4 ms·

> worker mobility is at historic lows Perhaps the disappearing ladder rungs of housing, occur in transportation too? Some years back, Boston-NYC intercity bus

> worker mobility is at historic lows Perhaps the disappearing ladder rungs of housing, occur in transportation too? Some years back, Boston-NYC intercity buses had a couple of inexpensive "light gray"-market companies go mainstream. They were attacked by incumbents, federal and local politicians and law enforcement, and press. Leaving now gray-market buses for "illegals" pushed to the city periphery, and a (now somewhat more competitive) middle-class mainstream. With a gap in between, where working poor might commute, bridging the two labor markets. It seemed that price point and use case was too socio-politically vulnerable to be viable.

selimthegrim 7y ago
Uh, did you ever ride one of those Fung Wah type buses? They were terrifying even before the spontaneous combustion trend started.
- mncharity 7y ago
  For years. I'm sorry you had a bad experience. I found Fung Wah, in cleanliness and operations, perhaps a lower class of service than then dominant Greyhound's local equivalent. Unsurprising in a low-cost provider. As for "trend"... it seems naive now, but I was surprised then not so much by competitive PR weaponization of press narrative, but by the unprofessional sloppiness with which the press indulged in the "Chinese bus" narrative. The point "lower class of service" is perhaps key. As with flop/cage/SRO. A "yuck" service, serving people with little pull, perhaps tends to "bad thing - gone now".
ghaff 7y ago
Mega-bus still seems to be pretty cheap. Maybe it's higher during high-demand periods but it seems to be less than $20 or so.
- mncharity 7y ago
  Good point. "Leaving now^W some years later". And midweek Lucky Star can now be $15. I don't know what gray market is - perhaps still $5-ish? So a narrower gap than there used to be. For labor mobility, perhaps a difference that still matters for commuting on minimum wage. Exploring a possible job. Geographically broadening one's social support network.

selimthegrim 7y ago

Uh, did you ever ride one of those Fung Wah type buses? They were terrifying even before the spontaneous combustion trend started.

mncharity 7y ago
For years. I'm sorry you had a bad experience. I found Fung Wah, in cleanliness and operations, perhaps a lower class of service than then dominant Greyhound's local equivalent. Unsurprising in a low-cost provider. As for "trend"... it seems naive now, but I was surprised then not so much by competitive PR weaponization of press narrative, but by the unprofessional sloppiness with which the press indulged in the "Chinese bus" narrative. The point "lower class of service" is perhaps key. As with flop/cage/SRO. A "yuck" service, serving people with little pull, perhaps tends to "bad thing - gone now".

ghaff 7y ago

Mega-bus still seems to be pretty cheap. Maybe it's higher during high-demand periods but it seems to be less than $20 or so.

mncharity 7y ago
Good point. "Leaving now^W some years later". And midweek Lucky Star can now be $15. I don't know what gray market is - perhaps still $5-ish? So a narrower gap than there used to be. For labor mobility, perhaps a difference that still matters for commuting on minimum wage. Exploring a possible job. Geographically broadening one's social support network.