Travel and Leisure - Infowire

In the late 1990s when the first low-fare bus service from Chinatown in NY to Chinatown in Boston started running, few would have anticipated the impact it would’ve had on the bus industry as a whole.  This was not a service that was sold to the public.  It was supposed to appeal to a concentrated group of people–recent Chinese immigrants–who needed an inexpensive way to travel between the 2 cities to go to family, shop, or work.  The growth of this phenomenon was organic.  The general public heard of the’Chinatown bus’ via recommendation by friends.  It caught on quickly and shortly the market was flooded with other firms offering similar service on a selection of routes. 

it might be inaccurate to say that the only reason that these corporations succeeded was due to price .  Definitely this was the main enticement for travelers.  However, it has got to be claimed the service that the standard bus carriers was offering was ripe for competition.  Truthfully were the ‘full service’ offerings of the conventional bus corporations worth a premium?  Hardly.  Customer service lacked on every level, bus stations didn’t offer a comfortable waiting area, buses were regularly shabby and service was troubled by delays. 

Years after the arrival of this first New York to Boston route, it is worth examining how it has caused the bus industry to evolve as a whole.  Overall, it seems like the independent companies and the traditional carriers are meeting somewhere in the middle.  Independent carriers have had to offer more comforts, stick to more closely to safety standards and laws, and increase fares.  At the same time, the traditional carriers have been made to offer wildly competitive pricing and generally tighten up their operations.  Greyhound and its partners have a tendency to offer the most competitive pricing on the popular New York-Boston and NY -DC routes.  Further, these routes are the only ones for which online consumers don’t have to pay the large $4 online booking surcharge generally imposed at Greyhound’s web site.  They heavily promote this discounted pricing and it customarily requires customers to book ahead online ( buying tickets at the time of exit can be almost twice as expensive as thru their site ). 

What about safety standards?  This is the most contentious point of debate in the industry.  There are many reports of safety violations and certainly anecdotal accounts of poor safety practices.  However , it does not appear the actual safety records of these corporations are really worse than other bus carriers that are dependent on the same Fed rules.  Thanks to intense lobbying efforts, in 2004 a special task force was set up by the Fed. Motor Carrier Safety Administration ( FMCSA ) to step up inspections of’curbside’ ( Chinatown ) bus companies.  Despite the increased inspections, the FMCSA reported that curbside carriers had about the same rate of violations as other sorts of carriers under her agency’s authority3.  This is going to be a sign that hazardous operators have either stopped running or have improved their level of safety.

Fortunately bus travel is generally a highly safe method of transportation, with a median yearly fatality rate of only 22 for the past 10 years.  No bus deaths to date have involved Chinatown bus carriers.  Accidents are often reported for all segments of the industry–municipal buses, line run carriers, charter and tour companies1,2.  No concrete research has indicated that Chinatown bus firms have a higher prevalence of Problems than other operators. 

it is vital to note that what used to be a tiny niche of the bus industry is now a crowded segment.  To pile all carriers following this inexpensive model in the same group would be badly judged.  The standard of the service offered by the numerous corporations is variable.  Some are fly-by-night concerns while others have transitioned into sizable companies with many employees and fleets of buses. 

Another development is that Chinese immigrants are no longer the sole players in this segment of the bus industry.  Many supposed’Chinatown’ bus corporations are the property of Hassidic Jews.  Additionally many charter bus corporations have entered the line-run business utilizing the same low-cost model as Chinatown bus lines. 

The Chinatown bus industry has grown from a straightforward, one-man-operation to a longtime segment of the bus industry.  In all likelihood the development of the industry is not complete.  We intend to likely see some regulatory changes that will effect the way the Chinatown carriers run their operations.  Similarly, as competition within the segment increases, the poorly run operators will most probably be forced out of the game.  The conventional carriers will have to continue to offer competitive fares and will also have to find new methods compete.  What’s abundantly clear is that shoppers are more than happy to forgo lots of the services offered by traditional carriers to economize. 

1Police : Driver fatigue likely allow for fatal bus crash
Monday, Nov 28, 2005 ; Posted : 7:15 a.m.  EST ( 12:15 GMT ) http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/11/27/california.bus/

2T bus catches fire in Everett ; blaze is fourth in 5 weeks
No riders are hurt ; officials seek cause
By Lucas Wall, Boston globe October six, 2005

three sworn statement of Annette Sandberg, FMCSA administrator, given before the House board on transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on roads, Transit and Pipelines.  Washington DC, march 2, 2006.

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