Chinatown Express Visitors to the Big Apple get a glimpse of Cathay as they travel via Fung Wah Bus

Under the wide arc of the Manhattan Bridge in New York City, a bus drops off road-weary travelers every hour on the hour on a street corner amid the swirling, swarming chaos of Chinatown. For those passengers who have taken the storied Fung Wah bus between Boston and the Big Apple, the teeming sidewalk throngs are expected. But for bewildered first-timers, those new to Fung Wah or to New York City, the pungent smells and raucous clatter of Canal Street are disorienting and overwhelming.

Both types of passengers have one thing in common, however: They have spent only $15 on a one-way ticket to New York City. The Fung Wah, Cantonese for “Magnificent Wind,” is chief among several low-cost bus carriers that make hourly pilgrimages between the Chinatowns of Boston and New York. What began a decade ago as a shuttle service for the growing Asian immigrant population caught on with budget-conscious college students, and the operation has since expanded to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

For Mainers looking for an inexpensive way to travel to the City that Never Sleeps – and who don’t mind being plopped down on a street corner, a few language barriers and a checkered safety record (more on that later) – Fung Wah fits the bill.

But first there’s getting to Boston. Concord Trailways offers a $63 round-trip fare from Bangor to Boston’s South Station terminal, which borders the city’s Chinatown district. Both Fung Wah and its rival, Travel Pack/Lucky Star, operate out of the station.

Enjoy this first leg of the trip, because the comfort and amenities of Concord Trailways won’t last for long. The seats are roomy, the fellow passengers quiet (thanks to a no-cell-phone policy), and the driver friendly and conversant in English. Free bottled water and pretzels are offered after a brief stop to pick up additional passengers in Portland, as is a family-friendly movie.

Four hours later, passengers disembark at South Station, where Fung Wah operates a ticket booth. The best option, however, is to purchase a ticket on the company’s Web site, fungwahbus.com. Online tickets are nonrefundable and include an extra 5 percent service charge, but otherwise you can end up fighting crowds for a seat.

Arrive at least a half-hour in advance, though the Fung Wah bus may or may not leave on time, so keep a flexible schedule. The attendants speak enough English to confirm your reservation, but not much more, and plan on loading your own luggage.

The buses are older models with dated upholstery and narrow seats, but generally comfortable. Passengers often bring food aboard – the bus stops briefly at a Connecticut travel stop halfway through the trip – so an indistinguishable smell typically lingers in the air. Avoid sitting near the bathroom at all costs.

The trip to New York lasts about four hours, depending on traffic and the driver’s speed, one of several factors that have landed Fung Wah in trouble recently with federal authorities. The company was fined $31,000 for violating federal safety regulations after one of its buses overturned in September on the Massachusetts turnpike and injured dozens of passengers. The ensuing investigation led to citations for excessive speed and drivers being unable to speak English.

Earlier this month, a Fung Wah bus about 20 miles into its trip to New York lost two rear wheels on the turnpike in Framingham, Mass. No one was hurt.

Yet, despite the company’s troubled safety record, passengers seeking cheap travel between Boston and New York keep on coming. The $15 ticket can’t be beat, though Greyhound has lowered its prices to offer a one-way $15 online fare from Boston’s South Station to New York’s Port Authority bus terminal in midtown.

Amtrak provides service from Portland to New York for about $80 one way, but stops at Boston’s North Station, requiring passengers to find their own transportation to South Station in order to pick up the connecting train to New York. Round-trip flights out of Bangor are typically at least $300, unless booked weeks in advance.

So for those with flexible plans, little need for amenities and a tolerance for the unexpected, the Fung Wah bus will let you take a bite out of the Big Apple without taking a bite out of your wallet.

Fung Wah bus tips

. Book your ticket online at www.fungwahbus.com

. Arrive in Boston at least a half-hour early

. Maintain a flexible schedule

. Map the route from 139 Canal St., New York City, N.Y., to your destination ahead of time

. Make sure to get back on the bus before the 10-minute rest stop in Connecticut is over, or you could get left behind