The Chinatown bus phenomenon has fascinated
me ever since it originated a decade ago. It stared as a small van service
to help Chinese immigrants reach jobs outside of New York City. It has since
grown into a fleet of full-sized buses, owned by several companies run by
independent operators, that service major East Coast cities from Boston to
Washington, D.C. Very popular among not only immigrants, but also young Americans
looking for cheap travel, the Chinatown bus lines have recently forced transportation
giant Greyhound to lower its fares. But the Chinatown fare is still less than
any major bus carrier and much less than an Amtrak ticket. One-way between
New York and D.C. is a low $15.00. Tickets can be purchased online, and each
of the carriers has an office in the city it services. One carrier reports
that on busy days, it might sell more than a thousand tickets.
Most of the Chinatown buses pick up their riders
from designated street corners, thus avoiding the fees of maintaining large
private terminals. Competition among the Chinatown bus lines has been fierce,
and sometimes ugly. Departing and arriving on-schedule, comfort, and other
amenities are not guaranteed for those who travel on these buses. Still,
the promise of more money to spend in New York City, and not on transportation
to get there, was enough to convert me to a regular Chinatown bus traveler.
I assembled this series of photographs to document a recent Chinatown bus
journey that began at corner of East Broadway and Division Street in Lower
Manhattan, and concluded at the corner of 6th and I streets in D.C.
--Elijah Mirochnik
