> Everything mentioned in the Ecuador example is labor intensive: private sector busses driving around plentifully I don't think this is a result of cheap labo

> Everything mentioned in the Ecuador example is labor intensive: private sector busses driving around plentifully I don't think this is a result of cheap labour but rather increased efficiency of routing due to a less spread out city: > with a bevy of signs—up to a dozen—in the front windshield listing major destinations: neighborhoods, universities, other landmarks A bus that does this in most American cities would need to drive quite far and make a large number of stops, as everything is far apart from everything else. In non-American cities, things are usually more concentrated, so a single bus route can reach more stuff in less time. More stuff in less time = more trips completed per unit time = more money for the driver = more drivers. I think another way you can think of it is as an evolution of Uber/Lyft's ride-sharing services. If you ran such a service you might find that there are common routes. At that point drivers could drive those routes repeatedly and advertise them through the app. But why bother with the app when you can just put signs outside?