"Traveling along America’s East coast at the drop of a hat can be pretty easy and cheap, as long as there is a Chinatown nearby, thanks to the Chinatown Bus Lines that run from Boston, Massachusetts as far south as  Washington DC. Popular routes like New York City to Philadelphia or vice versa are served by more than 20 buses a day."

So wrote Mary Kearl, an FTF new media intern, back in 2005, the veritable Dark Ages of bus travel. Today, the sky (or should we say highway?) is the limit. Individual, independently run Chinatown buses, begun to serve major cities with large Chinese populations, still thrive. The difference is in the amount of competition they face.

The standard low rates between New York City and Boston or New York City and Philadelphia are $20 one-way/$35 round-trip. Cheap? For a point of comparison, an Amtrak ticket between New York City and Washington D.C. can cost $200 or more.  Avid travelers can even get a $60 All You Can Bus Pass between New York - Philadelphia - Baltimore - Washington DC, to use as often as you want in a 30-day period.

Traveling to over 40 cities across the U.S., Chinatown bus lines also stop at a few locations out West:  running between Los Angeles or San Francisco, California and Las Vegas or Reno, Nevada.  Fares are similarly cheap, as are routes between college towns such as Ann Arbor, Michigan and Toronto, Ontario.  A variety of Chinatown Bus tickets can be purchased online at the helpful site, www.chinatown-bus.com (202/449-9758), or at the bus stop (not the official bus terminal) in your town. 

And if it sounds sketchy, well, you can always opt for the Greyhound offspring known as BoltBus or the Trailways/Shortline baby named Megabus, which has UK and Canada service, too.

Both low-cost lines were set up to compete with the Chinese companies, and both mercilessly use marketing gimmicks like $1 fares, which are available far in advance of departure dates. Fares are always cheap though, and both have big companies behind them to provide trained drivers and a more transparent insurance policy. Bolt and Mega and newer lines like Vamoose also offer free cool perks -- WiFi and movies while cruising -- to their largely student audience. In our research, Bolt is more likely to be on time, have WiFi and have seats with cup holders. Mega is more likely to be cheaper, run more frequently, and have four-seaters facing a table so you can play cards.

In a recent development that mimics airfares, a few metasearch engines have sprung up to organize bus fare searches and make comparisons easier.

GoToBus.com is one, and BusJunction.com is another. GoToBus also offers packaged vacation options for those who wouldn't consider it a busman's holiday. In fact, at press time, they had a "West Coast Tours and Vacations" special, from LA to Las Vegas plus the Grand Canyon, on a 2-night, 3-day tour for only $89 per person.

Mary's 2005 Bus Tips Still Hold True!

Back in 2005, Mary had this advice to offer families, based on her own experience riding the rims. It is still worth repeating:

"The Chinatown bus lines are known to run a few minutes behind schedule (but surprisingly, they manage to arrive on time and sometimes even ahead of schedule); make unscheduled stops; and be a little less than informative about the stops they will and will not be making for the day. 

"Another informality is the fact that a person can show up at the designated bus stop with a ticket for one bus line, and instead ride another line. But the companies are informal in other respects too.  For instance, there is a suggested limit to the number of suitcases one brings, but people with more than three items are not turned away. And, although it is suggested that travelers show up a half-hour before the scheduled departure, since these buses move out quickly, if one arrives at the stop even five minutes before the scheduled departure, you’ll find bus representatives yelling, “DC, DC, DC” or “Boston, Boston, Boston” or some other destination you’re not interested in.

"Many first-time passengers get mixed up in the confusion that comes with cultural differences compounded by the stress of travel; not to worry. If you accept the fact that you get what you pay for, what you get is a bus comparable in comfort and service to a Greyhound, with a little more flavor at a little less cost."