On: What if public transit was like Uber? A small city...

[upon_drumhead]

So I live in a remote community that has one main train route out of the mountains. Everyone goes to/from the train station to commute to the local metro for work. We have fixed bus routes during the major commute hours in the morning and evening, but during the day we have three small buses that act like an Uber. You call them, they pick you up and drop you off anywhere in the community for $2.

It works great! Less cars on the road and flexibility you just won’t get without a lot more empty buses driving around all the time.

And it makes money cause there’s enough popular destinations that the buses often have 3-5 riders sharing rides.

[antonvs → upon_drumhead]

I imagine the issue is just that the approach doesn't scale.

What's the population of your area?

> And it makes money cause there’s enough popular destinations that the buses often have 3-5 riders sharing rides.

So a max of $10 per trip with multiple passenger pickups and dropoffs? That doesn't sound like it would make much money.

[upon_drumhead → antonvs]

Population is about 25k in around 65 square miles of developed area. The high density area is only 10 square miles.

As it's a bus system, it doesn't need to make a ton of money, it just doesn't need to lose any, as it's a public service.

[midasuni → antonvs]

How much money do roads make?

[antonvs → midasuni]

What’s your point? I was responding to the claim that this bus system “makes money”.

In any case, the New Jersey Turnpike’s revenue for 2022 was over $2.4 billion dollars.