They could have pivoted to solving intercity shuttles. Works well in that 1-2 hour range between cities without good buses or trains.
Groome Transportation in the southeast looks to be doing this well!
SuperShuttle is going out of business
61–70 of 135 posts
Re: SuperShuttle is going out of business
#62I preferred supershuttle over uber/lyft because of more certainty and it works as a good forcing function for me to be at the airport well in time. Just this Friday was my first bad experience where they called me at 2:30 am to cancel my 4 am shuttle. A double whammy as it killed any chance of getting a few winks. I was really annoyed and thought that that was weird because supershuttle never cancelled on me before. This probably explains it. I'll miss the service but I see why it's not viable.
Re: SuperShuttle is going out of business
#63this is hardly surprising. a ride to SFO from my home using uber/lift is about $23. $19 using supershuttle. And I don't have to schedule anything or take a long van ride while other passengers are being dropped off. Very unfortunately for the mom & pop supershuttle franchisees, though, with van payments and a dried up source of income.
Maybe the franchisees could buy the brand and set up a coop with an app? Not sure what the main value proposition for the franchisees is, is it the customer stream or does Supershuttle have some kind of important infrastructure at the airports?
Re: SuperShuttle is going out of business
#64Good, fuck these guys. Twice at LAX, following a paid reservation, they just never picked me up. I got refunded but believe me it's no fun waiting 2+ hours, past midnight, and then getting the last cab there when you realize your ride has dropped the ball. Rideshare apps are vastly better. If we didn't have the legacy of taxi system today, we'd have just gone straight to Lyft.
Re: SuperShuttle is going out of business
#65When I used to fly between SFO and Boston, I would always use Knights in Boston. They are a shared van service that often has 2-3 well-planned stops per ride. I did Supershuttle once, and the length of time it took for me to get home was absurd. All the other stops just made, what should be a 30 minute ride home, absurdly long. Good riddance. Supershuttle only made sense if you have a large group and can take up most…
I distinctly recall texting with a friend in 2013 who was a Stanford grad student who opted for Super shuttle instead of Uber/Lyft back to his campus housing. Took him 2+hours instead of the ~30 minutes.
Exact thing happened to me on a shared shuttle ride from LAX to Redondo. Went all the way down to drop off people at Long Beach first.
Re: SuperShuttle is going out of business
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
I love Lyft but I took a shared lyft for the first time and the driver did three circles around a busy block trying to find a GPS dot (that never moved) that was obviously on the other side of the street, and after an extra 10min jammed an extra person in the car when we hardly fit, despite our protests. That was the last time I took a shared ride.
That’s good for you and for Lyft, if you’re going to protest an extra person because you barely all fit, you’re not a good candidate for shared rides.
I was more bothered by the incentives which require you to spend forever waiting for a driver to figure out how to read a map, locate people, while also being unsafely crammed into a sedan. All because the driver wants to make a few more dollars. Which he could have earned more via tip and a positive review. But mostly is the massive time variability as they could accept multiple rides on the way and reroute each time.
I’m sure it works fine most of the time but I’ve never been a patient/people person who feels it’s worth my trouble to save a few dollars.
My father had a stint driving cars and he was appalled by the story since it was common to a) treat customers with respect (including their time) and b) expertly know how to navigate around a city.
If we’re lowering the denominator of quality of service with casual drivers then I’d rather offset that risk by reducing such responsibilities and variables on the drivers.
Re: SuperShuttle is going out of business
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
I remember one time my wife and I took the Super Shuttle home from SFO to Mountain View. It took about two hours since we were the last stop and in fact the shuttle went north a little first before turning south. That was the first and last time I used their service.
I love Lyft but I took a shared lyft for the first time and the driver did three circles around a busy block trying to find a GPS dot (that never moved) that was obviously on the other side of the street, and after an extra 10min jammed an extra person in the car when we hardly fit, despite our protests. That was the last time I took a shared ride.
> jammed an extra person in the car when we hardly fit, despite our protests
Are you talking about more people than seatbelts? Or just having three people across the back seat?
If you choose pooled options ride-sharing companies go by the nominal capacity of the car, so four passengers plus the driver in a standard five-seater car.
Re: SuperShuttle is going out of business
#68I started in 2013 to have a yearly trip to Miami for a cruise at the beginning of February. For a solo traveler, taxi had been rather expensive unless you managed to pool with someone right at the airport, so I was glad to find the shuttle operators sitting next to the taxis right at the curb, and I could just walk there and get a ride. Nice low barrier to entry. Especially after realizing that indeed, public transport of the kind typically found at international airports in most other countries (trains, buses) was almost non-existent there.
While I clearly see how Uber and Lyft can provide an identical or better service (because of less drop-off stops) I still think the higher barrier to entry of a) having to know about them and b) having to download an app and open an account is a significant downside, especially for foreigners who haven't been in the US yet. It's another slightly weird thing that you have to know about and prepare for in advance.
Re: SuperShuttle is going out of business
#69I only remember their Vans leaving SFO driving very slowly on 101 , which seems to match what people is commenting
Re: SuperShuttle is going out of business
#70> In November, Lyft, Uber and taxis were relegated to a pickup lot next to Terminal 1; travelers can either walk there or wait for an airport shuttle to ferry them.
I really hate cities that do this.