Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource "Voices That Must Be Heard" Articles Description An account of the resource The Independent Press Association (IPA) translates articles from the ethnic press (when necessary) and distributes them via web and fax newsletter to mainstream and ethnic press, government offices, nonprofits, and interested individuals. Voices That Must be Heard was designed by the Independent Press Association staff in New York City in response to the horrifying events of September 11. After Sept. 11th, Voices focused on the South Asian, Arab and Middle Eastern communities in New York. Since February 2002, the project has expanded, selecting articles from the broad range of ethnic and community newspapers throughout the city. Here, the Archive has preserved the Voices collection from its inception until November 2002. VTMBH Article VTMBH Article: Edition 29 VTMBH Article: Article Order 3 VTMBH Article: Title Chinese-owned long-distance bus carriers emphasize value; all buses are insured and safe VTMBH Article: Author Hoi Jeet Huang VTMBH Article: Publication World Journal VTMBH Article: Original Language Chinese VTMBH Article: Translator Wendy Szeto VTMBH Article: Section news VTMBH Article: Blurb Flexibility, convenience, and cheap fares have helped Chinese-run long distance bus services flourish. Though customer service and arrival times still need improvement, these companies are in fierce competition with each other and their American-owned counterpartsincluding Greyhound, which has been taking notes. VTMBH Article: Keywords VTMBH Article: Body Beginning in 1990, New York immigrants from Fuzhou moved to New York. Many of them worked outside of New York in various cities or towns in the Northeast. Chinatown bus line services began because of their transportation needs. When this business trend began, the most passengers were those who had found jobs through Chinatown placement agencies. Because of the success of the New York - Philadelphia line in 1995 and 1996, New York entrepreneurs joined this line of business, expanding service from one line (New York to Philadelphia) served by 15-passenger minibuses to the multiple city destinations served by 57-passenger tourist buses today. Though most passengers are still Fuzhou immigrants, passengers now include a sizeable number of non-Chinese people, especially students. The number of destinations, scheduled buses, and non-Chinese passengers are all growing. In fact, it is reported that non-Chinese New Yorkers ask their Chinese friends for information about these bus lines. There are five or six bus services that cover the northeastern region; in reality, all of these bus lines belong to two bigger firms, Golden Dragon and New Century. But as the Chinese-run long distance bus service grows, some New Yorkers doubt the safety of these cheap-fare buses. There are approximately 20 tourist buses that come in and out of the Chinatown bus stop. According to the owners, all the buses are 2001 or newer models, 100 percent fully insured, and inspected for safety. According to a representative of Golden Dragon Inc., their insurance policies cover $10 million in damages, including protections for all the passengers in case of an accident en route. New Centurys insurance policy is $5 million. Both companies buses are fully equipped with air conditioning, heat, television, VCRs, and bathrooms. According to both companies, drivers are required to take a two-hour break after each bus trip, to ensure that they have the energy to drive safely. Ms. Wong from New Century reports that they have seven tourist buses, and two minibuses; all are leased vehicles. Insurance policies are required for leases. Mr. Chan, who works at Massachusetts Transportation and Development Center, always doubted the safety of these bus lines. He contacted his friend, Myra Bulis, at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to check the validity of these bus lines, and received positive response. <i>Flexibility and convenience are reasons for success, but customer service is uneven</i> The success of the Chinese-owned bus service not only comes from the low fares, but its fast and convenient service, and flexible operations. When compared to Greyhound, Chinatown bus services offer better pricing and direct transportation to and from the Chinatown areas of each destination, eliminating the hassle of additional transportation from major bus terminals to Chinatown areas. In addition, bus service owners took into consideration Fuzhou immigrants schedules and culture when scheduling their bus trips. For example, most Fuzhou weddings take place on Sundays and Mondays; therefore, service on these two days is more frequent. And because most Fuzhou immigrants are restaurant workers (they make use of their off days to travel to New York City to visit and buy groceries), they tend to work late on Fridays, and so there are fewer scheduled runs on Fridays. All buses departing from New York are scheduled so that passengers arrive at their destination before restaurant business hours start. For buses arriving in New York from other cities, schedules are set approximately an hour after normal restaurant closing hours, so customers may arrive in New York at their earliest convenience. On the other hand, as the bus service companies make an effort to become more flexible, they have sacrificed customer service. On weekends and long holidays, buses do not run on schedule. Moreover, the tickets are oversold, and some ticketed passengers are unable to board the buses. Greyhound is paying close attention to the growing Chinese-owned long distance bus services. According to one of the bus services owners, Greyhound sends a market analyst to Chinatown almost every day to observe their daily operations and the number of passengers. One of the main bus stops in Chinatown is located at East Broadway and Division Street. At the beginning of this year, the businesses purchased bigger tourist buses to serve their customers; this news was featured in the Boston Globe and the New York Post, which helped services grow even faster. During the fierce competition for business, bus line owners began to change their image from semi-professional to a more structured, professional image. In addition to partnering with American bus services, companies hired security firms to ensure customers and drivers safety. Because of the competition, there have been reported cases of violent activities at the bus stop or on the bus; this reduced passengers' confidence in the bus service. Golden Dragon hired 7871 Bus Company to help with the New York - Philadelphia line. Mr. Cheng, manager of Golden Dragon, hired two security guards to be stationed at the Chinatown bus stop in an event of any violent disturbance. The two security guards will circle around the station in their jeeps to ensure all operations run normally. Security Guard Andy Wong reports that his job is to stop any violent activities. Orlando, a uniformed bus driver with the 7871 Bus Company is surprised at the number of passenger these bus lines carry. Because Chinatown has no delegated bus terminal to service these lines, at times there are five to six buses lined up on the neighborhoods busy streets, causing major traffic jams in the already packed vicinity. Orlando is surprised that the city government hasnt paid closer attention to this trend. VTMBH Article: Line Breaks 1 VTMBH Article: Date 2002-07-20 VTMBH Article: Thumb VTMBH Article: Article File VTMBH Article: Hit Count 970 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Chinese-owned long-distance bus carriers emphasize value; all buses are insured and safe 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. unknown Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. article Original Name The original name of this item. Flexibility, convenience, and cheap fares have helped Chinese-run long distance bus services flouris Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-07-20