Chinatown Bus
 

Has anyone taken the Fungwha or Peter Pan bus from NYC to Boston? Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks.

The New York Times had a recent article on the companies that provide the Chinatown bus services. The article did not present a very favorable general picture.

There's a bus between DC and NYC my daughter has taken a couple of times. It is fabulous I want to say it's called the Washington Flyer? If the company also runs one to Boston I'd recommend it highly.

In response to the Fung Wah and other Chinatown buses form Boston to NYC, the regular providers, Greyhound and Peter Pan, have slashed their prices. And furthermore they provide more reliable service and accommodations like real bus stations.

I used to take take Chinese buses on a regular basis going between NYC and Boston. I was quite happy with them, didn't have any problems or incidents. Most of their buses are big buses now and cleaner than Greyhound and PeterPan. After Greyhound and Peter Pan merged several years ago, the service has gone down and they prices went up. I also used www.travelpackusa.com, another Chinese bus company along with Fangwah

unejam1-

Fung Wah is just one company out of several chinatown bus companies that runs between NYC & Boston. As HowardR said, there is a recent NYT article (2/21/04) about the chinatown buses. Basically, there is so much competition between the companies that there has been violence in the last 1-2 yrs. Buses have been set on fire, drivers have been stabbed. Having said that however, no passengers have been harmed (yet). Fung Wah, IMO, is probably the most reliable company among the various chinatown bus companies. According to the NYT article though, it seems like some bus drivers were working very long hours, which will make me leery to ride on their bus with a possible sleep-deprived driver.
Here is a link to the NYT article, but since it is >7days old, you'll have to pay to read it:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstrac...AB0894DC404482

Peter Pan/Greyhound obviously is more reliable in terms of safety issues.

Another possibility is limoliner, which is more upscale than Peter Pan/Greyhound, and it costs $69 one way.
http://www.limoliner.com/

A good website to review comments on your query is over on the Lonely Planet. MANY more visitors on their forum have much to say about the Chinatown buses that run between New York and Boston. Website = http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com