In the late 1990s when the 1st low-fare bus service from Chinatown in the Big Apple to Chinatown in Boston started running, few would have predicted the impact it would've had on the bus industry as a whole. This wasn't a service that was marketed to the public. It was supposed to appeal to a targeted group of people--recent Chinese immigrants--who required a cheap way to travel between the two cities to visit family, shop, or work. The expansion of this phenomenon was organic. The public heard of the'Chinatown bus' via recommendation by friends. It caught on quickly and shortly the market was flooded with other companies offering similar service on a variety of routes.
it'd be inaccurate to say that the only reason that these corporations succeeded was due to price . Actually this was the main enticement for travelers. However, it must be claimed the service the conventional bus carriers was offering was ready for competition. Truthfully were the 'full service' offerings of the conventional bus companies worth a premium? Barely. Buyer service lacked on every level, bus stations did not offer a comfortable waiting area, buses were regularly shabby and service was tormented by delays.
Years after the arrival of this first New York to Boston route, it is worth examining how it has led to the bus industry to evolve in total. Overall, it kind of feels like the independent corporations and the conventional carriers are meeting somewhere in the middle. Independent carriers have had to offer more amenities, stick to closer to safety standards and rules, and increase fares. At the same time, the traditional carriers have been forced 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 favored New York-Boston and New York -DC routes. Further, these routes are the sole ones for which online customers don't have to pay the hefty $4 online booking surcharge often imposed at Greyhound's web site. They heavily promote this discounted pricing and it usually requires customers to order ahead online ( buying tickets at the time of departure can be nearly twice as costly as via their internet site ).
What about safety standards? This is the most quarrelsome point of debate in the industry. There are numerous reports of safety violations and certainly anecdotal accounts of poor safety practices. it doesn't appear the actual safety records of these firms are truly worse than other bus carriers that are subject to the same Fed. laws. 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 corporations. Regardless of the increased inspections, the FMCSA announced that curbside carriers had about the same rate of violations as other kinds of carriers under her agency's authority3. This may be a sign that dangerous operators have either stopped running or have improved their level of safety.
Happily bus travel is generally a highly safe method of transportation, with an average annual death rate of only 22 for the past ten years. No bus deaths to date have concerned Chinatown bus carriers. Mishaps are frequently reported for all segments of the industry--municipal buses, line run carriers, charter and tour companies1,2. No concrete research has pointed to the fact that Chinatown bus corporations have a higher incidence of Problems than other operators.
it is vital to notice that what was a little niche of the bus industry is now a crowded segment. To pile all carriers following this low cost model in the same group would be badly judged. The standard of the service offered by the numerous firms is variable. Some are fly-by-night concerns while others have transitioned into sizable firms 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 companies are the property of Hassidic Jews. In addition many charter bus companies 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 evolution of the industry is not complete. We intend to possibly see some regulatory changes which will effect how the Chinatown carriers run their operations. Similarly, as competition in the segment increases, the poorly run operators will most probably be forced out of the game. The standard carriers will have to continue to offer competitive fares and will also have to find new methods compete. What's abundantly clear is that customers are more than pleased to forgo lots of the services offered by conventional carriers in order to save cash.
1Police : Driver fatigue likely account for fatal bus crash
Monday, November twenty-eight, 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 five weeks
No riders are hurt ; officials seek cause
By Lucas Wall, Boston world October six, 2005
three affidavit of Annette Sandberg, FMCSA director, given before the House board on transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on highways, Transit and Pipelines. Washington DC, March second, 2006.
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