In brief: Worldwide montly news & informations about Buses, Busmakers, Passengers' and the Transport Industry
CARPOOLING & NEW VAN LINES vs. BUSES * USA
* New York - Lyft's new carpooling service is the beginning of the end for public buses
NY,USA -Tim Vox, by Timothy B. Lee -August 7, 2014: -- The smartphone-based taxi alternative Lyft has been getting some buzz this week for Lyft Line, a service that lets you save on your fare by splitting it with other customers. The company's biggest competitor, Uber, is rushing out a carpooling service of its own called UberPool... In the short run, these services will be a way for yuppies to pay a little less for their taxi rides. But they're also starting to blur of the line between taxis and buses. In the long run, that line is likely to disappear altogether, as all conventional buses are replaced by smaller and nimbler just-in-time transportation options... Lyft Line is a cross between a bus and a taxi... Lyft Line and UberPool occupy a middle space between buses and taxis. They're cheaper than a taxi but more expensive than a bus. They get your to your destination faster than a bus will but not as quickly as a dedicated taxi... There's always going to be a tradeoff between speed and cost. The more people who get picked up and dropped off, the more delays there will be. But smartphone-powered, self-driving vans should be able to offer significantly more convenient service than a bus at lower cost. The traditional, lumbering bus will seem as obsolete as the steering wheel itself...
* New York - Getting off the buses: Transit union is both bidding for and suing over new van lines
NY,USA -The New York Daily News -(originally published) August 12, 2010: -- The Transport Workers Union is making the Metropolitan Transportation Authority an offer the agency cannot refuse: Replace buses with dollar vans on the city’s least trafficked, most inefficient routes... TWU lawyer Arthur Schwartz says the union is all for the scheme, provided, of course, its members are at the wheel at agreeable wage and benefit rates. While that’s a big catch, it may not be an insurmountable obstacle... The union’s position is a major step – one that likely reflects the dawning of a new reality... With or without the TWU’s blessing, the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission is on the verge of awarding franchises to dollar-van fleets that will operate along the routes of five bus lines that recently fell victim to MTA budget cuts...Labels: carpooling; van buses; passengers transport industry
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