Number 1 Bus

Worst bus service ever. Took the bus from NY to Colonial Heights, super crowded, the bathroom was beyond disgusting, the service I received at the check in spot in Colonial Heights was horrendous. The man was very dismissive when he tried to get me to pay a fee because I did not have a printed copy of the confirmation email. I printed one out and they took it in New York, I had no access to a printer nor did it say anywhere on the site nor at the check in place that you needed to pay a fee if you didn’t have a printed copy. I had no cash on me. When I called the number on the website a woman told me I did not need a physical copy I just had to show him the email. The man said it was written in the policy and when I pulled the policy up on my phone he said he couldn’t read it. None the less I would never again take this bus service. The price is pretty good but it’s not worth the horrible service. If it was possible to give no stars, that would’ve been my score.

My S. O lives in richmond and I moved to NYC, so I have had to make regular bus trips between the two cities. Megabus is my first choice for bus lines, unfortunately they don’t have direct trips to richmond. I’ve ridden with maybe four different Chinatown buses and despite having mixed reviews on Unilocal,number 1 bus is the absolute worst.
— legroom. I am 5’8″. I had to have my legs at a certain angle to find an acceptable position and even my legs were still shoved against the seat in front of me. The poor girl sitting next to me was about 5’11″ and she had to keep her legs in the aisle to fit. This bus was not made for people over 5’5″.
— multiple unannounced stops. We made four stops (2 additional stops to drop off random Chinese passengers).
— lack of concern for scheduled times. In my experience with most other buses, the buses either made the scheduled trip on time or sooner. Number 1 bus I took was already behind schedule and continued with the random stops. The bus finally arrived in Richmond about an hour (50 min) behind scheduled time.
Admittedly, taking 6 – 7 hour bus rides isn’t my favorite thing to do, but I have found Eastern and other bus lines to be much more pleasant.

Horrible Service! Took this bus yesterday from Raleigh, N.C. to N.Y. On a 9 hour bus ride we only had one bathroom break. The people that take this bus are all loud and ghetto. The whole ride the driver was talking at the top of his lungs on the phone. No one could rest. Yes I stayed up the whole 9 hours (9:00 pm — 6:00 am). The #1 issue with this bus is that it is dirty as hell and infested with BED BUGSS!!!
I have a million bites on my feet. My mother who was sitting behind me had bites all over her stomach and back. Please avoid at all costs. All this company cares for is making money not giving quality for the price. I will never ride with this company again.

This bus was terrible. My fiancé and I were heading to NYC from Newport News, VA and we’ve never been so appalled. First off, there was no specified bus stop for picking us up, just a street address on the website with no signs or any indication of where we might sit and wait. So we drove around for twenty minutes trying to find a bus stop. We had no idea what the bus looked like at all. Finally, we ran into a black minivan and a woman came out yelling «New York?! New York?!». We figured this was the right bus, but we would have never thought it outright. Her van had these tinted black windows and looked so shady.
So this Chinese lady then took us in her van, along with another family. Now It’s around 11pm and we figure we’ll just go to sleep for a while. but instead, she pulls put her phone and proceeds to talk really loudly on her phone! Rude! Not to mention, illegal… Now we didn’t realize that she was taking us to Norfolk, VA, where we had to wait another TWO hours before the official big bus heading to NYC came to get us. Their office in Norfolk was broken and run-​down, and there was a cockroach as big as my thumb crawling all over the place. We tried asking what was going on but the staff was not helpful and all over the place.
When the large tour bus finally came, we waited another twenty minutes to get on. Upon walking down the aisle to our seats, there was a big red stain on one of the chairs, dripping onto the floor. Disgusting! Minutes later, one of the staff just mopped it up like it was nothing. What if it was blood? Was someone hurt? When we got to our specified seat numbers, someone was already sitting there and we had to grab another passenger’s seat. Fortunately, After that the trip to NYC went along more smoothly once we officially set off.
Days later, when my fiancé and I took the same bus to go back to VA, things got complicated (we bought round trip tickets) again. We went to Chinatown to get our tickets at their office, and the guy there told us the bus stop was «across the street», not anywhere close to their office at all. So we went where he had pointed us, and again there was no sign or indication of whether this was the right place for us to wait. There were around five or more different bus companies in that Chinatown area, and we were stuck wandering around and asking other passengers whether or not we were at the right place. Everyone was confused and scattered at different streets where they were told where this «bus stop» was. When we finally found it, they took us home and this time there was no black minibus.
All in all, this trip with No. 1 Bus was aggravating, scary, and terrible. On our next trip to NYC, we rented a car, much nicer, and safer…

Driver was very friendly and nice. It was cheap and WAY better than my other experiences with other Chinatown bus companies — by that I mean clean bus, no reckless driving, friendly driver. Number 1 bus is the way to go!

Just took Number 1 bus from NYC to Richmond and back. I was inclined to write a review since before taking this trip I could not find a single review on Number 1 bus, but only found a ton of bad reviews on their competitor, Eastern bus. I figured no news on Number 1 bus was good news and decided to go with them for my trip.
My overall experience was very pleasant, especially considering the inexpensive fare of $ 35 each way, making it well worth it.
Upon arriving at 21 Allen St in Chinatown, NY, you’ll see a bunch of people hanging around waiting for the bus. You buy your ticket inside, they assign you a seat number which not single person abides by. Once the bus pulls up, everyone throws their luggage underneath and everyone boards the bus.
Everyone minds their own business on the 6 hour bus ride, some bring food, others chat loudly and rudely on their cell phones and others like me, just pass out. The bus stops for a quick 10 min bathroom break at about 3 hours into the ride — the rest stop has clean bathrooms and fast food that u can buy and bring back on the bus.
The bus itself seemed to be an older model bus, but it was clean and comfortable.
The wifi they advertised was not available on either trip that I took. Think thats just a sales gimmick. Also, there appear to be TVs on the bus, but i dont know if they work, or if they ever play movies — i highly doubt it. This is a no frills ride.
The Chinese bus driver was nice and friendly — good driver too. He happened to be the bus driver in both directions.
Same situation on the trip back from Richmond to NY, but they did not assign seat numbers. The 11:45 pm bus ride was nice — dark and quiet — majority of the people slept throughout the night and didnt make a peep. Upon arriving back on Allen St., there were a ton of cabbies offering a ride.