Uber Just Reinvented the Bus Again
wired.com
Uber Just Reinvented the Bus Again
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Re: Uber Just Reinvented the Bus Again
#2It's basically a law of nature at this point that any attempt at revolutionizing public transit will end up reinventing the train.
Re: Uber Just Reinvented the Bus Again
#3> Meanwhile, the federal government is cutting support for public services, including transit systems — many of which still haven’t fully recovered from Covid-era budget crunches. Though ridership nationwide is up to 85 percent of prepandemic levels, Bloomberg News recently estimated that transit systems across the country face a $6 billion budget shortfall.
The gameplan is clear. Take the high value, richer customers from the public transit system as it declines and ensure its complete demise. Then you’re free to jack up the prices to whatever you want them to be.
Re: Uber Just Reinvented the Bus Again
#4Wired 1908: "Henry Ford Just Reinvented the Horse Again"
Also, dupe: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43985861
Re: Uber Just Reinvented the Bus Again
#5Re: Uber Just Reinvented the Bus Again
#6It's basically a law of nature at this point that any attempt at revolutionizing public transit will end up reinventing the train.
This isn't true. What Uber is attempting is on-demand and completely flexible bus routes. It's not revolutionary, but it is a logical innovation.
Re: Uber Just Reinvented the Bus Again
#7> Meanwhile, the federal government is cutting support for public services, including transit systems — many of which still haven’t fully recovered from Covid-era budget crunches. Though ridership nationwide is up to 85 percent of prepandemic levels, Bloomberg News recently estimated that transit systems across the country face a $6 billion budget shortfall. The gameplan is clear. Take the high value, richer customer…
I don't especially like Uber as a company, but it's not reasonable to spin a service that outcompetes a publicly-funded competitor as a conspiracy against the public, and in many of the cities Uber operates in, the transit authorities had been faceplanting all on their own without any help.
Re: Uber Just Reinvented the Bus Again
#8It's basically a law of nature at this point that any attempt at revolutionizing public transit will end up reinventing the train.
This isn't true. What Uber is attempting is on-demand and completely flexible bus routes. It's not revolutionary, but it is a logical innovation.
I both agree and disagree. Microtransit is based on several small innovations on traditional fixed route bus service. Uber didn't invent microtransit.
Re: Uber Just Reinvented the Bus Again
#9> Meanwhile, the federal government is cutting support for public services, including transit systems — many of which still haven’t fully recovered from Covid-era budget crunches. Though ridership nationwide is up to 85 percent of prepandemic levels, Bloomberg News recently estimated that transit systems across the country face a $6 billion budget shortfall. The gameplan is clear. Take the high value, richer customer…
Buses are very unpleasant in the US. They stop too frequently so they are extremely slow. Most cities do not have enough routes or frequency to be useful. The cities that do have them tolerate belligerent people on them making the ride unpleasant.
In other words, the high value, richer customers are already not riding the bus.
Re: Uber Just Reinvented the Bus Again
#10It's basically a law of nature at this point that any attempt at revolutionizing public transit will end up reinventing the train.
This isn't true. What Uber is attempting is on-demand and completely flexible bus routes. It's not revolutionary, but it is a logical innovation.
My city is several years into on-demand bus routes. It's a clusterfck to say the least.