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The buses that they are currently using hold just over 50 people. I made a very conservative guess for how many people would leave the existing bus service. The
by vabmit 9y ago
The buses that they are currently using hold just over 50 people. I made a very conservative guess for how many people would leave the existing bus service. There are more than 10 bus trips each morning down Interstate 93 that could be considered "commuter" (400-500 people): http://bostonexpressbus.com/images/stories/schedules/I93.pdf http://bostonexpressbus.com/images/stories/schedules/I93.pdf
There are similar bus schedules from the next city over to the west, Nashua, down Route 3 and another similar schedule from the next city over to the east, Portsmouth. There are additional bus companies that service different cities and towns in Massachusetts. However, they all go to the bus station on the south side of the city.
You would have to lease the buses. The drivers would be the most expensive part of the model, though. There is a shortage of people with commercial licences in this area. The drivers can make anywhere from $45K-$60K per year in salary (not counting benefits). Brijd had already purchased shuttles/buses and had drivers. The Brijd buses were much smaller - probably 25 to 30 seats. But, had they discovered the potential business model early enough they could have bought different vehicles. There is enough demand in the area to deploy double decker buses (80-100 seats). I, and probably many others, would pay a significant premium over the existing $315/month to load/unload on the north side of the city and avoid the additional hour of commute and MBTA subway pass costs.
It would be much more difficult that a cloud based software start-up due to the capital outlays. But, it could definitely be done and be profitable.
- xapata 9y agoYeah, but that's just a bus company. To be a high-growth startup, you need something scalable. Like Megabus... Oh. BTW, I'll bet if you can get in touch with someone from Megabus they'd set up that route. In other cities they drop off in all sorts of random places. It might be some licensing or regulation issue.