Eastern Bus

Last updated
Eastern Bus
Eastern Bus bus white.jpg
Eastern Shuttle bus in white livery before the marketing arrangement with Flixbus.
Founded2002;22 years ago (2002)
Headquarters90 Bowery
New York, NY 10013
Locale Northeastern United States
Service area Interstate 95 corridor
Service type Intercity bus service
Alliance Flixbus
Routes2
Stops5
Destinations3
Hubs
Website www.flixbus.com
Eastern Shuttle bus in red livery, before the agreement with Flixbus Coach USA Eastern Shuttle bus-red.jpg
Eastern Shuttle bus in red livery, before the agreement with Flixbus

Eastern Bus, also known as Eastern Shuttle and formerly Eastern Travel, is the operator of intercity bus service between New York City and Richmond, Virginia for Flixbus. [1]

Contents

History

The company was founded by Zheng Shui Ming in 2002. Zheng immigrated from Fujian Province in southern China in 1991 on a fishing vessel. He then bought a secondhand minibus from a friend in Queens and started driving. The company attracted cooks and dishwashers with jobs in Chinese restaurants as well as college students. [2]

Eastern hired David Wong, Chinese-born but educated in the United States with a Master of Business Administration, as a part-owner and manager of its operations. Wong added a stop near Pennsylvania Station in New York. [3] [4]

In 2006, the company had an estimated $3 million in sales. [5]

In fall 2008, Coach USA acquired Eastern. [6] In winter 2009, Coach USA purchased Today's and merged it into Eastern. [7]

In August 2009, Megabus divested itself of Eastern Shuttle. [8]

In May 2019, the company reached a deal with Flixbus, in which Flixbus handles all marketing and sales for the company. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greyhound Lines</span> North American intercity bus service

Greyhound Lines, Inc. (Greyhound) is a company that operates the largest intercity bus service in North America. Services include Greyhound Mexico, charter bus services, and Amtrak Thruway services. Greyhound operates 1,700 coaches produced mainly by Motor Coach Industries and Prevost serving 230 stations and 1,700 destinations. The company's first route began in Hibbing, Minnesota in 1914 and the company adopted the Greyhound name in 1929. The company is owned by Flix North America, Inc., an affiliate of FlixBus, and is based in Downtown Dallas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinatown bus lines</span>

Chinatown bus lines are discount intercity bus services in the United States, often operated by Chinese Americans, primarily Fujianese. They operate with lower overhead and lower fares compared to competing services. Destinations include most major cities as well as casinos popular with Asian Americans.

The Central New York Regional Transportation Authority, commonly referred to as Centro, is a New York State public benefit corporation and the operator of mass transit in Onondaga, Oswego, Cayuga, and Oneida counties in New York state. The CNYRTA was formed on August 1, 1970, along with similar agencies in Rochester, Albany, and Buffalo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Pan Bus Lines</span> American company providing intercity bus services in the Northeast

Peter Pan Bus Lines operates an intercity bus service in the Northeastern United States. It is headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intercity bus service</span> Public transport service using coaches to carry passengers significant distances between locations

An intercity bus service or intercity coach service, also called a long-distance, express, over-the-road, commercial, long-haul, or highway bus or coach service, is a public transport service using coaches to carry passengers significant distances between different cities, towns, or other populated areas. Unlike a transit bus service, which has frequent stops throughout a city or town, an intercity bus service generally has a single stop at one location in or near a city, and travels long distances without stopping at all. Intercity bus services may be operated by government agencies or private industry, for profit and not for profit. Intercity coach travel can serve areas or countries with no train services, or may be set up to compete with trains by providing a more flexible or cheaper alternative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union Station Bus Terminal</span> Principal intercity bus terminal for Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The Union Station Bus Terminal is the central intercity bus terminal in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in Downtown Toronto on the second floor of the south tower of CIBC Square, on the northeast corner of Bay Street and Lake Shore Boulevard. The terminal currently serves GO Transit regional buses as well as Coach Canada, Greyhound Lines and Ontario Northland long-distance bus services, among others. Owned by the provincial Crown agency Metrolinx, the terminal is connected by pedestrian walkways to the adjacent Union Station, Canada's busiest transportation hub.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coach USA</span> Bus transit holding company in North America

Coach USA, LLC is a holding company for various American transportation service providers providing scheduled intercity bus service, local and commuter bus transit, city sightseeing, tour, yellow school bus, and charter bus service across the United States and Canada. It is owned by Variant Equity Advisors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kemper Street station</span>

Kemper Street station, also known as Lynchburg station, is an intermodal transit station in Lynchburg, Virginia, United States. It serves Amtrak while an adjacent bus transfer center serves Greater Lynchburg Transit Company and Greyhound buses. Kemper Street Station is located at 825 Kemper Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shudehill Interchange</span> Manchester Metrolink tram stop

Shudehill Interchange is a transport hub between Manchester Victoria station and the Northern Quarter in Manchester city centre, England, which comprises a Metrolink stop and a bus station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milwaukee Intermodal Station</span> Intercity station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US

Milwaukee Intermodal Station is an intercity bus and train station in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Amtrak service at Milwaukee includes the daily Empire Builder and the seven daily Hiawatha Service round trips. It is Amtrak's 18th-busiest station nationwide, and the second-busiest in the Midwest, behind only Chicago Union Station. The station is served by bus companies Coach USA - Wisconsin Coach Lines, Greyhound Lines, Jefferson Lines, Indian Trails, Lamers, Badger Bus, Tornado Bus Company, and Megabus. It is also the western terminus of the M-Line service of The Hop streetcar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coach transport in the United Kingdom</span>

The United Kingdom has a number of intercity coach services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BoltBus</span> American commercial intercity bus service

BoltBus was an intercity bus common carrier and a division of Greyhound Lines that operated from March 2008 until July 2021 in the northeast and western United States and British Columbia, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Megabus (North America)</span> American commercial intercity bus service

Megabus is an intercity bus service of Coach USA/Coach Canada operating in the eastern, southern, midwestern, western, and Pacific United States and in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is the North American service equivalent to the European Megabus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Van Galder Bus Company</span> Bus service based in Wisconsin, US

Van Galder Bus Company, legally Sam Van Galder, Inc. is a regional bus service headquartered in Janesville, Wisconsin. A subsidiary of Coach USA, the company had been a family-owned business for over 50 years until it was sold in 1999 to the Stagecoach Group, who retained Stephen Van Galder as president under the Coach USA banner. In 2004, Van Galder acquired Rockford Coach Lines, which provided airport service from Rockford to O'Hare, from Greyhound Lines.

Bus companies in Ontario range in scale from small family-run businesses to subsidiaries of large international transportation groups. Many operate yellow school buses for student transportation on behalf of local school boards, while others concentrate on luxury coach charters and tours. Some municipalities use these private companies to run their public transit systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Public transportation in the United States</span> Publicly financed transit services in the country

The United States is serviced by a wide array of public transportation, including various forms of bus, rail, ferry, and sometimes, airline services. Most established public transit systems are located in central, urban areas where there is enough density and public demand to require public transportation. In more auto-centric suburban localities, public transit is normally, but not always, less frequent and less common. Most public transit services in the United States are either national, regional/commuter, or local, depending on the type of service. Sometimes "public transportation" in the United States is an umbrella term used synonymously with "alternative transportation", meaning any form of mobility that excludes driving alone by automobile. This can sometimes include carpooling, vanpooling, on-demand mobility, infrastructure that is oriented toward bicycles, and paratransit service. There is public transit service in most US cities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FlixBus</span> International intercity bus company

FlixBus is a German brand that offers intercity bus service in Europe, North America, and South America. It launched in India in 2024 with 46 travel destinations, with tickets starting from Rs 99. It is owned by Flix SE, which also operates Flixtrain, FlixCar, Kâmil Koç, and Greyhound Lines. Flixbus operates buses or, in many cases, just handles marketing, pricing, and customer service for a commission, on behalf of bus operators. In 2022, FlixBus had revenues of €1.5 billion and carried 60 million passengers of which 38 million were in Europe, 13 million were in Turkey and 8 million were in North America.

References

  1. "Eastern Bus is now a part of FlixBus!". Flixbus.
  2. KNAFO, SAKI (June 8, 2008). "Dreams and Desperation on Forsyth Street" . The New York Times .
  3. Yu, Rin-rin (August 31, 2009). "Magic buses". China Daily .
  4. Newman, Barry (January 28, 2005). "On the East Coast, Chinese Buses Give Greyhound a Run" . The Wall Street Journal .
  5. PITTS, JONATHAN (July 6, 2006). "The Chinatown bus is a wild ride" . The Baltimore Sun .
  6. "Federal Register Volume 73". Justia. September 18, 2008.
  7. Novikoff, Josh (February 17, 2009). "Todays Bus Now Part of Eastern Coach/Coach USA". WAMU . Archived from the original on February 22, 2012.
  8. "Notice regarding Eastern Travel on Megabus' official Facebook page". Facebook. August 13, 2009.
  9. Schwieterman, Joseph; Antolin, Brian (July 11, 2019). "How Greyhound, Coach USA sales will impact intercity bus lines". Metro Magazine .