied the bus driver's account and was cleared of responsibility.[78] The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause of the accident was driver fatigue. The NTSB also notes that the bus was going at least 64 miles per hour (103 km/h), compared to the 50 miles per hour (80 km/h) speed limit, and faster than other bus traffic. The driver should not have had a license at the time because he had not cleared all previous suspensions from his record. These suspensions were recorded under his middle name while hisCDL was under his first name. After his record became public state officials revoked his license.[82][78][80]
The driver, Ophadell Williams, was charged by theBronx County District Attorney's office with 54 felony and misdemeanor counts, including charges ofcriminally negligent homicide andmanslaughter. Prosecutors argued that Williams was too tired to get behind the wheel, and was so sleep-deprived that his actions were no different than someone driving under the influence.[83] On December 7, 2012, the jury found Williams not guilty of all charges except one count of misdemeanor aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle; his sentence was commuted totime served.[83] Years later, Williams, then employed as an MTA traffic checker, was lauded as a hero in the media after he spotted smoke coming from a utility room at a subway station inQueens, New York, and quickly evacuated passengers to their safety.[84][85]
Buses often do not follow their scheduled timetables;[5][86] many are unreliable, sometimes skipping scheduled stops.[39]
Buses are also criticized for being uncomfortable.[87] Buses are generally older and unmarked.[88] The buses are also known tobreak down.[89][90]
The curbside bus stops used by Chinatown bus lines led to many complaints from nearby residents and business owners due to noise, pollution, trash, blocked traffic, and sidewalk overcrowding.[91][92] The complaints led to increased regulations in several cities, including permit requirements, bus stop requirements, fines and fees, as well as the construction of the Independence Transportation Center in Philadelphia.[5][93][94][95][96][97][98] These regulations were also allegedly influenced byPeter Pan Bus Lines andGreyhound Lines, which face competition from Chinatown bus lines.[99]
Xe Đò Hoàng (lit. 'Hoàng Bus') or Hoang Express is an intercity bus service based in Orange County, California with a route connecting Little Saigon in Orange County with the community in San Jose.
^abKlein, Nicholas (2009). "Emergent Curbside Intercity Bus Industry".Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board.2111:83–89.doi:10.3141/2111-11.S2CID109266853.
_MCI_102DL3_51104.jpg)
