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Chariot is shutting down

blog.chariot.com

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Re: Chariot is shutting down

#11

Post by lykr0n »

aniketpant wrote: post #9
idoh wrote: post #5

I used Chariot a bit a couple years ago. Sad to see it go. For people who haven't heard of it, it worked like this: I live in SF, and worked in Redwood City. Every day, there was some type of large van that would pick me up a couple blocks from where I lived and dropped me off a couple blocks from where I worked. So it was like a middle ground between public transportation and Uber / Lyft.

Isn't what you described an example of how buses work. I know very little about the state of public transport in SF but if it was better won't it solve what Chariot tried to do?

Chariot is a Point A to Point E services. Busesses are a Point A -> B -> C -> D -> E service.

One is more efficient if you have a large number of people going to the same place at the same time, the other is more efficient if a lot of people need to go to different places.

Re: Chariot is shutting down

#13

Post by k_sh »

zapzupnz wrote: post #4

I'd not heard of Chariot before this. Was it widely used? It looked like Uber meets carpooling, or perhaps some sort of fancy work shuttle — and work shuttle companies open and close all the time, so I don't see what's newsworthy. They don't state why they're closing down, so I'm a bit puzzled on this one.

It's probably on the front page because Chariot was part of YC W15, and later acquired by Ford.

Re: Chariot is shutting down

#14

Post by paxys »

I tried the service out for a little while, but it ultimately didn't make sense to me. Routes were too rigid, schedule not frequent enough, had to schedule trips in advance, and it cost as much or even more per ride than Uber Pool/Lyft Line.

Re: Chariot is shutting down

#15

Post by seattle_spring »

lykr0n wrote: post #11
aniketpant wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't what you described an example of how buses work. I know very little about the state of public transport in SF but if it was better won't it solve what Chariot tried to do?

Chariot is a Point A to Point E services. Busesses are a Point A -> B -> C -> D -> E service. One is more efficient if you have a large number of people going to the same place at the same time, the other is more efficient if a lot of people need to go to different places.

or in my case, point A...ZA in 6 miles. Literally 27 stops (and one transfer).

Re: Chariot is shutting down

#16

Post by paxys »

lykr0n wrote: post #11
aniketpant wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't what you described an example of how buses work. I know very little about the state of public transport in SF but if it was better won't it solve what Chariot tried to do?

Chariot is a Point A to Point E services. Busesses are a Point A -> B -> C -> D -> E service. One is more efficient if you have a large number of people going to the same place at the same time, the other is more efficient if a lot of people need to go to different places.

Not quite. Chariot routes also have a sizable number of stops between start and end points. The only difference is that rides have to be booked in advance, so the drivers know what stops they can skip.

Re: Chariot is shutting down

#17

Post by hashhar »

idoh wrote: post #5

I used Chariot a bit a couple years ago. Sad to see it go. For people who haven't heard of it, it worked like this: I live in SF, and worked in Redwood City. Every day, there was some type of large van that would pick me up a couple blocks from where I lived and dropped me off a couple blocks from where I worked. So it was like a middle ground between public transportation and Uber / Lyft.

There are very similar services operating in metro cities in India which can attributed to overcrowded public transportation during peak hours.

Shuttl is one which immediately comes to mind and seems to be doing good. They have a concept of you buying a fixed number of rides instead of paying per ride. The fixed package cost less and then you are locked into their service for a while / try it for a while.

It has solved the first mile problem but the last mile travel still remains to be solved.

Re: Chariot is shutting down

#18

Post by rconti »

aniketpant wrote: post #9
idoh wrote: post #5

I used Chariot a bit a couple years ago. Sad to see it go. For people who haven't heard of it, it worked like this: I live in SF, and worked in Redwood City. Every day, there was some type of large van that would pick me up a couple blocks from where I lived and dropped me off a couple blocks from where I worked. So it was like a middle ground between public transportation and Uber / Lyft.

Isn't what you described an example of how buses work. I know very little about the state of public transport in SF but if it was better won't it solve what Chariot tried to do?

San Francisco and Redwood City are roughly 30 miles apart. In the Bay Area, in particular, buses tend to work on a city or county level, which would mean to make this trip, assuming buses were conveniently located, timed, and without too many stops, it would involve using several transit systems, unfortunately. San Francisco and Redwood City not only have dozens of other cities between them, but they're also in 2 different counties (San Francisco and San Mateo county, to be specific). I don't want to say we don't have cooperation between transit agencies, but they are at least distinct entities for these services.

A better solution would be the train. Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) serves many counties and cities, but does not go that far south.

Caltrain serves both San Francisco and Redwood City quite well; however, the nearest station is miles from the Marina district, and depending on destination, would require a transfer on the other end as well.

Of course, I'm sure Chariot involved multiple stops as well, but presumably most riders took it every day, so it was a route that was tailored to the riders of that van, rather than a generic public transit service that might have inconveniently timed transfers, too many stops, or other issues.

EDIT: Actually, it looks like I am incorrect. SamTrans (San Mateo County) actually does go from Redwood City to San Francisco by bus, at least on the 397 and 398 routes, but only midday and it will take almost 2 hours, as it's entirely on surface streets for those ~30 miles (and the terminus on either end is not particularly more likely to be more convenient than the much faster train) http://www.samtrans.com/schedulesandmaps/maps.html

Re: Chariot is shutting down

#19

Post by rconti »

pianoben wrote: post #12

I have such a strong feeling of deja vu right now - didn't they shut down once before already, and sell off their fleet? Is this their second shutdown?

You're thinking of the luxury bus services, whose name I forgot, even though I knew the founder. I believe that was SF-only.

Re: Chariot is shutting down

#20

Post by dsl »

aniketpant wrote: post #9
idoh wrote: post #5

I used Chariot a bit a couple years ago. Sad to see it go. For people who haven't heard of it, it worked like this: I live in SF, and worked in Redwood City. Every day, there was some type of large van that would pick me up a couple blocks from where I lived and dropped me off a couple blocks from where I worked. So it was like a middle ground between public transportation and Uber / Lyft.

Isn't what you described an example of how buses work. I know very little about the state of public transport in SF but if it was better won't it solve what Chariot tried to do?

SF public transit is pretty disfunctional and Chariot was trying to offer an alternative.

- Timeliness - Busses and trains reliability are a joke compared to developed countries

- Cleanliness - Due to an unmitigated homeless problem, the busses and trains operate as "day shelters"

- Organization - There are dozens of different transit operators for what is one major metro region. Schedules are poorly synced, and even with a unified payment card you still have to buy different passes for multiple agencies

- Reliability - The union bullies the city around, and there is no accountability.

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