

Show HN: Hitch – Uber meets Public Transit - snir
http://www.takehitch.com/download

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p00b
Cool idea. What does this have to do with Public Transit though? It seems to
me that a better description would be "Uber meets /Private/ Transit"

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akgerber
More like "dollar vans with an app".
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dollar_van](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dollar_van)

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snir
Sure, in some sense :) This model exists under a number of names: Pesero,
Jittney, Monit Sherut (to name a few). That said, it's not just an app that
we've built. It's a system that can make dynamic decisions about which routes
merit being paired together, and communicates with our drivers about any
changes that need to be made to the current route. Of course, we take on-road
safety into account, and so changes are only made while the vehicle is
stationary.

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haraball
Somewhat related solution in Finland, bus-on-demand:
[http://www.goodnewsfinland.com/archive/news/call-a-bus-to-
yo...](http://www.goodnewsfinland.com/archive/news/call-a-bus-to-your-nearest-
bus-stop-in-helsinki/)

~~~
snir
Absolutely :) There are lot of systems like this that we took as inspiration.
See my comment below on how we formalized this type of transit, and built
something that can make more objective decisions as to whether the pairing
"makes sense."

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Grue3
It's crazy nobody did this before. Using passenger location data to create the
most effective transportation routes is something that should've caught on by
now.

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moskie
Love this idea, been waiting for something like this.

Seems like Hitch is to Uber/Lyft as Casual Carpool is to taxis. Is that
accurate?

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sdholbs
I took one of these from the mission to marina yesterday. I couldn't believe
it was only ~$8. Next generation transportation

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minimaxir
How is this any different from Lyft? "Splitting a ride with even more
strangers" isn't sufficient differentiation.

~~~
snir
Lyft pairs one passenger (or equivalently, one party) to one driver. We've
built a system which will actually take your route into consideration, and
pair you with additional passengers that are en-route (relative to you). In
other words, your ride is shared with other people heading in the same
direction you are.

While are drivers are for-hire at this phase (in order to provide a reliable
and available supply-side), there is much higher utilization in the car as
multiple riding parties are paired to it.

EDIT:

I see the question was changed slightly. Higher utilization makes all the
difference. Our current public transit system is just as you've stated: a
vehicle being shared by "more strangers" (in your own words). We envision our
system creating a completely adaptive and dynamic transit grid, which lends
itself to predominant way in which people get around in the future.

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djloche
For me the killer feature for Uber and Hitch is when they start using a
driverless fleet.

