I have used the Chinatown bus dozens of times to travel between Boston and New York City. It's a terribly-kept secret that for $10-15, you can get limited luggage space on an uncomfortable, aging bus with a driver that shoots you over to New York City like a banshee (3.5-4.5 hours usually). But I was fascinated at the stories behind these bus companies; coming from an immigrant family whose father owned his own business, I was certain that the spirit of entrepreneurship behind these businesses must have been significant. A story in the New York Times explores some of the drama that goes on in one of New York City's most exciting city blocks:
As the popularity of the buses increased, their numbers multiplied, and by 2002 three companies were wrangling over the little block, Forsyth Street between East Broadway and Division Street. One company owner hired several women to sell tickets on the sidewalk, and his competitors followed suit. Quarrels between rival ticket sellers became commonplace.
Each day, hundreds of people descended on the strip. To take advantage of the surge in foot traffic, local business owners eventually began selling Asian snacks like sweet olives and shrimp crackers, along with less exotic items like Pringles for the increasingly prevalent non-Chinese traveler. In closet-size booths around the corner, peddlers traded in cheap cigarettes, smuggled aboard the buses from out of state, while on the sidewalk, bored-looking men handed out business cards imprinted with come-ons aimed specifically at the homesick, like “Innocent lady, sweet home, comfortable service.”
In just a few years, a vibrant, competitive and largely self-contained economy had materialized around the bus stop, or bah-see zhan, an economy that employed at least 200 people, all of them bound to one another in a complicated network of alliances, dependencies and feuds.
Link
(Image by spinachdip)
As the popularity of the buses increased, their numbers multiplied, and by 2002 three companies were wrangling over the little block, Forsyth Street between East Broadway and Division Street. One company owner hired several women to sell tickets on the sidewalk, and his competitors followed suit. Quarrels between rival ticket sellers became commonplace.
Each day, hundreds of people descended on the strip. To take advantage of the surge in foot traffic, local business owners eventually began selling Asian snacks like sweet olives and shrimp crackers, along with less exotic items like Pringles for the increasingly prevalent non-Chinese traveler. In closet-size booths around the corner, peddlers traded in cheap cigarettes, smuggled aboard the buses from out of state, while on the sidewalk, bored-looking men handed out business cards imprinted with come-ons aimed specifically at the homesick, like “Innocent lady, sweet home, comfortable service.”
In just a few years, a vibrant, competitive and largely self-contained economy had materialized around the bus stop, or bah-see zhan, an economy that employed at least 200 people, all of them bound to one another in a complicated network of alliances, dependencies and feuds.
Link
(Image by spinachdip)
South Station to Canal Street in less time than it would take to park at Logan, go through security, fly to LaGuardia and town car to Manhattan. All this for $13!
Wooooo!
Dave - are you in Boston?
So some of us (especially poor students such as myself) have no choice but to take these buses. I've taken them several times to various destinations and have had no problems other than sitting next to a large woman who screamed into her cellphone about how much she hates her Aunt for the entire two hour ride.
From a Native NYC