Chinatown Buses

My friends and I took Apex this past Saturday, Baltimore to NY. This is the first time using these Chinatown buses. The way there the bus was 40 minutes late picking us up .We were the only ones in Balt. waiting, yet the bus was filled so much that we all had to sit separate from each other. My friend got stuck in the back where the odor from the bathroom was so bad she renamed that section"Urine alley" The air was not working so the ride up was hot. On the way back, our bus was to leave at 7:30. At 7 we were there and they told us the bus could leave before 7:30. Whenever it filled up. Due to this we had no time to find a bathroom because we wanted to board the bus so we could sit together this time. We were forced to use their bathroom, which stunk, was so dark you could not see what you were doing and had no tp. The driver started talking on his cell phone as soon as he left the bus stop. He spoke on it and drove with one hand for the first hour. He was driving erratic, switching lanes constantly and beeping at cars in the fast lane. Several of th passengers were talking about how he was making them nervous so finally one of them told him to get off his phone.It is illegal anyway in NJ. He did get off but 30 minutes later he was back on, speaking loudly in Chinese and again driving the bus with one hand.This time several passengers yelled at him to get off the phone as he was putting us in danger. One passenger even called #77 to try to report him,He did get off for good this time but continued to drive crazily. I was sure glad to get off the bus in Baltimore and next time will probalby take the train. I forgot to add that when we stopped in Baltimore, the driver jumped off the bus, peed behind a tree and got back on to continue to DC.Guess the bus bathroom made him sick too! more

On this busline I got to Washington DC from New York in about 4 hours. I couldn't believe it. The bus was half empty, clean, without any loud talkers so it was a great experience. Much better than driving! I couldn't believe how fast we got out of the city. It's really random, but definitely the best priced way to go with no hassles. The website is easy and you can get tickets there or just on the bus. more

My friend and I go to Philly to eat and shop on the weekends. We decided to try the Chinatown buses since the ride was just too cheap to pass up. We reserved our round trip tickets online since you save a couple of bucks this way. We made our way down to Chinatown and found the bus that corresponded with our reservation and got on. The bus scene is organized just barely enough to have order...what I mean is if you needed to go you can basically pay your way onto a bus at that very moment. The interior of the bus was not in the greatest shape. I walked to my seat through the aisle and slightly bumped into another seat and the cushion fell off. We thought that was funny because we expected it to be a low quality ride due to the price and just expected some wheels to go the distance. When I sat down and reclined my chair I almost fell back flat...my friend burst out laughing. I don't know if this was all that bad because I popped my ipod in my ears and went to sleep...comfortably. I woke up to use the bathroom and was surprised that we were almost entering into Philly. I ended up not using the bathroom because it was smelled so bad that I couldn't hack it. It smells like they don't care to maintain the chemicals in the toilet and it almost made me purge. My experience was a good one. We thought we would try roughing it and took a budget ride. It got us to where we wanted to go in one piece and in record time. The business of these Chinatown buses have really come a long way. At least they have licenses now and are acknowledged as a real business from the DOT. NYC can be grueling and expensive...so why not take a cheap ride for a day trip during the weekends? Reserve online at www.apexbus.com more

I booked a round-trip ticket with Apex Bus, one of the Chinatown buses. The trip there was fine, other than the toilet smell and the extra hour. But the bus from Baltimore to New York simply never arrived. A number of buses did arrive at the pick-up point but they were all with other companies, supposedly. They had seats available but since they claimed to be from different companies they wanted an extra $20 cash for the return trip. One of these "other companies" even had the same contact number as Apex Bus. (I have a hunch that several if not most of these bus companies are all operating a scam together.) After more than four hours waiting outside for a bus that never showed, I paid another bus $20 so that I could get back to New York. These guys are rip-offs! Stay away!! more

I am just going to say it upfront. Don't use the Chinatown buses if you don't want to put your life at risk. The ride is downright scary. I recently took the bus from Baltimore to New York thinking that any bus that is about 10 bucks cheaper than greyhound can't be anything other than a good thing. I was dead wrong. First of all, the entire bus, including the undercarriage, wreaked of the toilet and just being on the thing for three+ hours made me about sick. I could have dealt with smell but never before, save a few late night cab rides with a cab driver who is on the back end of a double shift, have I consider half way through the ride to ask the driver to pull over because I was litterally afraid for my life. The driver drove the bus like a small sports car, flooring it and then slamming on the breaks just moments before he would have slammed into the back of an 18 wheeler. And it wasn't just once or twice that this happened. Literally, this wreckless endangerment occured for the entire longevity of the trip. On a less noteworthy, though still important point, if you do still consider to ignore my heedance, the driver was also not the kindest person and when i tried talking to him at the beginning and end of the trip about my ticket, he became annoyed that I couldn't communicate with him despite the fact that he spoke maybe three words of english. I am not just some angry customer trying to get revenge on an innocent company or some competitor secretely trying to get you to use my service. When I told a friend of my misadventure, he told me he had heard the same thing from numerous people who also said they would never again venture onto one of these buses and he also mentioned that the City of New York itself warns against using the service as they deem it unsafe and are also looking into it for its connections to organized crime. Do yourself a favor and pay a reputable bus company 10 bucks more each way to ensure safe passage. more

You may not know where they stop cuz they do make random stops at times and you may not understand most of them BUT the major appeal is the efficiency and speed and cheap cost. Chinatown is busy enough and the area where all the Chinatown buses converge is very busy too and you'll see a lot of Chinese women holding signs and hassling you to take their coach. It's a little hectic but it's definitely worth it. You have many options and you can take your pick. I've had experience with DragonCoach and Century2000 I believe it's called. Both were great experiences. I have used the Chinatown buses to go to DC, Philly, and Boston. All the times have been great. Got there in good time though during Thanksgiving it was really crazy and I'd suggest getting there much earlier during the holidays. Usually I would say a 1/2hour is a good amount of time to get there early so you're guaranteed a seat and your pick of where to sit. Most of the time it's a full bus. more

I love the Chinatown buses. They're the greatest travel deals in the Western hemisphere. Certainly not luxury travel but for $20 round trip to Boston (yes, that's $20 round trip) what do you expect. And they're not really as confusing as this otherwise excellent piece implies: http://www.blacktable.com/gillin031105.htm My recommendation is to with Fung Wah, the granddaddy in this market. more