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Chariot is shutting down

blog.chariot.com

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Re: Chariot is shutting down

#21

Post by lykr0n »

paxys wrote: post #16
lykr0n wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Where I work, Chariot is used as a Park n Ride type solution. We have 4 routes where you can hop on and get taken to work. I'm guessing other companies can have different configurations.

Re: Chariot is shutting down

#23

Post by geofft »

dsl wrote: post #20
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?

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…

A lot of the history of transit-disrupting startups in the SF Bay Area can be attributed to how truly bad public transit in the SF Bay Area is. I understood Uber a lot more after trying to hail a taxi in SF. (Same with Boring Company and LA traffic.)

A real disruptive solution for humanity - but a hard one to monetize - would be to figure out why cities with good public transit / shared transit infrastructure managed to build them (off the top of my head, Tokyo, NYC-of-the-past, parts of China, Chicago, etc.) and figure out how to replicate it elsewhere.

Re: Chariot is shutting down

#24

Post by hinkley »

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.

Seattle subsidizes a similar program, including providing the vans ('vanpool'). I know this has been going for around 10 years, and I'm somewhat sure it's much older than that.

https://kingcounty.gov/depts/transportation/metro/travel-opt...

Re: Chariot is shutting down

#25

Post by diiaann »

I know some people are very critical. I'm a big transit enthusiast but I still see how some work routes are long to walk, but not well served via transit, i.e. NoPa to Brannan St (Airbnb, Pinterest). Friends that were faced with trickier public transit options didn't seem enticed by Chariot. They seem to settle on biking/scootering, long walk, or choosing to take rideshare everyday.

Re: Chariot is shutting down

#26

Post by ceocoder »

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?

I think you are thinking of Leap[1], one that offered "luxury" buses, barista made coffee on bus etc.

https://www.wired.com/2015/05/leap-suspension-shows-regulato...

Re: Chariot is shutting down

#27

Post by dawnerd »

driverdan wrote: post #22
samstave wrote: post #6

Will they be selling off their fleet?

That's my first question too. I wonder if there will be some good deals on the vans.

Probably off to auction where a lot of rental cars end up too. I’m sure if you keep an eye out on the various auto auction sites you’ll see some pop up.

Re: Chariot is shutting down

#28

Post by RobLach »

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 was a shuttle bus service.

Re: Chariot is shutting down

#29

Post by dzonga »

in Africa, we've the 'taxi' system or aptly named Kombi's after the VW model. It picks you from say downtown and drops you by the stop sign or intersection to your house. Pretty much covers almost every neighborhood and street in a decent southern african city. Guess here in the west, it got complicated via apps. & these taxis run pretty frequently i.e maybe every 10 mins depending on capacity. I live in Austin and saw Chariot and bastard westernized appified version of the african taxi system.
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