Low-cost Chinatown bus lines created an alternative mass transit infrastructure between New York, Boston, and Philadelphia. Now they've been shut down by a mass federal raid--here's what they did right (and wrong).
If you're under 50 and live in a northeastern city, odds are you're familiar with Chinatown buses. The low-cost coaches created an alternative mass transit infrastructure for the Northeast Corridor, albeit one with sometimes dodgy safety and legal issues. However, the era of the Chinatown buses came to an end on Thursday, May 29, when federal authorities shuttered 26 of the bus firms. Bus companies with names like Apex, New Century, and I-95 Coach were forcibly closed; their passing is an example of an ingenious business model failing to adapt to a changing market.
Walking through the side streets around the Manhattan Bridge and New York's Chinatown on Monday, a few stray buses and minivans accepted passengers here and there. Most of the old bus traffic and snaking sidewalk lines, however, were gone. The first Chinatown buses popped up around the turn of the millennium, and offered cut-rate transportation between New York, Philadelphia, and Boston primarily aimed at the Chinese immigrant community. In those early years, fares of $5 one-way between New York and Philadelphia were not unheard of; even in 2012, one-way fares between Boston and New York averaged $15. By 2012, buses served most major cities along the Northeast Corridor and a host of other destinations such as Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Charleston (WV), Burlington (VT), Buffalo, and even Orlando.
As with most things in this world, however, customers got what they paid for. Mechanical breakdowns, outdated equipment, and issues with lack of permits and unlicensed drivers repeatedly popped up. Chinatown buses were involved in several high-profile crashes, such as a NYC-PHI crash that killed two people and a casino shuttle crash with 15 fatalities. The driver in the casino crash had two serious license vio...
[Source: Fast Company]
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