5 ms·

Most of BUS lanes in NYC are not fully occupied. 2/3rd of the time they are just sit empty. But, I agree on the part that they will slow down a bit existing p

Most of BUS lanes in NYC are not fully occupied. 2/3rd of the time they are just sit empty. But, I agree on the part that they will slow down a bit existing public transportation, but, if Uber served routes that are currently difficult to reach, it has public service as well. Why would someone pay $10 for the Uber service, meanwhile the local one is just $3? There is a good chance that the local bus doesn't cover certain areas properly, or stops too frequently, making it a slow trip for regular commuters. Ps. In Europe there is both public and private trains, both running the same tracks. I don't see a problem with this.

dcrazy 1y ago
A transit lane with excess capacity is a feature, not a bug. It provides slack to recover from issues.
- vkou 1y ago
  Slack is good, too much slack is wasteful. Charge them their full amortized share of the road, raise rates if congestion becomes a problem.
  - lancewiggs 1y ago
    Sure - if you do it by passengers and not by vehicle count. Busses are hilariously more efficient at moving people.
    - vkou 1y ago
      People don't occupy space on roads, vehicles do. They should absolutely be paying by vehicle count. It's their problem if they can't fill the vehicles.
- dheera 1y ago
  That works in cities like Zurich where there are lots of buses going absolutely everywhere and are almost always perfectly on time. I worked there for 3 months and my 8:23am city bus was there on the dot pretty much every day. It would often get to the stop at 8:21 and wait till 8:23, like clockwork. There was no payment system on the actual bus, people had to take care of payments outside the bus so as not to delay boarding. In the US, buses largely don't need to get you where you need to go, are never on time, delayed at every stop by a line of people fumbling for how to shove crumpled dollar bills into the machine. The governments have no plans to fix any of this, so I welcome the private sector to step in and provide a bus solution in the meantime that is fast, clean, and efficient.
  - mmooss 1y ago
    The Zurich story is interesting. The US story is just fantasy. Buses work well, few people use cash or coins, and government has been and is improving things - including payment. For example, I've seen plenty of public transit where people pay before the vehicle arrives.
  - dcrazy 1y ago
    I have extensive experience with the bus systems in three major US cities and none of them are like that.
  - FireBeyond 1y ago
    > delayed at every stop by a line of people fumbling for how to shove crumpled dollar bills into the machine In my US city, not a megalopolis, but a state capital, there's no machine to shove money into, because the bus system doesn't charge anyone to ride.
pavel_lishin 1y ago
Most of the spaces in front of fire hydrants sit empty, too.
spookie 1y ago
Taxis are able to use bus lanes in EU too. And it's completely ok to do that.
dogman144 1y ago
- Uber serves routes that are difficult to reach - Those routes hit underserved communities (read: low income) - The $2 service becomes $10 after some loss leading, which is what Uber literally did. // - The lanes aren’t fully occupied. The public sector doesn’t turn a profit. The… (see my OP). // - Comparing Europe, the land of GDPR, tech company regs and fines, and its general suspicion of private sector, to the US, which is basically none of that, is a unique take.
- neuralRiot 1y ago
  >Comparing Europe, the land of GDPR, tech company regs and fines, and its general suspicion of private sector, to the US, which is basically none of that, is a unique take. Here in America we fight nail and teeth for our right to be screwed over.
- mmooss 1y ago
  > Comparing Europe, the land of GDPR, tech company regs and fines, and its general suspicion of private sector, to the US, which is basically none of that, is a unique take. It's a commonplace take. They don't have to be exactly the same - those are the peer countries of the US. People find a way to dismiss the comparisons because they have no argument: Clearly there's a better, proven way to do it.
afavour 1y ago
> Why would someone pay $10 for the Uber service, meanwhile the local one is just $3? In this scenario Uber would give endless promos pricing the trip at $2.90 until they’ve degraded the public bus service to a level where no one wants to use it. Then they jack up the prices.
- JumpCrisscross 1y ago
  > In this scenario So based entirely on a hypothetical that didn’t pan out with Uber’s original services.
  - ujkhsjkdhf234 1y ago
    Are you implying Uber isn't more expensive than when it first started? Because it is.
    - JumpCrisscross 1y ago
      > Are you implying Uber isn't more expensive than when it first started? Because it is Of course not. I'm saying (not implying) that Uber never jacked up its rates beyond what the competition, including taxis, charge.
      - mmooss 1y ago
        Aren't you all agreeing then - when there's competition, such as public transit, Uber will keep its prices competitive. When there's no competition ...
        JumpCrisscross 1y ago
        > when there's competition, such as public transit, Uber will keep its prices competitive. When there's no competition The when is a bogeyman. It's never happened. We're trading present benefits against a hypothetical downside with easy remedies if it appears.
cryptonector 1y ago
In Buenos Aires the bus system is run by private companies. The buses are full, and they run way more often than the typical and pitiful once-every 20 or 30 minutes during rush hour rate that we see in the U.S.'s city run bus systems. You never have to wait long. You can buy small books with all the info you need to get from any one part of the city to any other using only buses.

dcrazy 1y ago

A transit lane with excess capacity is a feature, not a bug. It provides slack to recover from issues.

vkou 1y ago
Slack is good, too much slack is wasteful. Charge them their full amortized share of the road, raise rates if congestion becomes a problem.
- lancewiggs 1y ago
  Sure - if you do it by passengers and not by vehicle count. Busses are hilariously more efficient at moving people.
  - vkou 1y ago
    People don't occupy space on roads, vehicles do. They should absolutely be paying by vehicle count. It's their problem if they can't fill the vehicles.
dheera 1y ago
That works in cities like Zurich where there are lots of buses going absolutely everywhere and are almost always perfectly on time. I worked there for 3 months and my 8:23am city bus was there on the dot pretty much every day. It would often get to the stop at 8:21 and wait till 8:23, like clockwork. There was no payment system on the actual bus, people had to take care of payments outside the bus so as not to delay boarding. In the US, buses largely don't need to get you where you need to go, are never on time, delayed at every stop by a line of people fumbling for how to shove crumpled dollar bills into the machine. The governments have no plans to fix any of this, so I welcome the private sector to step in and provide a bus solution in the meantime that is fast, clean, and efficient.
- mmooss 1y ago
  The Zurich story is interesting. The US story is just fantasy. Buses work well, few people use cash or coins, and government has been and is improving things - including payment. For example, I've seen plenty of public transit where people pay before the vehicle arrives.
- dcrazy 1y ago
  I have extensive experience with the bus systems in three major US cities and none of them are like that.
- FireBeyond 1y ago
  > delayed at every stop by a line of people fumbling for how to shove crumpled dollar bills into the machine In my US city, not a megalopolis, but a state capital, there's no machine to shove money into, because the bus system doesn't charge anyone to ride.

pavel_lishin 1y ago

Most of the spaces in front of fire hydrants sit empty, too.

spookie 1y ago

Taxis are able to use bus lanes in EU too. And it's completely ok to do that.

dogman144 1y ago

- Uber serves routes that are difficult to reach - Those routes hit underserved communities (read: low income) - The $2 service becomes $10 after some loss leading, which is what Uber literally did. // - The lanes aren’t fully occupied. The public sector doesn’t turn a profit. The… (see my OP). // - Comparing Europe, the land of GDPR, tech company regs and fines, and its general suspicion of private sector, to the US, which is basically none of that, is a unique take.

neuralRiot 1y ago
>Comparing Europe, the land of GDPR, tech company regs and fines, and its general suspicion of private sector, to the US, which is basically none of that, is a unique take. Here in America we fight nail and teeth for our right to be screwed over.
mmooss 1y ago
> Comparing Europe, the land of GDPR, tech company regs and fines, and its general suspicion of private sector, to the US, which is basically none of that, is a unique take. It's a commonplace take. They don't have to be exactly the same - those are the peer countries of the US. People find a way to dismiss the comparisons because they have no argument: Clearly there's a better, proven way to do it.

afavour 1y ago

> Why would someone pay $10 for the Uber service, meanwhile the local one is just $3? In this scenario Uber would give endless promos pricing the trip at $2.90 until they’ve degraded the public bus service to a level where no one wants to use it. Then they jack up the prices.

JumpCrisscross 1y ago
> In this scenario So based entirely on a hypothetical that didn’t pan out with Uber’s original services.
- ujkhsjkdhf234 1y ago
  Are you implying Uber isn't more expensive than when it first started? Because it is.
  - JumpCrisscross 1y ago
    > Are you implying Uber isn't more expensive than when it first started? Because it is Of course not. I'm saying (not implying) that Uber never jacked up its rates beyond what the competition, including taxis, charge.
    - mmooss 1y ago
      Aren't you all agreeing then - when there's competition, such as public transit, Uber will keep its prices competitive. When there's no competition ...
      - JumpCrisscross 1y ago
        > when there's competition, such as public transit, Uber will keep its prices competitive. When there's no competition The when is a bogeyman. It's never happened. We're trading present benefits against a hypothetical downside with easy remedies if it appears.

cryptonector 1y ago

In Buenos Aires the bus system is run by private companies. The buses are full, and they run way more often than the typical and pitiful once-every 20 or 30 minutes during rush hour rate that we see in the U.S.'s city run bus systems. You never have to wait long. You can buy small books with all the info you need to get from any one part of the city to any other using only buses.