Latest News

The company, Fung Wah Bus Transportation, is among the best known of the bus service providers in Chinatown and was one of the first to offer deep discounts to travelers — charging as little as $15 for a one-way ticket from New York to Boston.

After the company's success, a host of other discount bus vendors followed, trying to emulate them and leading to stiff competition on prices.

With train travel often as expensive as airplane travel in the Northeast, the discount bus companies quickly gained in popularity, serving a wide array of clients.

There are casino regulars traveling from New York to Atlantic City or Connecticut, college students seeking a cheap way home, retirees seeking a discount and anyone who simply does not want to deal with the hassle of an airport or the expense of a train.

But critics have charged that the cheap tickets come at a high safety cost.

This month, random inspections by the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities found problems on 21 of Fung Wah's buses. Over the past two years, 159 maintenance violations were registered against Fung Wah, according to the state agency.

The Boston Globe reported on Tuesday that state officials had asked federal investigators to order the company to suspend service.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, heeding the advice, ordered the suspension on the company's entire fleet of 28 motor coaches "for thorough and detailed safety inspections by qualified inspectors," according to a statement released by the agency.

When reached by phone, a company official declined to comment on the suspension.

It is not the first time that Chinatown buses have come under scrutiny.

A series of fatal accidents involving bus companies operating out of Chinatown in recent years has focused the attention of federal safety inspectors on the industry.

In one of the deadliest accidents, 15 people were killed when a bus returning to Chinatown from a Connecticut casino crashed on Interstate 95 in the Bronx.

On the heels of that crash, federal officials ordered 26 companies in New York City to stop operating many of their inexpensive buses.

Still, despite safety concerns, discount bus service has proved popular.