91–100 of 115 posts
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You say "credentials and insurance" I hear "red tape and rent-seeking". UPD: But yes, they do have some paperwork. Its relevance is open to the debate. However, same applies to any paper coming out of public bus system.
You say "red tape and rent-seeking", and I hear "fly-by-night operators, fraudsters and scammers".
i think one problem with buses are the routes are absolutely terrible. in my morning commute i see a bus stop 3 times within 6 blocks, i kid you not. if you have to go from the end of 1 bus route to another it would easily take you over an hour. honestly remove some bus stops and make people walk anb extra block. i feel the same way about our metro system too.
In general I’d tend to agree that public transit in the US would benefit from sparser stop placement. I’d also offset the loss of accessibility with more investment in paratransit service / reimbursement for accessible taxis. On that basis, I’d get rid of wheelchair lifts on busses, due to the inefficiencies of loading and unloading. But again, that loss of accessibility would need to be totally offset by paratransit / taxi provision.
> By “convenient” they mean anonymous people on minimum wage clean up after you. Hey, let's not stigmatize the upper middle class actually hiring people to do worthwhile work. That's how jobs, small businesses, and economic growth happen. > As was quickly pointed out by numerous people this is basically a “bus”. Just, you know, without the poor people. Likewise, this is a good idea. People sharing rides in smaller bu…
> Public bus systems should really be exploring a smaller vehicle model more I asked someone from my local bus service once. Their answer was that it's not economically viable for the public bus service, as the only major saving was fuel cost and the extra services don't provide enough revenue to offset the employee cost (otherwise they could service it with the large normal busses). So basically this becomes viable…
> By “convenient” they mean anonymous people on minimum wage clean up after you. Hey, let's not stigmatize the upper middle class actually hiring people to do worthwhile work. That's how jobs, small businesses, and economic growth happen. > As was quickly pointed out by numerous people this is basically a “bus”. Just, you know, without the poor people. Likewise, this is a good idea. People sharing rides in smaller bu…
> Public bus systems should really be exploring a smaller vehicle model more Unions. This will have to wait for self-driving buses, though even then deployment is unlikely.
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I was just in St. Petersburg, Russia, and the city is chock-full of these tiny taxi-buses called "marshrutki". You can use the regular public transit card and everything — costs the same as a regular bus IIRC. Seems to work great and has since Soviet times.
Like an Isuzu van[1] with 5 rows of seats? In Greece I think they're called "dolmush" (meaning 'stuffed'), in Kenya "mtatus" (meaning 'worry'). 1 - https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Isuzu_Elf_Route-va...
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There are dollar vans in NY, that supposedly regulated and still profitable. It's really weird how developed world mostly ignores third-world model of private mini-buses.
I’ve been on a third-world minibus. In comparison to developed nation public transport, it was overcrowded by a factor of two, it only set off when it was full and not to any timetable, and (from what my partner told me after living there for years back when she was a teenager), most of the drivers constantly consume stimulants so they can work for 15-hour days. (I would also describe the minibus as poorly maintained…
If this jitneys are really worse, there is no need to forbid them, municipal buses will outcompete jitneys.
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I’ve been on a third-world minibus. In comparison to developed nation public transport, it was overcrowded by a factor of two, it only set off when it was full and not to any timetable, and (from what my partner told me after living there for years back when she was a teenager), most of the drivers constantly consume stimulants so they can work for 15-hour days. (I would also describe the minibus as poorly maintained…
This depends on a country, I've seen some where it's municipal bus, that is overcrowded, and mini-bus is a more "premium" service. But anyway, do you think you should force them to pay twice the price by removing the overcrowding? It's just a revealed preference, like with airplanes, people prefer price to comfort. Modern startup in this area can experiment with a different price for standing/sitting. If this jitneys…
For example, someone can undercut you on price by taking risky shortcuts. Therefore your product or service won't sell, but as a society, it's better for everyone that certain standards are met. Hence, regulations on electrical work and plumbing, etc. Same thing with driver's training and sleep minimums.
Real life example is the recent bus crashes in New York City from overworked or underpaid Chinatown buses.
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You say "red tape and rent-seeking", and I hear "fly-by-night operators, fraudsters and scammers".
We wouldn't want fraudulent bus rides, now, would we.
> By “convenient” they mean anonymous people on minimum wage clean up after you. Hey, let's not stigmatize the upper middle class actually hiring people to do worthwhile work. That's how jobs, small businesses, and economic growth happen. > As was quickly pointed out by numerous people this is basically a “bus”. Just, you know, without the poor people. Likewise, this is a good idea. People sharing rides in smaller bu…
The interesting thing is that public transit systems are extremely inefficient. TriMet (Portland, OR) which has a modern mixed bus/light-rail system gets only 20% of expenses from fairs ( http://trimet.org/budget/pdf/2018-adopted-budget.pdf ) That is with charging $5/day capped at $100/month, so if fares were to cover the entire cost, the cost would be $500/month. So, public transit provides a bare bones, horribly un…