This guy seems a bit mislead. There are definitely not 15 million people in metro Detroit. There are only 5 million people in the census area that includes Detroit, Ann Arbor, and Flint, and has an area over 15000 square kilometers.
A Private Bus Company Debuts in Detroit
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Re: A Private Bus Company Debuts in Detroit
#22This is a party bus service to allow bar hopping in a car-dependent city when passengers are too intoxicated to drive. It only runs on Friday & Saturday nights between a couple of suburban bars & the downtown & university district of Detroit. It might well be a good business (and certainly better than drunk driving), but it's not a meaningful substitute for functional mass transit. Public transit systems require subs…
Onerous ride regulations are usually the flip side of requiring cab companies to service everyone.
Re: A Private Bus Company Debuts in Detroit
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
How far down the libertarian utopia rabbithole does this go? Could Mr Didorosi hire armed guards to protect his fleet? Where is the line drawn? I knew Detroit was bad, but I did not know it was this semi-anarchy you describe.
It's funny you should rail against libertarians when discussing a city that's where it is at least in part because the productive people were driven away through extra taxes and regulation.
The "productive people" were driven away because they didn't want to live next to black people. The Detroit metro area isn't any smaller than it used to be--people just moved to the suburbs. There aren't appreciably fewer regulations in the Detroit suburbs, and taxes aren't any lower either (what you save in sales tax you more than lose in property taxes).
It's also a little funny considering that 27% of US GDP comes from just seven heavily regulated, heavily taxed metros: NY, LA, Chicago, DC, Philly, SF, and Boston. And it's not just population, these cities only account for 20% of the US population.
Re: A Private Bus Company Debuts in Detroit
#24This guy seems a bit mislead. There are definitely not 15 million people in metro Detroit. There are only 5 million people in the census area that includes Detroit, Ann Arbor, and Flint, and has an area over 15000 square kilometers.
This is true. You can find the reference here (search for "Detroit"):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_combined...
Re: A Private Bus Company Debuts in Detroit
#25What I don't understand is how the Jitney hasn't been allowed by regulation in the US -- they're incredibly convenient, and a fleet of minivans from the key districts to various park n' ride locations would make a ton of sense.
Taxi companies are required to service the whole city. If you allowed jitney service without that requirement in popular areas, the taxi services couldn't compete.
Re: A Private Bus Company Debuts in Detroit
#26I know $5 for an all day pass is not bad, cta in chicago is 5.75 for an all day pass but that is all the buses and the l train, but it also is bigger and subsidized. I only hope that they quickly add a 30 day pass.
Re: A Private Bus Company Debuts in Detroit
#27If they need to be five times more efficient, why is the plan to spend a lot of money on things that do not directly impact customer service, like giving away rides to poor people, and using self-produced Biodiesel?
"giving away rides to poor people"
Marginal cost of filling and empty seat on a bus that already has fuel and a driver? Zero.
Re: A Private Bus Company Debuts in Detroit
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
How far down the libertarian utopia rabbithole does this go? Could Mr Didorosi hire armed guards to protect his fleet? Where is the line drawn? I knew Detroit was bad, but I did not know it was this semi-anarchy you describe.
It's funny you should rail against libertarians when discussing a city that's where it is at least in part because the productive people were driven away through extra taxes and regulation.
I am actually sympathetic to many aspects of libertarian thinking on matters of social and economic policy.
I certainly was not railing against this worldview, though I apologies if you found negative connotations in my use of the word 'rabbithole'.