U.S. Suspends Fung Wah Bus Line for Safety Issues; Company Responds By Lowering Ticket Prices

The U.S. Department of Transportation ordered the Fung Wah bus line to remove its remaining buses from service due to safety irregularities on Tuesday.

However, instead of suspending its services, the bus line dropped its fares to $15 for a ride from Manhattan to Boston; pratically drowning out news of the suspension.

According to a report in The New York Times, even after news of the suspension spread, more than 40 people lined up outside the bus line's ticket counter to buy a ticket for a four-hour ride to Boston. Reportedly, many passengers were aware of the suspension order but it didn't seem to bother them.

"If it's your time, it's your time," said Rosemary Donkor, who was headed home to Boston. "I believe that God looks after us all."

After a failed inspection, government officials in Washington and Boston ordered Fung Wah's buses off the road. Initially, the bus line was asked to remove 21 of its 28 running buses. However, Tuesday, the government ordered the suspension of all Fung Wah's buses.

According to recent reports, the suspension order hasn't affected the company yet and it has brought buses from a charter company in Brooklyn to provide service from Manhattan to Boston.

Tickets are still being sold on the bus line's website and a telephone operator confirmed that buses will be running every hour to and from the two destinations.

In 2006, Fung Wah faced a similar setback when one if its buses rolled over on a highway in Massachusetts. Public Utilities Department, Massachusetts, chairwoman, Ann G. Berwick, wrote a letter dated Feb. 22 to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration requesting them to declare Fung Wah an "imminent hazard" and order it to cease operations.