Pei Liang takes a sip of his coffee and rubs his eyelids before he begins to instinctively take tickets and load passenger bags. For the Fung Wah bus driver, this process is routine: He makes the trip three times a day, three days a week.
The $30 round-trip bus ticket between Boston and New York City may seem like a myth, but the inexpensive bus company that travels between the two cities is in fact real.
A popular mode of travel for Tufts students, many of whom come from the New York tri-state area, the Fung Wah bus is the largest bus service provider between New York and Boston and has been serving travelers for eight years.
Licensed and permitted by the Federal Highway Administration, the bus leaves every hour on the hour from Boston's South Station and New York City's Chinatown, on the corner of Broadway and Canal Streets.
Depending on the traffic, the ride between the two cities typically takes anywhere from three-and-a-half to five hours.
Tufts senior Lisa Soloff started riding the Fung Wah four years ago and estimates she has taken it about 20 times.
"The bus is a great deal. I love the Fung Wah Bus," Soloff said. "The group on the bus is always very eclectic, from college students, to those commuting to and from work, to tourists."
Soloff added that she enjoys the occasional movies that the bus shows, which have been known to include Cantonese versions of films like "Dirty Dancing" and "Ghost."
Despite its history, many are questioning the bus line's reputation and viability.
According to Tyler Bahem, a student at New York University, Fung Wah's New York ticket office can be a bewildering place.
"It can be confusing and shady," Bahem said. "Many of the people running the bus companies speak limited English, operate out of other people's storefronts and don't pick you up from their office locations."
According to Tufts senior Jennifer Gilbert, a frequent Fung Wah rider, the amenities on the bus are non-existent.
"There are no amenities, unless you consider things like light and air amenities," she said. "The larger buses offer reading lights, TV sets, air vents and a bathroom, but that's only if you're lucky."
While the Fung Wah is the cheapest mode of public transportation between the two metropolitan areas, there are many students who would rather pay the extra money in exchange for a more comfortable trip.
Gilbert, who has taken the Fung Wah bus once before, said she would "rather take the Greyhound," which can charge up to $35 for a one-way ticket.
"For $15 one way, your seat is cheap in more ways than one on the Fung Wah," Gilbert said. "The seats aren't easily adjusted even if they are adjustable; there's a good chance the person in front of you will be leaning back into your lap for hours."
Tufts senior Anna Foucher chooses the Greyhound despite the higher price because the bus drops her off at Port Authority, which is closer to where she needs to go.
"The seats were relatively comfortable and the prices were comparable," Foucher said. "It was clean and the bus even got there early."
Foucher did not choose to take the Fung Wah bus because she heard they were unreliable and "prone to breakdowns."
Additionally, critics like Gilbert and Foucher point to the consternation-provoking history of low-fare bus fires.
On Aug. 16 of last year, the Fung Wah bus erupted in flames on an interstate highway in Connecticut.
According to the Boston Globe, it was the second time in five months that a low-fare Chinatown bus had caught on fire.
Last year, a TravelPack bus going from New York to Boston was also destroyed by a fire on the Massachusetts turnpike near the Allston-Brighton tolls. While no one was injured, these fires have scarred the reputation of low fare buses.
Still, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the Fung Wah Company was given a "satisfactory" rating this year, which is the highest that the administration gives out.
This rating resulted after the company was forced to make drastic improvements after being cited for failing to do random drug and alcohol tests of employees, as well as for allowing a driver to work more than 70 hours in eight days.
According to the Administration's Web site, the citations resulted in more than $17,000 in fines.
Problems, however, still exist today. The Boston-based company is currently being sued by Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly for discriminating against disabled people after it refused to allow a service animal to board a bus.
The so-called Chinatown-to-Chinatown bus services have indeed become a popular alternative to trains, planes and other more expensive bus companies. But with the recent JetBlue airways offer of $25 one way airfares between New York and Boston, some believe that the demand for the Fung Wah bus has been diminished.
"I've heard that a lot of people are flying home instead of taking the Fung Wah over spring break and long weekends," Soloff said.
Others disagree, saying that the merits of bus travel cannot be replaced by planes.
"I've met so many different people on the Fung Wah," senior Laura Watkins said. "I wouldn't choose any other mode of transportation when going to New York."
"JetBlue is still more expensive overall. Plus, it takes so much time to even get to the airport," she added.
Although the Fung Wah buses are notorious for being chaotic and critics have questioned whether more oversight is needed, they remain the cheapest way to travel between New York and Boston.
"Fung Wah is the cheapest fare you can get," Soloff said. "It's not worth it to fly, even with low-cost airfares available. With the Fung Wah you don't have to worry about checking in your luggage and arriving early."
Pei Liang agreed: "Most [people who ride the bus] are students. Fung Wah is still the cheapest [form of travel]," he said.
The cheap costs of riding the bus in turn results in cheap pay for the drivers: Liang receives $100 for each round trip.
"It may not be the Ritz Carlton of buses," said Kevin Beerman, a student at Columbia University School of Law who often travels to Boston. "But I'm not the type of person to stay at the Ritz Carlton either. It saves me a lot of money."
