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…
This is very true, but it does bring up a point about scaling. Bus services aren't as terrible in other cities, though there are always some deficiencies.