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Pour One Out for Fung Wah Bus, Which May Never Return to the Road
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For the Fung Wah Bus and its fans, the past two years have been a long and uncomfortable trip with seemingly arbitrary rest stops at a Burger King in New Jersey and maybe someone farting next to you or listening to music in really loud headphones. In December, the cheapo bus line said it was all set to resume NYC-to-Boston trips in early 2015, but now, it looks like it might never come back at all.
The pioneering Chinatown bus line first began running into problems in 2013, when a Department of Transportation Investigation to take its fleet off the road following an inspection that found several mechanically suspect buses. Last year, there was a glimmer of hope: the DOT’s Federal Motor Coach Safety Administration had returned the company’s license.
Now, with its legal woes behind it, Fung Wah may cease operations over a much more mundane issue: It can’t find a bus stop in Boston. Previously, it had a spot in the tiny bus terminal at Boston’s South Station, but that was awarded to another carrier when the company lost its license. The two alternatives the Massachusetts DOT offered are in Newton and at the Alewife Red Line station, respectively, DNAinfo reports—each a significant trip out from the city center (although Alewife is at least on the same line as South Station).
Faced with those options, Fung Wah’s proprietors apparently decided to give up. The office of an NYC city councilman who was attempting to shepherd the bus line back to the road told DNAinfo that the company’s founder “informed us verbally last month that he wasn’t able to continue the business.” Fung Wah’s Canal Street ticketing office has also reportedly been vacated.
[/center]
For the Fung Wah Bus and its fans, the past two years have been a long and uncomfortable trip with seemingly arbitrary rest stops at a Burger King in New Jersey and maybe someone farting next to you or listening to music in really loud headphones. In December, the cheapo bus line said it was all set to resume NYC-to-Boston trips in early 2015, but now, it looks like it might never come back at all.
The pioneering Chinatown bus line first began running into problems in 2013, when a Department of Transportation Investigation to take its fleet off the road following an inspection that found several mechanically suspect buses. Last year, there was a glimmer of hope: the DOT’s Federal Motor Coach Safety Administration had returned the company’s license.
Now, with its legal woes behind it, Fung Wah may cease operations over a much more mundane issue: It can’t find a bus stop in Boston. Previously, it had a spot in the tiny bus terminal at Boston’s South Station, but that was awarded to another carrier when the company lost its license. The two alternatives the Massachusetts DOT offered are in Newton and at the Alewife Red Line station, respectively, DNAinfo reports—each a significant trip out from the city center (although Alewife is at least on the same line as South Station).
Faced with those options, Fung Wah’s proprietors apparently decided to give up. The office of an NYC city councilman who was attempting to shepherd the bus line back to the road told DNAinfo that the company’s founder “informed us verbally last month that he wasn’t able to continue the business.” Fung Wah’s Canal Street ticketing office has also reportedly been vacated.
Read the rest here, Goodbye Fung Wah!