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| Chinatown to D.C. Regulate 'Chinatown buses'-but rationally - Fredericksburg.com |
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| 2011-06-10 |
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IF AMBROSE BIERCE were putting out a new edition of "The Devil's Dictionary," his classic contribution to the field of social satire, he might define "regulation" as "a government mandate designed to ensure safety--notably that of big businesses from smaller competitors." Bear this in mind amid the quite appropriate calls to better control the "Chinatown bus lines" industry after the tragic May 31 Sky Express accident in Caroline County.
It's easy to see the threat these bus lines pose to Greyhound and other large carriers. While $30 will buy a one-way ticket from Richmond to New York City on a Chinatown bus, Greyhound's standard express fare between the two cities is $59.50 (although booking a seat two weeks before departure costs just $40). The Chinatown lines--so-called because the first ones, owned by Chinese immigrants, transported Chinese workers between the Chinatowns of New York City and Boston--operate much more cheaply in part because they eschew terminals, often picking up passengers on designated street corners, and they make nonstop beelines between cities.
Do they also skimp on safety to save a buck? The problematic history of Sky Express is now well known--five crashes within the past two years, two of which injured passengers or other motorists, and a federal evaluation that put its sleepy-headed drivers in the bottom 0.3 percent of their peers in the "fitness" category. But some other Chinatown lines operate with less demolishment and more expertise, and most usually deliver what passengers expect--the fastest trip possible on rubber wheels between two cities, which means one unhindered by accident or speeding ticket.
In fact, the industry has grown like gangbusters since the late '90s, with some lines now offering in-coach movies and Wi-Fi and taking Internet bookings. Its clientele these days includes non-Chinese immigrants, college students--just about anyone on a tight budget. No wonder Greyhound, Trailways, and old regional lines such as the northeast's Peter Pan are frowning.
After some tragic and flamboyant mishaps involving Chinatown buses--two have caught fire, forcing passengers to flee--some in Congress, including Virginia's two senators, are pushing new regulations--ejection-resistant glass, harder roof tops, and so on--for all interstate bus lines. To be sure, "safety first" is a good rule, doubly so on the public highways.
But regulations should be fairly related to true hazards. They should not be a way for Big Business, which can absorb them, and allied politicians to wreck upstart entrepreneurs and further deflate the wallets of their cloutless customers.
Fredericksburg.com
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