2 ms·

The biggest problem with mass-transit is that it's "public", i.e. state owned. Back in Kyrgyzstan (my home country), there are plenty of cheap private shuttles

The biggest problem with mass-transit is that it's "public", i.e. state owned. Back in Kyrgyzstan (my home country), there are plenty of cheap private shuttles ("marshrutkas") which ferry people on pre-set routes. They are only slightly slower than cabs. Legalizing private mass-transit would be a good way to make it better.

Piskvorrr 15y ago
That very much depends on the country's laws - here in Prague, there are no fewer than seven different transport companies providing public transit. The traveller doesn't need to know or care that the bus line 292 is run by one company, line 165 by another, yet another runs 314, yet another runs the light rail and another runs the normal trains - the fare is integrated, so tickets are valid for all of these. The integrating organization (which IIRC holds auctions for licenses on each of the lines) is city-sponsored, so you could call that a government influence. It should be noted that this is a system that's been taking hold for some ten years now, and that the majority of public transit is still provided by the city's public transit company.