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Leap never bothered to secure a license to operate a transit service. They were illegal from day one, they were issued a cease and desist in May of 2015, and t
by hapless 11y ago
Leap never bothered to secure a license to operate a transit service. They were illegal from day one, they were issued a cease and desist in May of 2015, and they started auctioning off the buses in June.
For-profit city bus services were both normal and somewhat profitable up until the 1920s, when private cars became affordable. Leap borrowed a 19th century business model and pretended they didn't need to meet 21st century requirements.
As usual, Farhad Manjoo misses the forest for the trees.
- bigdubs 11y agoIsn't this what Chariot does today in SF? I don't think it's a problem with the model as much as Leap wasn't managed well.
- ubercore 11y agoIsn't that addressed in the article?
- hapless 11y agoHe mentions the c&d in passing, but blames "gentrification" and "failing to win fans," as if failing to obey the law is a branding problem. I would say it is the primary cause of failure. The founders did not bother to research the most basic facts about their business before raising funds, buying capital assets, and attempting to operate.