In my column last week about Amtrak, I mentioned how the Transportation Security Administration's intrusive searches for airline passengers may help push some customers toward the government-subsidized railroad, where passengers aren't searched. Another non-financial way that the government helps Amtrak is by making life more difficult for inter-city bus lines. The Boston Globe has an update today on the discount Fung Wah bus line, which the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration shut down in 2013.
Massachusetts regulators were unwilling to allow it to resume operations...Prior to its reinstatement, Fung Wah complained in a letter posted on its website that regulators were treating the company unfairly with drawn-out evaluations that cost the company more than $3 million — amounting to a "death sentence," the company's president wrote.
In its agreement with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the company was to be "subjected to extra oversight and permitted limited operations to prove they can safely transport passengers," the regulator said at the time.
The agreement required Fung Wah to hire compliance managers ...
