Leap: Your daily commute redesigned • Hacker News Board

Re: Leap: Your daily commute redesigned

#21

Post by pjlegato » Tue, Mar 17, 2015, 10:22 PM UTC

JimboOmega wrote: post #12

rguzman wrote: post #2

I can't shake the feeling that the existence of leap and that it seems compelling are symptoms of deeply flawed urban planning.

I can't shake the feeling that it's an answer to the problem "I like the idea of commuting in a shared vehicle, but the bus is dirty and sometimes homeless people ride it."

You say that as though disliking a ride on a filthy bus while sitting next to a homeless guy who smells like urine and stale vomit and is leering saliciously at every woman on the bus while murmuring obscenities and rubbing his groin is some sort of illegitimate and invalid reason that only a precious bourgeois person would dare to think.

Re: Leap: Your daily commute redesigned

#22

Post by ngoel36 » Tue, Mar 17, 2015, 10:23 PM UTC

I don't understand why I would take this for $5 a ride over LyftLine or UberPool ($5/$7 without Surge) which offers presumably much quicker service and no walking to/from stops.

That being said, I would be pumped to see something like this between SF and Palo Alto

Re: Leap: Your daily commute redesigned

#23

Post by steeef » Tue, Mar 17, 2015, 10:24 PM UTC

untog wrote: post #15

Should probably mention it's SF-only at the start.

Indeed. I skimmed the top of the page and my first thought was "Is this a transit app? Oh, 'Lombard'. Must be SF-only".

Re: Leap: Your daily commute redesigned

#24

Post by pjlegato » Tue, Mar 17, 2015, 10:24 PM UTC

aetherson wrote: post #16

JimboOmega wrote: post #3

A privatized intracity bus service? Somewhat interesting. But how can this compete with heavily subsidized, existing public bus service - without hitting all the same pitfalls that it does? (Like buses getting steadily less "express" as time goes on)?

Guys. It costs 3x as much, and it's a hassle to get on without a smartphone. That's how it competes. It's a bus that tries to price out the poorer people (and doesn't serve their neighborhoods. And is most convenient with a smartphone). Their bet is that you won't miss the $4 per ride surcharge if you can avoid dealing with poor people.

Assumes facts not in evidence; there is no reason to suppose that a class-based explanation is correct when the much simpler explanation of "not having to leave an hour early to work around Muni's terrible service quality" adequately explains the situation.

Re: Leap: Your daily commute redesigned

#25

Post by baddox » Tue, Mar 17, 2015, 10:28 PM UTC

pjlegato wrote: post #9

JimboOmega wrote: post #3

A privatized intracity bus service? Somewhat interesting. But how can this compete with heavily subsidized, existing public bus service - without hitting all the same pitfalls that it does? (Like buses getting steadily less "express" as time goes on)?

Because the heavily subsidized public bus service in San Francisco, Muni, operates abysmally. Buses are usually filthy, massively overcrowded during rush hour, often very late, and make frequent stops. In many cases, taking the bus is only slightly faster than walking. Compounding the problem is the lack of buses on many popular commute routes, such as the Lombard-downtown route that Leap follows. They will either av…

> In many cases, taking the bus is only slightly faster than walking.

I live in Soma, within one block of stops on several ostensibly good bus routes, but I still find that I need to be going at least 2 miles (sometimes even 3, depending on the destination) for it to be faster to bus than to walk. This obviously wouldn't be the case if any of said bus routes stuck even remotely to the stated schedule, or if traffic was at least somewhat predictable. Heck, it wouldn't even be the case if the real-time bus tracking worked (it doesn't), because then I could at least time my departure to avoid waiting 15+ minutes at the bus stop.

Re: Leap: Your daily commute redesigned

#26

Post by baddox » Tue, Mar 17, 2015, 10:30 PM UTC

themagician wrote: post #10

JimboOmega wrote: post #3

A privatized intracity bus service? Somewhat interesting. But how can this compete with heavily subsidized, existing public bus service - without hitting all the same pitfalls that it does? (Like buses getting steadily less "express" as time goes on)?

It competes by doing things like not complying with existing regulation, laws, or unions. It's an "app" and thus except from all regulation. So they don't pay a driver $70,000/yr and give him or her a pension. They can pick stops based on profitability, not access. They carry the bare minimum of liability insurance because if anything happens they can just close up shop. They don't have to comply with the Americans w…

And when they do all of those things, they find customers willing to pay and drivers willing to work.

Re: Leap: Your daily commute redesigned

#27

Post by adambard » Tue, Mar 17, 2015, 10:30 PM UTC

schintan wrote: post #5

the seats look sparse ..how are they going to get by with so few seats and still be competitive on price ?

It's expensive and they sell snacks too.

Re: Leap: Your daily commute redesigned

#28

Post by jsprogrammer » Tue, Mar 17, 2015, 10:35 PM UTC

andy318 wrote: post #17

Anyone know Leap's arragement with their drivers? Their TOS makes it seem like the Uber for buses. From Terms of service - "LEAP DOES NOT PROVIDE TRANSPORTATION SERVICES, AND LEAP IS NOT A TRANSPORTATION CARRIER. IT IS UP TO THE DRIVER OR VEHICLE OPERATOR TO OFFER TRANSPORTATION SERVICES WHICH MAY BE ARRANGED THROUGH USE OF THE SERVICES"

Got to love it when the ALL CAPS directly contradicts all published marketing and intuition.

>see why Leap is the daily commute you’ll love

>Here’s how you ride

>Our first route travels between Lombard Street and Downtown.

>You’ll love our buses

>Our buses are fueled by renewable natural gas and take cars off the road.

>We stripped our buses down

>Every bus has a Leap team member on board

>Our beautifully designed app is the perfect companion to our buses

It sounded somewhat cool until you brought up these terms in their TOS. Now I'm just thinking: fuck these guys.

Re: Leap: Your daily commute redesigned

#29

Post by jsprogrammer » Tue, Mar 17, 2015, 10:36 PM UTC

pjlegato wrote: post #21

JimboOmega wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't shake the feeling that it's an answer to the problem "I like the idea of commuting in a shared vehicle, but the bus is dirty and sometimes homeless people ride it."

You say that as though disliking a ride on a filthy bus while sitting next to a homeless guy who smells like urine and stale vomit and is leering saliciously at every woman on the bus while murmuring obscenities and rubbing his groin is some sort of illegitimate and invalid reason that only a precious bourgeois person would dare to think.

Out of sight, out of mind.

Re: Leap: Your daily commute redesigned

#30

Post by aianus » Tue, Mar 17, 2015, 10:36 PM UTC

themagician wrote: post #10

JimboOmega wrote: post #3

A privatized intracity bus service? Somewhat interesting. But how can this compete with heavily subsidized, existing public bus service - without hitting all the same pitfalls that it does? (Like buses getting steadily less "express" as time goes on)?

It competes by doing things like not complying with existing regulation, laws, or unions. It's an "app" and thus except from all regulation. So they don't pay a driver $70,000/yr and give him or her a pension. They can pick stops based on profitability, not access. They carry the bare minimum of liability insurance because if anything happens they can just close up shop. They don't have to comply with the Americans w…

Ok, I'll bite, why on earth does a bus driver deserve $70,000 a year and a pension? There are billions of people in the world who would kill to do that job for $35,000 and no benefits.