Dai Ba/Big Bus – Flushing-Chinatown Shuttle

Was it ever really a fair fight? The infamous Dai Ba aka Big Bus was an incredible addition to the already competitive Chinatown shuttle bus scene for one reason alone: One dollar. That’s right, $ 1, un peso, yi kuai. Not for a 5 piece fried dumpling (
) order, but a one way ride from Manhattan Chinatown to Flushing and vice versa. This is the ultimate recession special deal.
Since the casino buses were under scrutiny at the time, some were rebranded as the $ 1 Chinatown shuttle bus as means of keeping the money flow going. For awhile there, it worked. Crowds would line up and even fight their way to get onto one of these buses if it meant not boarding the regular (and frankly significantly inferior) mini shuttle buses that cost nearly 3x as much (currently at $ 2.75 a trip).
The buses were clean, spacious, and fully air conditioned with recliner options and the occasional bootlegged Chinese movie /​tv series DVDs. Some of the newer ones included bathrooms (#1). They were impossible to miss and extremely frequent. The natural draw was the price, but the bonus was having a luxury bus on top of it.
But just quickly as it appeared, it was gone. There was no doubt that the unofficial bus drivers union were pissed at the Walmart like tactics of using cheap prices to kill off local competition. Casino bus services hace since resumed and the $ 1 buses have failed to appear as of the tail of this past summer.
Do I want it back? Mixed emotions aside — my wallet absolutely loves the deal. Seeing as most of the mini shuttles might never see an upgrade like that again, it’d be hard pressed for me not to prefer the superior and cheaper product. I’d spend $ 3 for 1 kebab from Xinjiang BBQ (
), 1 Peking Duck Bun from Corner 28 (
), and 1 ticket to the next Chinatown … wherever it may be.
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(#1) I don’t care how nice it is. I’m still not using it.

It was fun having you in the neighborhood. Please come back… you got a fan base including the upper echelon of Unilocal

DOLLAR BILL Y’ALL!!! (think Wu Tang Clan song)
Dag business is FIERCE. Well everyone knows the Flushing-​Chinatown vans on Division Street for $ 2.75. Hello new neighborhood bus… DOLLAR BILL Y’ALL!
…Well…welcome to the new kids on the block. Recently there has been a gigantic bus the goes to and from from Flushing Chinatown-​Main Street and Manhattan Chinatown-​Division Street for… get this… a whole friggin DOLLAR BILL Y’ALL!
It’s air conditioned, that is all you need to know in the summer. As Michael said it’s «Chinatown Clean»…even though I find it cleaner than that! The subway is worse!!!
To and from from the two Chinatowns in about half an hour! You save on time and money. That is something everyone can stand behind.
You don’t need to know the language, I don’t. The bus has on the back and side of the bus, see photo, says FA-​SHA-​LING (Flushing) to (ARROW) CHINESE PEOPLE STREET (Chinatown) translated. Big yellow burst and in red letters «$ 1» in the yellow burst.
Thanks Michael for showing me the promised land.