Chinatown Bus Pioneer Fung Wah Strangled by Federal Bureaucracy
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ก.ย. 2014
- In 1993, Pei Lin Liang, an immigrant from Guangdong province and a former noodle factory deliveryman, started a local van service in New York City that would later become Fung Wah, the very first "Chinatown bus" company. Liang deserves credit for launching a revolution in "curbside busing"-in which motor coaches pick up and drop off passengers right off the street-now the fastest growing mode of intercity travel in the U.S.
Last March, the U.S. Department of Transportation forced Fung Wah to halt its operations, which was part of a broader safety crackdown on the industry. As Reason reported last year, the closing of Fung Wah was the result of regulatory incompetence-but an even greater injustice is what's happened in the year and a half since.
For more on the shutdown of Fung Wah, read "Why the Government Was Wrong to Shutdown Fung Wah Bus Company:" reason.com/archives/2013/07/16...
Follow this link to read about a charter bus company in North Carolina that's in a similar predicament to Fung Wah: reason.com/archives/2014/03/25...
Follow this link to read about Lucky Star, a Chinatown bus operator that was forced off the road last year after federal safety inspectors issued a report on the company rife with factual inaccuracies and false charges: www.thedailybeast.com/articles...
Follow this link to read about an October 2011 federal study that fueled the government's crackdown on the Chinatown bus industry-but used incorrect datasets and committed "statistical malpractice:" reason.com/archives/2013/05/07...
About 7 minutes.
Produced and narrated by Jim Epstein, with help from Joshua Swain and Todd Krainin.
Go to reason.com/reasontv for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason's TH-cam Channel to get automatic updates when new stories go live.
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I used Fung Wah Bus a lot going back & forth from Boston to NYC they had the best prices & good drivers. The media destroyed this company
They have alot accidents problems thats y there liscense were suspended
@@jefftacsin911 you get what you pay for. All of those Chinese bus companies have a " It can be our fault that you had a shitty ride, but your not getting reimbursed for it" clause in their aggreements.
Greyhound does not have an excellent safety record. I think Greyhound was losing money to the Chinese and called the DOT to put them out of business. Fung Wah was selling $10 bus tickets and provided hourly on time bus service and Greyhound couldn’t keep up with that. Greyhound was selling their tickets starting out at $25 and they had a habit of overbooking and never having enough bus drivers.
@@jefftacsin911 I rode Fung Wah many times when I worked in Boston but I did not feel anything wrong. We lost a great bus company. Dirty politics.
@@enarush1 True. I am from Taiwan and honestly I don't like Chinese. But I saw those Chinese bus drivers worked so hard to make a living in US. This country should give opportunities to those who are willing to work hard!
You shouldn't need a license to offer products or services. The government is slowing down society.
Every time I complain about government regulation to a statist, they are sure to say stuff like "well I like not having poison in my food or drinking water". At that point I say "OK I concede that point, lets say it's OK when it comes to safety. So, why do we need regulations and licenses for flower arrangers and hair braiders again?" I have yet to hear one good reason....
do you know how many substances that are deleterious to your health the FDA okayed? no need to concede ANY point - there is a reason why 90% of the shit on the supermarket shelves are filled with artificial shit that's killing all of us slowly
NoName NoFame
Oh believe me I don't actually think we should have it, I just figured that since that is the only point they are arguing, I can give it to them and see how they justify other regulations that have nothing to do with their one point. They can't!
Raging Golden Eagle next time tell them that the FDA is one of the most inept and criminal organization that's making people guzzle the worst foods down their throat in full confidence since everything is "government approved"
Statists can be truly exasperating. One I know at work is a wonderful human being but when I complain about how high our taxes are he points to our system of roads and interstates and how "wonderful" they are. I've not doubt this same guy would've loved Mussolini as well, as they say "he made the trains run on time". .It's like trying to deal with Sir Alec Guinness's character in Bridge Over the River Kwai. Many of them won't "wake up" until it's too late.
My brother is an ultra Statist. Every time I bring up situations like this in which people's lives are destroyed, he always writes me off by claiming they are "conspiracy theories".
Honestly, I hope one day that the government totally ruins him. I'm afraid that is the only way he will wake up and see how little freedom he truly has.
The United States Department of Transportation is destroying transportation, and the United States Department of Energy consumes more energy than any other non-military department. What do we need these guys for?
The doe does military research now. Back in the 80s they switched funding away from civil applications.
Fung Wah (and other Chinatown buses) provided a low cost travel option with reasonable service and questionable cleanliness : ) I utilized their service almost exclusively (because it was cheaper than AMTRAK or Greyhound) in my youthful travels from Baltimore to Philly & NYC. In present times, most intercity travelers use Bolt Bus (owned by Greyhound/Peter Pan) and MegaBus (owned by Coach USA) to travel the Northeast Corridor from Washington, D.C to Boston. It seems logical that they would do anything to delete any competition from small scale bus operations?
Probably the MOST HORRIFYING thing you could ever hear is, "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help".
Even after a few minutes of research, you can see the hypocrisy clearly. Fung Wah's company had only experienced one casualty during it's lifetime, and, according to Wikipedia, Greyhound had at least 48 (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greyhound_Lines). Furthermore, "there were no crash incidents reported to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (United States Department of Transportation) by states for 24 months prior to December 26, 2011" (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fung_Wah_Bus_Transportation). Seriously, not-so-structurally sound Greyhound buses are allowed to continue operating, and Fung Wah get's iced? That, my kind sir, is BAL-O-NEY.
I absolutely LOVED using the "FUNG WAH" line, much more then Mega & Greyhound. Mr Liang got a raw deal ....
its the makers vs. the takers.
We wonder where all the small businesses went, well here is your answer.
Sorry Wong, Some big cat gave the party campaign money and you did not so, say good by to your business. Life is not fair when there is corruption in government.
Every gov't bureau has its paper-pushing "Denied" box checker... It's what they do.. It's what they get paid to do.
Frank
And licensing give them that power... that weapon against everyone.
Didn't he get the Obama administration memo about no one creating their own business?
Wow...wishing death for an individual who disagrees with you on on a particular topic. I bow to your mighty and superior intellect.
But he didn't build that ... LOLOL remember Obammy told us so
Fung Wah is the sound it makes when a bus run over a pedestrian
"It's the fair thing.." um.. You do realize you're talking about New York where it costs 450 to give people rides (taxi medallions), That same medallion was then auctioned off for $965,000.
Good luck with that
Just regulate buses like cars, if it's roadworthy (good breaks, accurate steering wheel, won't disintigrate, reliable engine) then go for it! Bus companies are the epitome of entrepreneurial spirit.
well, it has more collateral damage and not as easy to operate while also having many passenger's. these busses have flipped over left and right
71sc502 then require the bus driver to take a bus driving test, like a car driver has to take a car driving test
+Alex Hopkins thats makes no sense beside proving my point only futher so.
71sc502 I live in UK, not radically different to USA
Gee, I wonder how much "documentation" they required of companies like Megabus and Greyhound before approval??
"Unsafe"?? LOL
THOSE BUSES LOOK PRETTY SAFE AND NORMAL TO ME, esp. compared to THE OTHER BUS FIRMS.
Government is irrefutably the most inefficient way to deliver a service.
I don't even understand why the Federal Government has any jurisdiction on a local company. But that might just be me
I don't understand why the federal government has any jurisdiction.
That's what we call, "moving at the speed of government."
Thomas soul said the government takes 30 days to make instant coffee.
I don't get it. Isn't that what driving licenses and annual vehicle inspections are for? It's unfair they added an additional package of red tape just so they could shut down his company.
One word repeated several times - sue sue sue sue. Civil law (in theory) comes before government statutes.
Despicable.
Land of opportunity.
Land of the free.
Former descriptions of the USA.
This is the #StopAsianHate that no one is talking about.
But he didn't build that ... LOLOL remember Obammy told us so
Why not run on the fully responsible law. If you are a owner or a share holder of a company you are fully responsible for anything that happens because of your company negligence. For this to work shareholders and owners must be criminally and economically penalized for the mistakes of their companies. That way the only job the government has is deciding who is responsible if something bad happens. Nobody likes this law because for business owners it eliminates the limited liability that is abuse by most if not all companies that land is hot water. But the reason government agencies have to act as baby sitters is because business have limited liability. So who is willing to be liable for your work as long as we have less government intervention?
+ David Quintana:
I hear you.. I just got fired as a Chauffeur for a company who's dispatch location was inside my local airport. So we were literally running the company + cars out of the airport = more susceptible to getting fines & tickets from the County Police and Even the TSA had the authority to fine us. So I think I got fired because I always found something wrong with whatever vehicle I used that day and reported it on my Trip Sheets @ the beginning of the day. I mean my company would use black duct-tape to cover a Check-Engine light!
"So who is willing to be liable for your work as long as we have less government intervention?" Your question makes two assumptions. First, that we have government intervention because we need to be protected or because we need babysitting. Neither could be further from the truth. We have intervention because our government is trying to control the market place. For various reasons they intervene. Not out of real necessity for the market, but to control it. Secondly we have a plethora of legal company types because of the distinct lack of Tort reform, not to get out of liability.
Nothing in this fair country of ours grew up in a vacuum. All of these bits of lunacy are all intertwined. I would bet that the reason this guy is having this problem is because someone caught on to the money they were loosing. Or someone wasn't getting the political connection they wanted.
This isn't a story about a guy not taking responsibility for some failure or negligence of this company, the opposite is true, Reason.TV showed that the original claim was false. This is about the same ol' same old corrupt system that protects itself and its friends from competition.
Due process???
I'm so upset and sad to hear that Mr. Liang is closing his doors. There's a lot more behind this, a lot of pay off's to State and Federal Officials....... to make room for the bigger players, I know this first hand because they are doing it to me also. I owned a Limousine Company in Ma. Since 1984 Women Owned business, operating a 30 plus fleet, never in all the years in business have I every had any fatalities nor anyone injured in one of my vehicles, nor any major accidents. I'd say I was doing something right but not good enough as far as the Sate and Federal Agents claim!
When I became bigger with the Limousine Buses is was when all eye's where on my company, I was a Threat to local operators and the buck was passed to shut me down for IMMINENT HAZARD to the public...... Seriously!!! Unannounced Federal Agents came into my place of business, being very rude and demanding to start the audit that very moment as they walked into the door. They where assigned this Audit because of Seat Belt Violation that one of my drivers received while he was parked at Logan international Airport by a State Official.....hmmmm that put my Company over the Threshold, Funny how State Officials and Federal Officials work hand and hand, to shut down Fung Wah and My Company.
VERY SAD HOW THE GOVERNMENT CAN TAKE AWAY SO MANY YEARS OF BUILDING YOUR DREAMS AND BE GONE IN A HEART BEAT, BECAUSE OF A PASS OF A BUCK / PAID OFF TO HELP OUT ANOTHER OPERATOR TO CLOSE DOWN THERE COMPUTATION. I HAVE LEARNED THROUGH MY EXPERIENCE DEALING WITH THIS BECAUSE THEY ATTACKED MY COMPANY AROUND THE SAME TIME THEY SHUT DOWN FUNG WAH. WITHOUT A DOUBT THE STATE AGENTS AND FEDERAL AGENTS ARE VERY CORRUPT!!!
Most every vehicle on the roads have some sort of minor mechanical issues, that's understandable, Do you think when your driving on the road ways when you approach a Coach Bus, a Tractor Trailer, that these vehicles don't have issues, Of course they do I'd say a majority of DOT regulated vehicles on our roadways can be found with some sort of defect from something minor from a oil leak to something major. If you agree with that, then do you feel it is constitutional for The State or the Federal Government to Shut you down AS A IMMINENT HAZARD, for 2 years, because that's how long it takes to get back in service with going back and fourth with the Federal Authority on there time frame, which they have no time frame or even care how long you wait for your answer to see if you can operate again, and finally after waiting forever they tell you that your safety correction plan is not good enough or they don't understand something within the correction plan proposed to them and for us to clarify it and to re-submit it all over again. It takes 2 years!! Sadly to say Mr. Liang is forced to close his doors after investing hundreds of thousand of dollars for nothing!! I feel that if a company has violations you should be given fines for said violations and you should be given an X amount of time to correct them and make it right, and if things are not corrected in the said X amounted time, then they would suspend your operating authority, not shut you down for IMMINENT HAZARD and broadcast to the world you are a unfit and unsafe operator. If there was a fatality caused by a vehicle accident and major issues where discovered while doing a investigation, then now that's a IMMINENT HAZARD to the public. Again, my company was never involved with any major accidents and never hurt anyone, in all the millions of people that we have transported over the 30 years.
There was a hidden AGENDA to cripple Fung Wah as there was a hidden AGENDA to cripple my company. And I am not giving up the fight to get to the core of the rotten apples that created this embarrassment, tarnishing my 30 year's of hard work to build my companies name, and also took away my health. Every ounce of life has been sucked out of me since they attacked me. I will find all the mistakes they made along the way to take me down and make this right. Hopefully one day make my death sentence that I was given public news. I hope Mr. Liang doesn't give up the fight to correct the wrong that was dished to his company.
The methods the State of Ma. along with Federal Agents took to correct violations that where found, was the method that they knew a small business would not be able to survive, taking 2 years to get back on the road is absurd, they run you dry of all monies you might have, without having any capital to back yourself and as you see that is what happened to Mr. Liang, it sickens and saddens me, cause I feel his pain. The ones involved for shutting us down to benefit another transportation operator will be held responsible if it's the last thing I do. So corrupt it's killing me.
Better to pay $250k to a professional to make sure the head of the DOT has a vested personal interest in staying out of a wheelchair so your case is expedited.
Dru Carey featured on a show run by Drew Carey :)
What kind of place needs two Chinatowns anyway when some of us don't even have the one?
Of course that lawyer thinks he will get his license, otherwise the gravy train is over for her. She says he will get his license back because "it's the right thing to do" . Like the government gives a fuck about that. You'd think a lawyer would know this.
IF THIS MAN STILL HAS THOSE BUSES, HE SHOULD USE THEM TO TRANSPORT PEOPLE FROM THE TRI STATE AREA TO THE NEW INDOOR WATERPARKS IN BOTH RUTHERFORD, NJ, ANd IN ATLANTIC CITY, NJ. ESPECIALLY AMERICAN DREAM MALL. NO ONE CAN GET THERE AND THE MALL IS FACING FINANCIAL DIFFICULTY.
Sue the government?
My hypothesis is that Greyhound spent a lot of money in campaign contributions to convince a politician to draft overly zealous regulations that Greyhound knew it could afford to comply with, but knew that its competition could not afford to comply with. Greyhound maintains its monopoly with help from government, and the free market is less free. Economist Thomas DiLorenzo traces the history of this system back to Hamilton, Clay and the Whig Party. Merchantilism or "The American System" (as the Whigs strangley called it) is still alive today, but now people for some reason changed the name to "cronyism"
nothosaur Everything bad in American politics eventually traces back to Alexander Hamilton.
TheElectricTurtle
He dueled too infrequently and too late in life.
Bushrod Rust Johnson I read an article by Merrill Lindsay called, "The Burr-Hamilton Duelling Pistols". Lindsay studied the pistols and concludes pretty convincingly that Hamilton was using trick pistols with concealed hair triggers. He had borrowed these from his brother-in-law instead of using his own legitimate dueling pistols. Hamilton's high shot over Burr's head is consistent with setting the hair trigger, and then squeezing it too hard as he lowered the muzzle to the target. Burr, having no idea about how to set the hair trigger, slowly squeezed a 10-pound trigger pull, unleashing the .54 caliber ball into Hamilton. It's a fascinating article. Hamilton is one of those historical figures that you respect less the more you learn about him. His participation in writing the Federalist Papers is about his only redeeming quality.
Atlas Shrugged!
This peanut gallery of ignorance truly amazes me. Fung Wah was shut down because their fleet of shoddy buses and Chinese drivers were regularly crashing, bursting into flames and in one case running over a pedestrian while illegally parked. Getting these buses and drivers off our highways was actually a smart and very necessary move. If you ride one of these death traps you'll see it for yourself.
kingofallwhites Fung Wah is also the sound it makes when a bus run over a pedestrian
True believers in government.
If this guy spent almost half a million dollars to rectify this matter, why would they still devastate him like this? I just don't understand.
This video seems familiar... hm
Fair? Right? Which government you talking about?
It's sad that the people who Liang was escaping from when he left communist China in the 80s are now controlling the department of transport.
Somebody's after him probably a competitor bribing someone. This is sad. A great man and his company destroyed. The lawyer should have told to quit instead of spending 3 million dollars. The attorney is still telling him to wait.
The major bus companies, plus Obama's darling Amtrak have major stakes in the Northeast market.
I think the attorney should have told him to get out that he was screwed. He is. His up against big money and big government...which is the same thing now a days.
Gubmint Gone Wild!
Who came here from American dad
Pei Lin Liang is a hero! I used to work for South Station Bus Terminal where Fung Wah Bus company also operates. I saw their prices and service. If I remember correctly 15.00 from Boston to New York lower than any price any other bus companies offered. Greyhound is a failing corporate bus company they lost their competitiveness years ago. Liang you must not pour so much money into complying with the Federal DOT because they are making you waste money instead re-investing into Fung Wah to keep operating. Please Liang, find another inexpensive alternative to deal with Federal DOT.
Companies are disposable legal fictions. He needs to liquidate this one and start a new one- and keep some good attorneys on retainer. He could have done it for the three million he spent keeping Fung Wah on life support.
Bushrod Rust Johnson Companies are privately owned not disposable legal fictions. I don't know the value of your advise for his situation if it worth it or not.
Bezlichnyy
Companies are privately owned disposable legal fictions. They strategically go out of business all the time to cut losses when faced with expensive burdens or liabilities such as this one. The principals elect to shut down, divest, liquidate, then form a new organization with a different name. That is the whole point of all the "paper corporations" out there in Delaware who stay light on assets and employees. In fact some of Fung Wah's competitors entered the market by leasing unmarked coaches and hiring a few drivers as "independent contractors".
Bushrod Rust Johnson Thanks for the further explanation. It helps refer to what you are talking about better. You mean they are the same company just different name for legal purposes of avoiding government compliance.
Bezlichnyy
The new company has a better chance of remaining in compliance since its investors will have learned something. There is no sense in expending resources worrying about the compliance of the old organization since the government doesn't care if it ever becomes compliant or just goes out of business. The new venture will resurrect balance in the universe in the law's figuring.
I guess that's one way to keep the number of accidents low - shut down bus companies!
Drew Carey changed......
Have to love a liberal government centric mind set.
Oh please, those who are spouting the "corporations that are spoiling out environment" line are missing one key point, the Transportation Department actively checking on this company fitness to operate, they had buried the files and were nothing NOTHING. Oversight is important but bureaucratic inefficiency is the problem here. Please try to find relevance before you raise the flag on our wonderful folks in DC, that keep us all safe.
That's what governments are for... get in a man's way.
Well too be fair the Chinese aren't known for their "safety regulations"
I worked in the tristate area for a school bus company. Those buses where unsafe as hell but the owner was well influenced in government. He stayed in business it's called corruption.
So he was trafficking immigrants. They still do this. Usually illegal.
His problem was attempting to work with the federal bureaucracy. He should just ignore federal law, and pull out the race card if challenged - i.e., claim that DOT bus safety regulations are racist because they demonstably target immigrant groups. He'll be fine. People who cross our border illegally do it all the time.
Never seems to work for Asians. They are minorities, but get no special privileges.
Maybe I am incredibly naive but I wonder why one of New Yorks US senators or both, could not have added pressure to move this along. Is not Chuck Schumer (sp?) a big deal on the Transportation Committee? Surely with all the congresspersons from New York, a few have to be on the Transportation subcommittee or Budget committee. I would camp out in the offices of the most influential members of the house and senate until I got some help
Schumer was actually one of the ones behind shutting down the bus companies. Those clowns would never help anything that might open competition against the regional airline market and their public sector transportation "creating jobs!!!!!!!!!!!!" pet projects.
People like Bill Gates and Ted Turner say they want to help America. Instead of dumping billions down the drain of the failed public schools. They need to give people money like this so they can get their business licenses etc. You know actually help people in this country.
Civil servants are the real scum of this earth.
United States of Corporate+Liberal Fascism... :( Freedom... it was nice knowing ya.
Do I care more about preventing the extremely small number of businesses that would use buses which operate unsafely from running, or preventing a faceless agency from destroying the livelihood of hundreds of critical business owners?
Well gee, hard choice. Oh wait, it's not. Because I don't live in utter fear of statistically unlikely events. Certainly not to the point required to give up freedom to stop it.
man... to do any business, you need to bribe the govt and do corruption... take example of nestle water bottling.. the govt allowed the company to tap all the water in callifornia till the place became drought... people protested but whats the use... now callifornia people have to drink nestle water... the only solution to your problem is inform all these to your consulate and go back to china and do business there export to US and be an example your native entrepreneurs...
10th Amendment
Bust out your magnifying glass. We're taking an up-close look at 10th Amendment of the US Constitution.
Passed by Congress: 25 September 1789
Ratified: 15 December 1791
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. Anywhere in the constitution does it say the federal government is to micro manage the Economy?
surrealnumber Everything POTENTIALLY involving more than one person...
don bleck Wickard v. Filburn, aka one of the worst SCotUS decisions in history.
Chinese capitalist entrepeneur facing American communist-esque legal hurdles.
How ironic.
This video is fully biased and totally misleading, The Fung Wah went out of business for not adhering to the DOT rules, which all Motor coaches are following and number of accidents and unsafe buses and untrained drivers! ...
Oh man, poor guy. I hate watching strong entrepreneurs getting strangled by the state.
Government should STAY OUT of people's sex lives & halt unwarranted mass surveillance of unconstitutionally profiled minorities. Government SHOULD regulate multi-national oil companies that poison your environment. Government SHOULD provide universal healthcare for all citizens, fire departments & (socialist) interstate highways for you to drive on.
So in other words what you are saying is... Government should control us the way you see fit. You are such a damn control freak.
***** You'd prefer maximum privatized healthcare, roads & water? Privatization always inflates prices. Evidence: US healthcare system ranks #37 in the world due to private for-profit insurance companies jacking prices & denying claims for pre-existing conditions. Thankfully, Obamacare well put an end to private insurance death panels.
Eero Haapala Actually, health insurance companies are not allowed to compete across state lines. Life/auto/homeowners/liability insurance companies are allowed to compete across state lines. This is why health insurance is so much more expensive than other types of insurance Yes when you limit competition prices inflate. Luckily we now have Obamacare which restricts competition even more. Now health insurance companies must be certified county by county. This has caused some big insurance companies to drop out of the individual market all together and focus only on group plans. I'm still waiting to hear about an example where more competition has inflated prices (crickets).
Eero Haapala It took me an hour and a half to drive 20 miles in the Los Angeles freeway system today. You're going to have a hard time convincing me that government does a good job of building and maintaining roads.
Patrick Dukemajian Congress should stop filibustering President Obama's infrastructure bill & hold a vote. Your tax dollars can pay for perpetual war in the Middle East... But not crumbling roads & bridges domestically? #Freedumb
Boston sucks.
Have to love a liberal government centric mind set.