Gotham Boots Chinatown Buses

Long the salvation of penny-pinching hipsters, NYC’s Chinatown bus lines provide cut-rate (and often, terrifying) service to DC, Philly, and Boston. But Gothamist reports that the city has begun cracking down on unpaid tickets and has towed away many of the buses for non-payment.

One company in particular, New Century Travel, takes the cake owing a whopping $136,387.35. Most of their tickets even date back to July 2007! “It’s way overdue…This cannot be a one-time thing,” Susan Stetzer, district manager for Manhattan’s Community Board 3, said of the towing effort. “They’re using public streets as their locations to make money as a private business and on top of it, they’re not even paying fines. It’s a loss of revenue for the city.”

The last time I took the Fung Wah bus to DC, I swear we spent half of the trip (over icy roads) on the two right wheels. They get you there fast, but you definitely feel like kissing the ground on arrival. After that trip, I became a Bolt Bus customer.