The Feds have shut down 26 Chinatown bus companies for safety violations and other concerns. If you are considering taking a cheap bus in the Northeast, beware of services that operate through Chinatowns and aren't connected to a larger bus service.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/01/ny...s.html?_r=1&hp

Fung Wah is the bus company that goes between Boston and NYC and they have been involved in highway accidents over the past few years. The discounted price isn't worth the risk. I don't even know if they're still in business since their last mishap.

Megabus.com
Boltbus.com
Are better options anyway.

It's about time. These bus services have an abysmal safety record - numerous accidents, a number of deaths, unqualified drivers, driver working too many hours and lots of safety violations.. They should have been put out of business years ago.

On our only 2 megabus trips, there were some "close calls" so I don't know how much better they are than these bus companies.

I guess a bus ride is only as good as the driver.

But those Chinatown buses were notoriously unsafe. It's about time they were shut down.

Just in the interest of fairness, note well that according to the article cited above, not all Chinatown-type bus carriers were among those forced to shut down. It says in part:

"Both Lucky Star and Fung Wah were unaffected by the shutdowns"

and these are the two Chinatown-style bus companies that most heavily serve the run between Boston and New York.

I prefer to use other companies when traveling between Boston and New York, myself, but being fully accurate is the right thing to do here.

While they may have been unaffected Fung Wah has a poor safety record, has had numerous drivers found to be unqualified and it considered risky be federal authorities. Just not as many problems as the ones that were shut down. Don't know details of Lucky Star.