By: Georgia Lobb
One of the cheapest ways to get from Boston to New York is by taking a bus. And for fifteen dollars a trip, it’s hard to beat the Fung Wah bus, which runs from Manhattan to Boston’s transportation epicenter, South Station.
News broke earlier this week that Fung Wah busses are being ordered off the road by the federal government due to safety issues. A day later, the MBTA banned Fung Wah from operating in and out of South Station.
“Due to the safety issues involved in the suspension of your company’s right to operate a passenger bus service for a substantial portion of your bus fleet, the MBTA insists that your company immediately cease all passenger bus operations from SSBT until further notice,” read a letter from MBTA to the Fung Wah Bus Transportation company.
The New York Times reported several safety issues with the buses that were carrying passengers four hours from NYC to Boston daily. “The federal order came after the Public Utilities Department in Massachusetts said it found that several Fung Wah buses had structural deficiencies, including frame cracks near their axles and engine cradles. They said they had also detected shoddy attempts at repairs, like incomplete or failed welds.”
Photo courtesy of The New York Times
But supposedly that didn’t stop passengers from boarding Fung Wah busses leaving New York on Tuesday. The New York Times wrote: “Reports that a popular [Fung Wah] was being shut down were drowned out by the siren song of a $15 fare to Boston.”