With Fung Wah still out of service, Greyhound revved up a bid to dominate the discount passenger bus market between Boston and New York City with yesterday's expansion of its Yo! brand.
"Fung Wah had been a thorn in Greyhound's side for years, so they were ready to attack Fung Wah, anyway," said Joe Schwieterman, a bus industry expert and transportation professor at DePaul University. "The timing is opportune."
Yo!, which launched last year and is jointly run by Greyhound and Peter Pan Bus Lines, will offer six daily nonstop round-trips between Boston's South Station and New York's Chinatown starting Thursday. The bus line already offered service between the Big Apple and Philadelphia.
"Boston is a great market for us," said Yo! spokesman Timothy Stokes. "We always evaluate all markets we operate in to see where maybe our service would be a success in the area, and we think Boston would do that."
The arrival of Yo! in Boston was decided before Fung Wah's 28 buses were ordered off the road by government safety regulators earlier this month, Stokes said.
Greyhound previously went after the low-priced competition with its BoltBus service, but has been "fighting a losing battle" against the Fung Wahs of the world for years over cost savings, Schwieterman said.
"BoltBus won back many of the young professionals and some of the students, but Asian carriers still often had a price advantage," he said. "Not a big one, but five bucks or so makes a difference for a student."
Schwieterman added Greyhound still faces "fierce" competition in the New York-Boston travel market, a "crown jewel of discount bus service," as lines such as Megabus and Lucky Star also offer daily reduced-fare trips to New York City.
"I think (Yo!) will mostly remain a niche product," he said. "This looks good, but it's still risky."
Yo!'s amenities include guaranteed seats, extra legroom with leather seating, free Wi-Fi and power outlets. One-way ticket prices will range from $20 to $24, depending on the day and time of the week.
There are currently eight buses in the Yo! fleet, but officials remain unsure of how many will operate through Boston, Stokes said.
"There is a possibility that the service will consist of Yo! buses, Greyhound buses and Peter Pan buses to accommodate the recent demand for the service," Stokes said. "Although the livery of the buses may be different on some schedules, the buses will all consist of the same amenities."
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