Chinatown Buses

With gas prices at $4 a gallon and Amtrak and plane tickets being expensive the way to get up and down the east and west coasts of the U.S. is via the Chinatown buses or "dragon buses," which may have significantly lower prices that Greyhound. This mode of transportation is now utilized by students and budget travelers, but it used to be monopolized by the populations of Chinese immigrants and their families in the major cities.

In 1998 Fung Wah began bus service between New York City and Boston's Chinatowns. Price wars soon thereafter commenced bringing other companies into the business and lowering prices. During these early years the majority of patrons were the Chinese residents of the respective cities that the companies went to --- New York City, Boston and Washington DC. With the introduction of online booking and mass marketing soon patrons expanded to students and budget travelers and now includes business travelers.

Now there are even more companies plying their trade between the major routes on the east and west coasts, in addition to expanded routes into areas such as Pennsylvannia, Las Vegas and Miami and various drop off/pick up points. The major companies on the east and west coast and routes offered are described below.

The following are popular east coast bus routes and the companies that travel that particular route:

• New York to/from Boston - BosDel; Lucky Star
• New York to/from Washington DC - DC2NY; Eastern; Todays; MVP; Tonys Coach; Vamoose; WashDeluxe
• New York to/from Philadelphia - Todays
• New York to/from Baltimore - Todays; MVP; Eastern; Tonys Coach
• New York to/from Virginia Beach - Coach 88; NYTiger; Todays; Everyday
• New York to/from State College, PA - All State; KKBus
• New York to/from Albany - AABus
• Orlando to/from Miami - GAT; JSE

The following are popular west coast bus routes and the companies that travel that particular route:

• Los Angeles to/from San Francisco - USAsia
• Los Angeles to/from Las Vegas - BRT; SEA; SVLA; USAsia
• Los Angeles to/from Phoneix - Horse Run
• Seattle to/from Vancouver - Quick Shuttle

Pick Up/Drop Off - Most companies' locations will be at one of their tickets offices or cross streets will be given where the bus will show up around 20-30 minutes before departure.

Tickets - Tickets can be purchased on most buses or at the ticket offices. Purchasing online tickets is easy through most companies websites. Note that on holidays or weekends on the more popular routes (e.g., New York-Washington DC) just because you have a ticket does not mean you are guranteed your seat. You should plan to arrive early to make sure you get on your scheduled bus or you will be waiting for the next one. Also, if you are traveling with a friend or significant other you should plan on getting there early if you want to sit together.

Baggage Storage - Bags and suitcases can be stored in the compartment underneath the bus.

Toliet - There is a toliet on all buses (I assume they all work).

Pit Stop - On most routes (at least 4 hours) the bus will make a pit stop.

Food/Drink - All are allowed on the buses.

Safety - You may hear stories of buses breaking down, getting into accidents or catching on fire...well those are all true, but they are mostly history and the buses are safe.