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Chinatown Bus History
In the late 1990s a few entrepreneurs in New York's Chinatown started running buses
from Chinatown in NY to Chinatown in Boston for less than half of what traditional
bus companies were charging and a fraction of what it cost to take the train or
fly. Their target market was Asian immigrants who wanted to shop or visit relatives
and needed cheap and convenient transportation. Although the buses were modern and
comfortable, the service was bare bones-no advertising, customer service, or bus
stations. Customers simply went to the bus stop, waited for the bus, and paid the
driver upon boarding. For those willing to do without frills, these companies offered
virtually the same service as Greyhound at a substantially lower price. Before long,
word spread about the service and all kinds of travelers started using the service.
It became especially popular with students, budget travelers, or people for whom
the service was simply more convenient.
Soon more bus companies duplicated this model and started offering service in other
markets. Now you can find this type of bus service in Philadelphia, Virginia, Washington
DC, Los Angeles 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 company's do not have Chinatown as their main location and may not cater
to the immigrant population at all. These operators are also sometimes referred
to as "curbside" operators.
In addition to New York City and Boston,
several bus line companies also link to the Chinatowns of
Philadelphia
Washington, D.C. Doraville in the
Atlanta, Georgia area, and other cities. On the West
Coast, buses link the Chinatowns in the
San Francisco Bay Area
Silicon Valley
Los Angeles Chinatown and the
San Gabriel Valley and the
Las Vegas Chinatown and casinos.Many competitors offer discount prices
that undercut the major bus lines. Typical fares between East Coast cities range
from $10 to $20. The industry has become highly competitive with companies offering
hourly service between major cities.The Appalachian extensions of these
lines tend to offer less of a price advantage: In August 2006, one-way fares from
New York to Pittsburgh on the Chinese-owned All State were $35 compared with $45
advance through
Greyhound Lines while tickets from
State College, Pennsylvania
to New York were $35, compared to $46 for Greyhound.
The bus routes have expanded with three bus companies
now running between
Manhattan Chinatown
and
Virginia Beach. Today's Bus has a station in Norfolk and Tiger Travel
has one in Virginia Beach
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