March 26, 2008

Megabus to offer NYC to Philly for $1

If you live in New York City, or have ever traveled by the wonder that is a "Chinatown bus" you know just how amazing-or terrible- the experience can be. If you're not familiar on how a Chinatown bus works it basically goes like this:
  1. Venture deep into the nether regions of Chinatown under the Manhattan Bridge (think hanging poultry, unrecognizable candy products and weird vegetables)
  2. Follow the other non-Asian people with luggage towards a giant throng of buses
  3. Listen carefully to screaming Chinese people (what, they're from China) calling out locations like Philadelphia, Washington and Toronto.
  4. Let them shove you onto the correct bus (hopefully) and scramble to get a seat next to the least-offensive fellow passenger, or if you're very lucky, by yourself.
  5. Pray for daylight.
While it may not be the most ideal or comfortable way to travel, round trip tickets from NYC to Philly (where my friends live) only cost $20 and normally take exactly 2 hours from one Chinatown to the next. I'm not really sure how these bus companies operate or stay in business, but I don't really care. They get me to my destination without the ridiculous cost of a plane or train ticket.

Well, now a new bus company is coming to New York City and is offering one-way travel to several East coast cities for only $1. Yes, $1. Megabus, which is a two-year-old division of Coach USA, will begin service in NYC on May 30th and could take a substantial bite out of the other low-cost transporters. The buses will actually operate like the airlines, where booking far in advance will secure the cheapest tickets. If you book at the last minute it could cost you as much as- gasp- $14 per ticket. Still cheaper than the ol' Chinatown route and you don't have to venture all the way down to the Lower East Side.

Megabus will run out of Penn Station at 33rd street and 8th avenue... a convenient midtown location without the life-scarring experience of navigating the normal Port Authority bus terminal 10 blocks uptown. And get this- the Megabuses are equipped with drop-down video screens and free (free!) wireless internet on board. Could it get any better?

I do have a concern though... One of the major disadvantages of riding the Chinatown bus vs. more expensive transit is the clientele that frequent it. There are basically 3 types of people that take Chinatown travel:
  1. Young, poor travelers like me
  2. Actual poor people
  3. The Chinese
So will this new, cheaper travel option bring more comfortable and affordable travel, or just become a magnet for les miserables? Either way, I'll take my chances!

What do you think?

Related Things:
Tags ,