POPULAR BUS SERVICE * USA
* New York - Why Chinatown Buses Are Still So Popular
(Image: Chinatown map. Even with low-priced, high-amenity alternatives like BoltBus, many riders remain loyal to the Chinatown service)
New York,NY,USA -The Atlantic Cities, by Eric Jaffe -Jan 30, 2012: -- The intercity bus industry has Chinatown to thank for its remarkable revival. The popularity of bus travel fell dramatically in the mid to late 20th century, as air fares became cheaper. But the mode began to rebound with the advent of the Fung Wah bus, in 1998, which traveled between the Chinatown districts of New York and Boston for unbelievably low fares and with unbelievable frequency. The success of Chinatown curbside buses led to the creation of "corporate" curbside buses like the BoltBus, co-owned by Greyhound, and together these modes helped intercity bus travel more than double in the Northeast Corridor between 1998 and 2007 — with ridership levels topping 7 million passengers... In research published in the latest issue of Urban Geography, Rutgers doctoral students Nicholas J. Klein and Andrew Zitcer examine the source of this enthusiasm among regular Chinatown bus riders. After conducting five focus groups with riders, Klein and Zitcer discovered that Chinatown curbside devotees see the service not just as a means of transportation but as an "authentic urban experience, a thrilling and danger-enhanced departure from daily life, and as an engagement with the multicultural city" ...Labels: bus services
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