Cracking Down On Bus Companies

Transportation safety officials have swooped down on more than two dozen curbside bus companies. It's the largest-ever federal crackdown on what's commonly known as "Chinatown buses." The cheap buses ferry passengers mostly between East Coast cities, dropping them off on the curb rather than at a bus terminal. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said the companies are "very, very bad actors." He said they have ignored safety rules. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration spent a year investigating them. The buses have a fatal accident rate seven times higher than their competitors.