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Gothamist thinks it's great that Senator Charles Schumer would like more regulation on the Chinatown buses; it's great that he's thinking about the welfare of young voters ("My daughter goes to college in Boston, and many of her friends ride these buses, and they said they were worried about them."). And, sure, more "surprise" inspections and having safety ratings posted would be helpful. But we feel he's forgetting the basic reason why Chinatown buses still have customers in spite of the less-than-comfortable environment and tempting fate with each ride: They are dirt cheap. Once the government starts to insert themselves into the process, the riders will probably get a better ride, but we'd imagine the ticket prices will go up $5. And the police have been trying to crack down on them since last year... and has that been going well?
What do you think of the Chinatown buses? Are some lines better than others?
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"My daughter goes to college in Boston, and many of her friends ride these buses, and they said they were worried about them."
The question here is if his daughter DIDNT take the Chinatown bus, would he actually give a fuck? And why is she taking those buses anyway? Shouldn’t she be taking the LimoLiner? (Being the Daughter of a US Senator and all, being high and mighty). Are they actually that cheap?
The Chinatown buses are more cramped and stinky then they are unsafe. If you don’t like being in a cramped and chaotic situation, pay extra and take greyhound or LimoLiner.
Hmm, it didnt say she took the Chinatown buses...
But her friends are brats. Thats for sure. Its not really that bad.
I think someone should crack down on Schumer for his annoying Sunday (a.k.a. slow news day) press conferences.
Are you people serious? I would find it refreshing to know that a US Senator's daughter takes the Chinatown bus like we peons do...
I've taken those buses. I once got the midnight special. $15! There was not a shock to be had on the vehicle, quite a bumpy ride. It was one of the smaller buses, probably originally designed to shuttle passengers in between terminals at the airport.
$15 is $15 is $15. I would imagine that, teaspoon for teaspoon, Greyhound has had more problems with accidents, etc. Just as long as your driver doesn't get shot by a driver from a rival company, you will be alright.
Why is everyone picking on Chuck Schumer? If something did happen to someone on one of these buses because it hadn't been inspected properly, I'm sure these naysayers would turn it into a way to say something negative about how rich these senators are, and of course they don't care, etc.
Chuck Schumer started out as just another Jewish kid from Brooklyn. Stop with the negativity, people.
chuck schumer is worth picking on because he's a publicity vampire. he's one of the core champions of the "what about the children?" brigade, and as such should be scorned and perhaps covered in jellybeans.
You can take the Greyhound for $3 more each way and they acutally run on a schedule as opposed to the Chinatown guys. And, you won't stop for gas on the way like it seems we always do on those small buses.
No one is busting Chuck's balls because he's another Jewish kid from Brooklyn. People are busing Chuck's balls because he's a chronic weekend media whore.
The Sunday press conference might be ok once in a while, but it really makes him look desperate to do it every time.
It's not like he's some city council or state assembly loser, and has to cross his fingers for people to show up to a weekday event. He's the goddamn senior US Senator from New York, and it's embarrassing already.
He just did a press show last sunday on the TSA, before that on our vulnerable ports, before that on our dangerous parks, before that on our confusing cell phone bills, before that on those new lighted signs on subway entrances.
BUT you have not seen him doing those NO WALMART or IKEA in Brooklyn gripes.
I highly doubt his daughter takes the Chinatown buses.
I've had a much better experience on Fung Wa than Greyhound -- I've actually been on a Greyhound that went the wrong way on the turnpike. Not just took a wrong turn -- we were going against traffic and needed a police escort to get back on track. That was fun.
HAHAHA, dhex! I love your idea of covering him in jellybeans. Maybe then we'd be more tolerant of his being a media ho.
My favorite retarded Chuck campaign was when he was calling for investigations and legislation over the price of breakfast cereal. As I recall it was a similiar schtick to this where he pretended that his family was being crippled by the cereal companies. What an A-hole.
People should stop hating on the Fung Wah. It's way WAY better than Greyhound. The buses are newer and cleaner. The drivers take a better route and drive way faster. They leave every half hour on busy days and you don't have to go to the god aful Port Athority Bus Terminal. Fung Wah rules.
My friend claims he got bed bugs from the Chinatown bus. Is this possible or did he just wanna stay over so he could get my lasagna?
To answer the actual question posed in the post: I've ridden Fung Wah multiple times with nary a problem -- stuck to the schedule, no breakdowns or bursting into flames or anything like that. The one time I decided to try another company, Boston Deluxe (which is really more of a Koreatown bus), I had all kinds of problems; too many to detail here. So avoid them at all costs.
I find traveling by bus is miserable no matter what the carrier, but I feel less cranky about it if I've only paid $15. To me, what's truly frightening about the Chinatown buses is that if something should go wrong, the driver is unlikely to be fluent enough in English to explain the situation to the passengers. That's the only thing that would make me feel better about riding a Greyhound or Peter Pan, given my generally very positive Fung Wah experiences.
The Chinatown buses do have problems with maintenance and unsafe drivers, and they do need better oversight, but overall when I used them twice a month to Boston, they were fine. Anyone bitching about overcrowding, loud passengers, smelly food, and cell-phone use needs to remember they're paying only 15 bucks for the privilege. You can't buy the fucking world for a lousy 15 bucks.
I took the fung wah and all I got to show for it was conjunctivitis.
exactly, it's only $15.
cocktails costs more, a taxi ride costs more and people are bitching?
don't like it, don't take it but know that it costs $15. You want first class? take your private jet.
Oh, I would check on the maintenance records on those private jets, too.
I was on a Apex/Today's Bus that broke down on the way back from DC. Boy, that was fun. But at least I didn't sit in the aisle all the way up I-95 like some of the other stranded passengers did.
I do remember the Chuck Schumer breakfast cereal campaign. Cereal IS too expensive. It's not steak. It shouldn't cost that much. What's wrong with a public official who actually does address things that affect people?
If he didn't hold press conferences, everyone's complaint would be "Where is this guy?" Leave him alone already and start appreciating that someone who deserves it is in public office.
not so safe.
http://www.citylimits.org/content/articles/articleView.cfm?articlenumber=878
http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=30096
Sorry joe. Those articles don't point to what Chucky is trying to point out. I bet doesnt have a clue about those wars. He looks at it as more of a Quality of Life issue (Plus Media Whore opportunity).
And What does that 2nd article have to do with the buses???
Chuck Schumer's kid take the chinatown bus cause she's jewish. Jews are cheap.
Apex Bus is the pits. A trip from NYC to Richmond involved cramming two bus' worth of passengers into one bus for the DC - Richmond leg, and that bus subsequently breaking down in the middle lane of the beltway right across from the Pentagon.
Once we finally arrived in Richmond and disembarked, two hours behind schedule, a trio of Richmond Police surrounded the bus with lights flashing. Not my favorite night ever.
I refuse to ride on a Chinatown bus because one hit the car behind us and caused an almost deadly car accident. We spoke with some of the injured passengers from the bus and the reason for this accident? The driver was changing the A/C when the passengers saw he was driving too fast and told him to slow down. He ignored their pleas and hit the car in front of him which then proceeded and hit us. When the police tried to get him to talk to us since we speak Mandarin, he refused and pretended he didn't know any language.
Fung Hwa is definitely unsafe. I also heard that one of their buses burnt to the ground just recently. Great!
yeah a fung wah bus slammed on the brakes in the middle of the highway once so they could pull to the shoulder and slowly beep backwards to get off at the exit they missed. but that was back in the day when it was $10 and so fucking worth it. and it's still worth it. let's get that guy's daughter to ride a cab someday, i've never felt as terrified for my life as i do in cabs.
I'm a Greyhound driver in Tallahassee. I used to drive New York from DC. All Greyhound drivers are not rude or lost or bad. I think it's worth the cost to know that the bus is safe and the driver knows where he is going even if it is to the Port Authority. Thank you for going Greyhound. Love my job and hope people stay with the dog.
I've taken buses all over China, and I can definitely say that the Chinatown buses are definitely authentic -- the hair-raising driving, the unexplained inexplicable choices of the drivers, the cramming of passengers into aisles -- I'd swear I was careening around Yunnan.
That being said, I've been taking FungWah for three years, and I'm definitely impressed with how they've upgraded themselves. They don't crowd the buses anymore and they have a legitimate gate in South Station. I've taken Greyhound twice in the last month and experienced horrible incomptence from them both times. They won't let you buy tickets online to certain destinations, and their ticket-selling lines are slow and staffed by morons. Last week it took me 7 1/2 hours to go from NYC to Worcester, MA (a four hour trip).
The fires on Fung Wah and the other bus are definitely disturbing; however annoying, Schumer's right that they should be better regulated.
Aren't Interstate buses already regulated?
If cops want to stop them, they can, all you need to look for are those strange writings on the side. so they are sitting ducks.
god damn, what more do you want?
Like greyhound buses don't break down? I've taken 2 greyhound trips, one, the bus broke down 10 miles from the station and the other was a longer trip.
That one had convicts all around me talking about their stint in prison and then they proceeded to have sex on the bus. not to mention the bus got stopped by state troopers in nevada and everyone was searched.
I wrote my Columbia Journalism Master's thesis on the Chinatown bus, available here:
http://cyrusfarivar.com/docs/farivar.chinatownbuses.html