Can Public Transit Beat Uber?
Vložit
- čas přidán 15. 08. 2022
- Sign up to Morning Brew for free today: morningbrewdaily.com/citybeau...
I’m on Patreon! Consider supporting this channel: / citybeautiful
Can LA Transit operate an Uber-like service that makes transit better, unlike Uber, which undermines transit?
Watch on Nebula: nebula.app/videos/citybeautif...
Resources on this topic:
www.foxla.com/news/metro-sees...
dot.la/metro-micro-expands-26...
www.nytimes.com/2021/06/09/bu...
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi...
www.nature.com/articles/s4189...
usa.streetsblog.org/2019/01/2...
ballotpedia.org/California_Pr...)
theintercept.com/2022/01/07/u...
Produced by Dave Amos and the fine folks at Standard Studios.
Select images and video from Getty Images.
Black Lives Matter.
Take the annual City Beautiful viewer survey! berkeley.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9nvqbsZUOwzb8YC
Why are people choosing uber over public transit? How much does one of those Sprinter Vans cost equipped as is,70-80k? What does a rider get paid,20-25/hr? You are collecting 1 dollar per fare, does that even cover the gas costs, let alone the maintenance, or the driver, on top of the cost of the vehicle. It seems like a introductory rate that will need to go up to make sense, if it becomes more popular that means costs will go up even more.
@@emineo3252 Depending on where you live, you could spend an hour on the bus, vs. 10-15 minutes on an Uber. You might try watching the video again.
Done!
I did take the survey
@@emineo3252 this ONE system is CHEAPER then MOST transit bus fares so there is something going on
but the transit VS Uber is the same as the "old" transit VS TAXI time VS money-convenience uber/Taxi is way quicker and available 24 HOURS a day WITH a car and a TRUNK to put luggage / shopping in VS a transit that is MUCH CHEAPER
I believe both services complement each other and IF one is cannibalizing the other there is a service issue to be dealt with
Sorry about the misleading Uber/Subway graph. I wanted to show that Subway ridership declined by the same amount as rideshare rides increased, but it looks like there are only 60k Subway users! I'll do better next time!
Thanks for the clarification, I immediately was suspicious of that statistic… makes everything more credible when you apologize and correct the record. Love your channel
You should pin this comment, the more graph-oriented of us are really picky about this sort of thing! But great to see that you explained it! Kudos!
Yeah I noticed that. What are the real subway ridership figures then?
Stop fucking up
You mentioned the effect of ride sharing on transit ridership, is there any data on when a bike/scooter sharing service starts operations in a city, what impact that has? Those seem to be incredibly popular options for people taking a short trip around a city. They also reduce traffic and would seem to reduce pollution by virtue of their electric drive systems.
Microbus services like this (except lower tech) have been really common in exurban, rural and underserved areas in Europe for decades and really helped people get to cities if they didn't drive, especially in rural Eastern Europe before cars became super common
So true!
It''s really hard to understand why in america there is no such option as a standard route van lines.
Microbus would be perfect in exurban and rural America to get to school, malls, offices factories and warehouses.
@@bellairefondren7389 exactly! Imagine the amount of traffic could be saved in areas where bus lines would be difficult to introduce
It's not exactly the same thing tbh. This is still a ride hailing service which picks you up based on your phone's location.
We have a similar app in Germany called MOIA from VW and it has nothing to do with those microbuses in Kyiv I've been in...
@@almerindaromeira8352 it's a more flexible and high tech solution, which makes sense given the difference in time and wealth, but it fills the exact same gap in public transportation service
The last time I've seen an uber ride cost below $10 was like 5 years ago, and even then that price point was becoming a rarity. Nowadays, where I live, I think it's more like $20 minimum, up to $70 or $80 under certain conditions. cheap transit authority-run alternative wins hands down, idc if the trip takes slightly longer
It seems like they used low fares to get their foot in the door and then once their competition diminished they took advantage and raised to their rates
I saw Uber rides below $10 in Puerto Rico which was way cheaper then Taxi rides when I went there a few weeks ago
I don't know how it is today, but just before Corona Uber still made billions of losses. I guess they now think (or have to try because investors are demanding) that they have enough market to push through prices.
@@JAG214 yeah maybe after they put more taxes out of business then Uber will raise its rates, I’m guessing.
@@Strideo1 Yup, it's the Walmart/Amazon business model - use a big pile of cash to absorb losses & drive the competition out of business, then jack up prices when you're the only game in town.
I was thinking about this recently. I think it’s a good way to connect far-flung suburbs with urban centers and downtowns, even if there’s some kinks to be worked out. One feature it would need to have is late night service, at least on weekends when people are out and about. Hope more cities adopt this, I would love to have something like it in the Phoenix area.
Just read about the Metro micro on their website. Service hour till 10pm is still a bit too short, but that's a good start anyway
@@chungonion 10pm is probably fine on weekdays, but on weekends, I would think it should be as late as 3 or 4am. Maybe even make it 24 hours on weekends, depending on the area.
a lot of us uber drivers are night owls, so I doubt there's a shortage of labor there. perhaps an issue of safety/insurance/compensation etc
It also could be important to ensure it stays open as late as the bars on weekends. Simply put drunk driving is bad, so giving people ways to get to bars and home where someone else drives them is preferable.
Even if it isn't directly profitable i would imagine the slight boost to bar patronage and reduction in drunk driving related "accidents" would certainly pay for itself.
@@Westlander857 I hope it will be expanded from time to time =]
As someone who lives in LA, I have a love/hate relationship with Metro Micro. When it works, it really is a great option. But there have been many times when my ride doesn't show or comes so late that I can't make it to my destination on time or connect with the bus/train that I need, forcing me to either take an Uber or drive. It doesn't matter if I book my ride an hour out or 3 days out too.
LA Metro does have a significant driver shortage, and I think they do overbook the Micros. It's a great idea, but the execution hasn't been great. I'm jealous that you were able to get something within 30 minutes of when you booked it, as often I have to book it hours in advance just to have a chance.
One advantage to the contractor (or any revenue share) model is that the drivers only get paid if they show up. I'm guessing nobody lost money when your ride didn't show up.
In many parts of the world they essentially work as a smaller capacity version of buses with fixed routes and pretty reliable schedules. In my city Jakarta they are also completely free to ride!
@@junirenjana same in San Salvador, but you should guess the schedules and pay a higher fare than a large bus
@@junirenjana jaklingko?
@@spacetoast7783 I dunno, they're paid by the transit authority I thought (unless I totally misread that part of the video), meaning they're getting a salary simply by being in the van between those hours they signed up for.
Transit vehicles similar size like this are quite common in other parts of the world. It's good that LA is making modern versions of those minivans you would find in developing countries. For commuters, this could've been a great money saving solution for transit's last mile problem.
Those are all over in Europe
its also all over Indonesia
IDK about the rest of Canada but in Quebec cities/regions that can't support public transit nor taxi will have a taxibus. Like a bus service there are designated spots you have to wait and like a taxi you need to call them to be picked up. For faster service you need to call an hour or so before you need to be picked up, especially in more rural area.
@@Nico-dt5hu angkot?
This just seems way too expensive. Only charging $1 per rider, paying drivers very well, and it’s slow? It’s highly inefficient and very expensive for the tax payer. This seems like it’s only good as a public service for smaller scale perhaps remote areas with no bus or train options or for special needs people.
6:50 At the end of the day, this is a failure mostly caused by US transportation planners that have been forcing sprawl and mostly building roads and highways for the past sixty years.
Or more specifically, US transportation planning law and procedure. It leaves the planners with very few tools, and it sets up a situation that transfers wealth from the rest of the economy to property developers by making developments cheap to build but highly expensive and rather dysfunctional to use, service and maintain. Euclidian zoning in particular is a nightmare, as the exclusive categories really need to go in order for meaningful reform including mixed land use to have a chance.
Full-time Chicago uber driver and underserved west-side resident here:
YO CTA, GET ON THIS. I would MUCH rather drive for the City and cover all of the areas that aren't covered by rail (or are too dangerous to wait on corners at night too long for buses)
As a Chicagoan this would be elite
But also they gotta start running more buses. It's ridiculous that sometimes you gotta wait over 20 minutes for a bus during the middle of the day. I do agree this would be good for covering some of the gaps in the rail system at least until more infrastructure can be built.
But these networks typically only work 7am - 6pm. So if driving Uber is a side gig, it might not work.
If you want a full-time job with the CTA, I will bet they are hiring. Probably some part time work too.
it's weird to me how car centric America is, to the point that the image of public transport is still a car, and not trains. trains are more resource and thus cost efficient. just as we are seeing with solar being more expensive upfront but less expensive over it's life time, this is true of trains, and doubly so for electric trains.
American politicians are allergic to thinking ahead
@@Ry_TSG *Politicians FTFY while american stupidity has a certain unique flavor, we aren't the only game in town. that being said, many are freaking out right now, which isn't conducive to long term planning. but due to obstinance and pure ideology, they are trying to get away with doing the bare minimum, and climate change just isn't something that accepts that. things will continue to get worse due to politician incrementalism...... which then gets scapegoated into demonizing the "Lefty Jewish woke mob" (god even saying that makes me hurl) that being said, we do have the technology, and the politics is starting to break, albeit slowly. we need to do everything possible to make sure incrementalism is disfavored, for not only our survival, but for the survival of the planet.
They're just using existing infrastructure, besides trams would be a better option for a road dominated heccscape like the US.
@@iqbalindaryono8984 trams would be alright as a transitional feature, yes. they are not being built though, BRT's are, the more expensive option. in fact, right outside my window they are building a BRT, the more expensive option. it's a feature, not a bug, as the more expensive option is easier to siphon large contracts from the government, to private propertied hands, rather than users.
@@ethanstump BRTs are very expensive, but BRT lites should be relatively affordable. My local BRT lite line was very successful, and should work in the US as well.
By BRT lite I literally just mean a bus route with a 5 min frequency and a painted bus lane.
(I'm from Australia and assuming the US is similar)
I would love to have this in Seattle. Many of my trips in the city are short distances, but require one or even two changes - and those changes are often busses with 20 or 30 minute frequencies. That's a no-go!
For example, I'm about 20-40 minutes via bus on average away from a light rail stop, which has wonderful grade-separated 4 minute service to downtown. It's a 7 minute drive to the same stop!
Using this service, I could cut across the city a lot easier, or get from my house to major bus or light rail hubs quickly.
Completely agree. In Seattle, buses just aren’t a viable option for the vast majority of my trips - they take too long and are too complex. In the absence of just increasing routes and frequency, a service like this would be nice
Seattle has this in the southern parts of the city and parts of Tukwila and Renton, it's called Via to Transit. I wish they'd expand the area though
In the Netherlands there would definitely be a bicycle involved somewhere in your journey. A fast ebike/electric moped might be more feasible in the US?
@@beetooex I wish! I'd love to ride a bike, but I feel extremely unsafe riding on the road. Sadly, even in a city like Seattle, which has relatively good biking infrastructure compared to the rest of the US, even for a fit guy like me, it's just too anxiety inducing and unsafe.
This exists in Kent as Pingo to Transit. It's super convenient and just wish it would go beyond 7pm and, well, to rest of King Metro
Salt Lake City is also trailing a ride share program. It only serves a few small areas so it’s not been useful to me but it’s nice that it’s there and hopefully they can expand its area to be a true Last mile vehicle when TRAX, a bus or Frontrunner can’t take you there
We have it up here in the Boise suburbs. Promotion of the service is a huge difficulty. I would say Less than %0.05 of the population even knows it exists. City leaders don't even know it exists. Another big difficulty is that it doesn't get you from the suburbs to Boise. So in most cases, it is pointless.
Austin has vans too in some areas/towns
I actually think ride sharing works far better as a public service. That it's mainly to cut down conjestion and emmissions and that it's an app that's completely free of charge and voluntary with no pay.
I live in a college town of 100k and I think a service like metro micro would be perfect here. We have busses but they are very infrequent and under used. I feel like supplementing them with these smaller vans could be a great fit for a city of this size.
They work, but the service times can be very limited (no service after 6 or 7pm)
Uber exploits labour from lower-income people, and heavily reduces transit ridership and frequency which the poorest people rely on most 😩
Really a double whammy to make poor people's lives worse
I find that hard to believe . How did uber reduce transit . Uber cost like 15 to 30 dollars average depending on where you want to go . Where as transit is really cheap .
@@chemicalfrankie1030 Did you not watch the fucking video?
No one on a low income takes an Uber, If you're poor you take the bus. Nobody on a low income can afford $9.00 per ride.
@@chemicalfrankie1030 It's not the poor people directly switching over to uber, it's the people who are slightly more economically mobile who would otherwise take the bus. Once those financially-stable people opt into paying more for the convenience factor of Uber and stop using transit services, ridership numbers decrease and transit frequency gets adjusted down.
Holy crap, it costs ONE DOLLAR for a ride? That’s incredible, I heard the performance and was worried since it was definitely disappointing, but I thought a reasonable price could save it and you can’t get much better than 1 dollar. That’s a bargain.
LA metro IS $1.75 per ride per there website BUT WAS free during 2020 so maybe Metro is serious about "transit for everyone" and is trying to get this system to be known and experienced / people signed up
Yeah, but if you have to wait 40 minutes for a short ride, the Time=Money equation definitely comes into consideration.
It only takes you short distances though within individual cities and doesn't pick up at your address so you have to walk somewhere. It's definitely not worth more than a couple of dollars.
As a rideshare driver, thank you so much for including the question “do you like driving for Uber“ as an awkward question. I get that question every single day and I absolutely hate it. Until you mentioned that it was someone awkwardly trying to make small talk with a stranger, I always inferred that it was a really condescending question, as if they were incredulous that anyone could like such a lowbrow job or something. It never occurred to me until this moment that it was just people who have no idea how to talk to someone.
I use it as a chance to tell them how much Uber sucks and screws us over lol
I assume it is the "how is the weather?" type of question and ANSWER not required to be honest but a conversation starter being "trapped" in a confined space with a stranger
Haha yeah in my case it's definitely just a way of saying "I feel like the polite thing to do right now is make conversation but it's been overcast and 10C for months so I don't have anything to say about the weather".
than don’t work in Uber, lol
people are hilarious, hate their own decisions
@@redakteur3613 just out of curiosity, what is the purpose of that comment? Like, what kind of reactions/consequences would you expect it to cause?
I used to drive a vanpool service like this at my college and it was very very popular. I have no doubt it would be beneficial in urban suburbs where either transit lines have not extended out to yet or you need I direct link to a major brt/LRT
It was a lifesaver in my undergrad when bars were directly across the street from campus and I lived on the opposite side of campus.
"Group ride sharing" (like "Metro Micro") has a lot of potential. Say Sam wants to go from point A to point Z. Bill from point C to point X. A van that can pick up Sam from A, Bill from C, drop off Bill at X and Sam at Z...very efficient. Would love to see Uber innovate like this. Uber could also innovate by having more special needs/disabled/child seat options. As for the point about uber competing with transit...sometimes the opposite happens. I know somebody will actually take uber to/from the train station and for them Uber has solved the "last mile" problem with metro transit, which is a good thing.
Yeah, I also thought about an app like that.
I've tried to use Metro Micro exactly one time. I was running a bit late and realized I would miss my bus connection from the Orange Line (BRT with dedicated right-of-way, for those unfamiliar) to my destination (roughly 2 miles away) so I tried to call a Metro Micro from a few stops away so that it would arrive at roughly the same time as I did. It ended up arriving on the earlier side of its arrival window and I arrived later than expected because the Orange Line still doesn't have signal priority so I missed it. I ended up walking. This isn't really an indictment of Metro Micro in concept or in execution but I think it's telling that the same service improvements that would make Metro Micro more attractive to me would likely reduce the need for it in the first place.
why would it though?
What i recommend when using metro micro is that if you know you'll need to go somewhere later in the day/tomorrow, you should schedule your ride in advance. The metro micro will come on time, in my experience.
If you schedule a ride for ASAP, usually you will be waiting about 30mins for the ride to come.
I love this! Ever since taking one of these small busses/vans somewhere in the Italian Alps, I have never been able to stop thinking of how they could fit into more urban transportation. Big busses are good because they only require one driver and have a huge capacity but I often find that there are less than 13 passengers in a bus outside of peak hours and especially on longer routes through less dense areas. Using software to bridge the gap between user demand and rigid schedules is a great idea. Especially in a sprawling city like Los Angeles.
In hindsight, this is basically a more sophisticated version of the "Belbus" (literally "call-bus") that exists here in equally sprawling Flanders. It's also a sort of bus/taxi service run by the local transit agency but you have to book your trip at least one day in advance (this used to be done exclusively by phone, hence the name) and you can only travel between specially designated Belbus stops. Because of these limitations, it's mostly used for semi-regular and pre-planned trips, like going to the Sunday market, visiting a friend or going into town. I've never used it myself though, I should try it out someday!
Montgomery County, MD has a similar public transportation rideshare system - it's called Ride On Flex. Runs in select areas only though - Wheaton and Rockville. Works great but barely used.
This is amazing, this is the future & the price...this could be a legit alternative to many many people owning a car if it is rolled out city wide & and can serve an large populace (which would also cut down on transit time). My only questions are do they have cargo space for groceries & will they have some running at 2am when bars close?? These are the biggest downfalls of buses & other public transport. If people can't pick up & transport a weeks worth of groceries or get home after going out, they still need a car & the service won't replace personal car ownership-which is really what needs to happen in the long run.
Try to figure out the answers of your questions from what I have read
1) They might have extra cargo space, but I can't see that on the video
2) They operates till 10pm (generally) right now, but I think in the future the services will be expanded
Ideally you wouldn't need to carry a week worth of groceries because you would have a small grocery store within walking distance of your house that you stop at on the way home from somewhere else, maybe every 2-3 days
They could allocate a portion of space in the back of the van for large goods. such as groceries or luggage for travelers going to the train station or airport. For late night bar hopping, they are a very popular option in large college towns. My undergrad (Univ of Florida) had a free night shuttle service around campus called SNAP that ran from 6 pm - 3 am. Many students went to bars directly across the street from campus and used SNAP to get rides back to their dorms.
Public transportation is cool and should be encouraged, but owning a car will always mean freedom of movement, to carry whoever people you want, whatever cargo you want, whatever time of the day and to whatever destination that it's not served by any public transportation.
@@soundscape26 Do you realised you are saying two things that are contradicting to each other?
we had a service like it in berlin for the last couple years, called 'berlkönig'. sadly it has stopped because transit is heavily regulated in germany and it could only run as an "experimental service". the taxi companies complained that it would take away their customers.
i used it a few times when i had a leg injury or heavy baggage to move; it was more expensive than public transport, about the same speed (depending on route and surface traffic) but extremely convenient for getting almost door to door and with no need to change.
There was (is) one in Hamburg too. I hope that it didn't suffer the same fate
Edmonton Transit is rolling out Transit on Demand like this in select areas including mine. I haven't taken it yet but it seems like a great idea in lower density areas where conventional bus routes don't make much sense...
Winnipeg transit on request is a NEW service like this in 3 "zones" in Winnipeg
That sounds like a great service! It reminds me of the Collectivos in Peru, which took my family, myself and 15 schoolchildren to the remotest towns. I think it makes connecting rural areas more cost-effective.
This sort of reminds me of my towns paratransit vans that will pick up disabled people around my town and take them directly to their destination like a taxi service
It would have been cool if you had touched on the cost for operators to run municipal ridesharing. In Sacramento, for example, SacRT's microtransit service (smart ride) requires a $42 agency subsidy each time a passenger boards, compared to an $8-$16 subsidy on fixed bus routes, depending on route productivity.
Another thing to keep in mind is that some agencies (like SacRT) have used microtransit to strip any fixed service to communities underserved by transit. Route 24 in Sacramento used to serve communities like Orangevale and Fair Oaks, but now many of those neighborhoods have no feasible transit stop in walking distance with regular service. With the variable timeliness of these services, it makes it really difficult for people using transit to make it on time to school or work.
This THIS *THIS* ! As seemingly innocuous and innovative these services seem, they're often not deployed as an actual alternative to ridesharing, (at least here in San Antonio, where only the northeastern part of the city wasn't regularly served) but as a way to justify cutting routes in an era of severe budget shortfalls. I'm currently taking one of those routes now and it's so transparent in its intent, that when I told the two employees who were trying to shill the service on the empty bus about my perspective on the subject, they more or less just quietly agreed. It's already a four bus ride to get to that location. Now it's going to be three and hoping to God that I can figure this god-awful system out.
It's a race to the bottom with a marketing campaign that says, "How do you do, fellow transit commuters?" I'd rather pay the $30-$40 for a Lyft out of spite. I'm probably going to have to move there.
I actually used metro micro earlier this year and omg it is amazing the drivers are friendly and its super cheap and convenient
As someone who lives in Pasadena, specifically within that round trip, this was pretty neat to watch. Should have taken the 686 or 180 bus, it would have been faster 😀
Glad to see this video, didn't know about metro micro. A little more bias seems to show in this video though. Uber et al have motivation to innovate (in good and bad ways) in order to make money, while public transit is MUCH slower to respond and adapt. While I agree with the conclusion, wish there was more attention given to the potential downsides of public run utilities as well.
Agreed but he clearly aimed to push the utopia narrative, can’t do that if one discusses LA transport present and past failures
My little city of Idaho Falls ID with a population of 65,000 just started a micro system like this. I see them all of over and constantly having passengers. Happy to see it’s being successful
That’s such an American thing to call taxis "public transit". I was expecting a comparison of a real public transit system like the one Berlin has with Uber.
Anything Australia has with Uber,Ola,Didi,(Your bigger cities with things like Silver Service Taxi or Smart Car)are also personal transport but with a difference.
It is public transport
@@The_king567 Do you think it’s fair to title a video "Can Boats transport goods over the ocean?" and then only talk about toy boats, completely disregarding that real boats exist?
@@FlorianWendelborn yes
Hey this has been around for a long time. It is called on demand bus service. I think it was run by a company called Via bus or something similar. Some towns in uk have adoped this.
Also it could be found in the Netherlands, however those services still requires pickup and dropoff points instead of just dropping off anywhere within the zone.
@@chungonion While it's less convenient, system wide benefits are pretty substantial. Saving a few minutes per passenger adds up to a lot of travel time saved.
@@Joesolo13 Yes, but I think what Metro Micro is doing good is that you can see the departure times on the app beforehand. Similar system in the UK and The Netherlands seems they only compute the routes on demand, and the down side for that is you need to call the app 30 mins in advance for that journey. As you can see from this video, the van arrives with 20 mins which is a good job.
This is basically a more sophisticated version of the "Belbus" (literally "call-bus") that exists here in equally sprawling Flanders. It's also a sort of bus/taxi service run by the local transit agency but you have to book your trip at least one day in advance (this used to be done exclusively by phone, hence the name) and you can only travel between specially designated Belbus stops. Because of these limitations, it's mostly used for semi-regular and pre-planned trips, like going to the Sunday market, visiting a friend or going into town. I've never used it myself though, I should try it out someday!
My wife's flemish. It's mostly for old people.
I live in a suburb north of Dallas, TX called Lewisville and we have the same thing as metro but it's called GoZone by Via. It's designed to replace the bus routes that stopped at the train station and it's good for the most part. My experience has been the exact same as yours. I unintentionally did a similar experience, when it was pique time, it was hard getting a ride within 15 min with GoZone but I got one with Uber within 5 min. If cities got their act together and managed to combine this service with bus, light rail and local attractions, they can put Uber out of business, but that's a big IF.
As someone who worked in the micro-transit branch of a public transit company I really can't recommend micro-transit enough (especially as an alternative to things like Uber).
I think they could, I hate the whole idea of Uber and I would much rather take a good public transit service for a reasonable price rather than Uber, especially since it rips you off on the price a lot. But where I live, the trains rip you off too as they’re privatised…
We have something similar in Jersey City, NJ. It’s called Via. It’s a private company but still partnered with the city and offers affordable $2 rides around the city. It’s been operating since February 2020 and it’s very popular
Thank you for the great video! One more plus for microtransit that I feel people are overlooking is the data generated. This can be used to develop more efficent permanent routes in response to real-time demands instead of the "build and they will come" approach.
My city’s public transit agency just launched this style of service! It’s not a perfect system but with the drastic difference in price, I’ll definitely be trying it out.
Both transit agencies in DFW Have micro transit options and they are phenominal for the last mile to a destination. I use them frequently since I was eager to replace my car for daily commute. So much more effective than Uber/Lyft if you can sacrifice a few minutes to save $10-15 each day
Glad to hear about GoLink working better as of late. I heard nothing but rides that never show up since the new bus system started. I haven’t used GoLink yet since I live near fixed bus routes.
@@saxmanb777 I work in las Colinas and use it to get to my office from the Beltline orange line station. Had one or two issues with it, but since DART covers Uber pool with GoPass, it’s a decent option
This is a great not just for cities but for towns and villages to be able to connect where there are infrequent/ no existing public transit routes
My sister lives in TC, Michigan, and they have a similar system! She was telling me about it, and I thought it sounded so cool!
I’m always happy when a new City Beautiful video drops! 😄
I was hoping you’d talk about using Uber or on demand service to use for that last mile. I often just take the train to the nearest stop and have to Uber the rest of the way. Many agencies are starting to partner with Uber/Lyft, but hate how they are doing business as a whole.
We REALLY need this in bay area (eastbay, san jose, etc). Buses only run on the main streets. Supplementary car services can go into residential areas without any issue
I really liked the minibuses (dolmuş) in turkey, as they were privately ran and in the suburbs of Istanbul often came more often and were faster than busses. I can definitely see them being useful in the bay area
Thank you so much for this. I didn't realize major cities were doing uber style ride sharing. This is a great answer to the ridiculous waste we have here in the new river valley with blacksburg transit. The do the go anywhere service which operates as a taxi right now for free.
Do a video on walkable colleges and university transit please. I don’t think it’s a topic you’ve ever covered
I'm surprised he hasn't' convered this
One of these days! I live in a college town, so it would be easy to make.
Is San Antonio Texas they launched VIA link which is the same thing basically , however I believe it’s faster and goes around the city with expanding spots to pickup. However the app kinda sucks
Via link pickups are mainly where there isn’t a bus route
I'd also recognized the Metro Micro app's interface as being practically identical to Via's used around here. It has sucked having any of a car arriving early then soon leaving (trying to time my arrival to waiting), or coming very, very late (had about 40+ minutes a few times).
@@MrPokeboy88 VIA developed the app that LA Metro uses and ran the pilot project in LA before LA Metro took over and expanded the service.
We have a similar experiment in Atlanta called MARTA Reach! Its a really cool Georgia Tech and MARTA collaboration, that actually works really well in the testing areas to bring users right to nearby train stations, all for the included fare price of 2.50 and counts the same as a bus transfer. I think its a great last mile solution, hopefully they decide to expand the program once the testing period is over at the end of the month.
Very interesting concept and video! Hopefully more cities will adopt public ridesharing. I was just in Pasadena for work.
If only there was a another mode of transportation that's practically free, very environmentally friendly and especially suited for short trips like these.
Free ? How ?
What if we designed this hypothetical mode of transportation run on two wheels so they don't take up much space.
@@drwalka10 I think they expect this mode of transportation to run on human energy and thus would be free
@@pavneet01 You could also build some with batteries to help with longer short trips and those who would have difficulty making it run by themselves. Oh, and headwinds. @^#!! headwinds.
@@Korina42 so basically a human power car that is only 2 wheels and FAR cheaper in price and "impact"
I think a mini metro WITH BIKE RACK and biking / "heavy" transit can all work together for different use cases I imagine the Metro micro SHOULD deliver you to the transit HUB and then transit takes over and a mini bus does the "last mile" IF main line transit does NOT and extends the TRANSIT system reach BEYOND biking range with LESS-then-Uber cost/impacts
I've always felt that there should be a "bus on demand" kind of thing. This system seems to be kinda what is needed, since it can pick up and drop off people on the way! The rise of apps and algorithms means that this kind of adhoc "transit" is finally feasible.
A rideshare company called Gojek started collabroating with KAI Commuter, Jakarta's suburban rail operator. They added a feature that can both plan trips that mix rideshare with transit and buy QR-based tickets.
IndyGo here in Indianapolis recently debuted a similar service (IndyGo Connect) to serve a car-dependent neighborhoods on the southeast side of the city, where fixed route bus frequency is mostly hourly. Riders in this neighborhood can now access groceries, jobs, and a BRT line for just $1.75 (our standard fare).
Uber and Lyft don't care about what effects it has on traffic or their own drivers.
As long as the big men can live in their huge mansions and drink their €200 wine, it's all fine. Why would they care about the working rights of their drivers? Why would they care about the effects on the planet they cause?
It's literally so shady honestly, never got an Uber or Lyft and never will. I'm lucky public transport is so good in my country, so I won't leave that behind anytime soon
@@chemicalfrankie1030 They don't really have a choice, do they? With the current employment situations ://
@@myra0224 the opposite. They do have a choice. And they still prefer to be drivers. Again, is someone forcing them?
@@chemicalfrankie1030 Yes, there's literally not enough jobs to do and quality jobs in the US are very hard to find for people without a uni degree
I feel like a mandatory transfer to a bus/metro for longer rides (or higher fare if you dont trasfer) would make this even better.
I would "expect" the APP to route you through transit so that is an "automatic" and at the price "transfers" are more then acceptable
I first learned rideshare services from Geoff Marshel's video, though that one focused more on fixed route buses for less used services in smaller towns instead of a taxi service like Uber within a big city. Even then, with how much public transit NA is lacking even within big cities, it certainly is better than nothing, not to mention they do help to established fixed route buses.
MetroMicro-like services make the most sense in rural/exurban areas, but downtown Pasadena is neither rural nor exurban.
Not only is the route very urban, there a quick Google search of the trip shown at 1:42 in the video reveals that there are numerous fixed-route bus options available to accomplish the same trip. And, simply hopping on whichever comes first would probably have gotten you there in far less time than MetroMicro, for the same $1 fare. In fact, it is even possible for a fixed-route bus to end up being faster than Uber if you get lucky and don't have to wait.
For a route like this, MetroMicro is completing with conventional transit, exactly the same as Uber does, but with a lower fare and worse product. Worse, the money to operate Metro Micro has to come from somewhere, and that somewhere is likely at the expense of making the regular old buses run more frequently. And, with only 1-2 passengers in a vehicle that is larger and more gas guzzling than the typical Uber vehicle, it's not clear that MetroMicro is any better than Uber in carbon emissions either.
Finally, worth nothing - the entire route shown is just 1.5 miles, short enough that in the time it took to wait for MetroMicro, you could have simply walked all the way home. Riding a bike also would have taken under 10 minutes - faster than a fixed-route bus, and probably as fast, if not faster than Uber, once accounting for the wait time for the Uber.
There are indeed some areas where a MetroMicro-like service may make sense, but in an area like shown in the video, the transit agency is simply throwing money away to compete with itself (and with walking and biking), not providing any significant amount of additional mobility.
Is it really fair to compare Uber when it's a company that's unustainably losing investor money and will need to recoup it at some point though?
That's why Metro Micro is the winner :D
In which case it would make sense to compare it to all the various companies. Lyft being one of ubers competitors
Spoiler: LA Metro also loses money
@@spacetoast7783 They don't lose money, they spend it, at a sustainable rate, to provide a public service to citizens. It's a big distinction.
@@squelchedotter In fiscal year 2019, Metro says it pulled in $250-$300 million in fares to cover $1.9 billion in operating costs. You're either wrong or you're saying Metro is lying.
I think we should be calling out cities and towns that have the guts to replace public transit with Uber. Not everyone likes Uber, there are many ethical and human rights issues regards to Uber, and that Uber does absolutely nothing to solve traffic congestion or to reduce car dependency. Uber is not, and should never be considered the solution.
I'm looking at you, Innisfil, Ontario. Shame on your dependency on Uber.
I think this is quite clever, as it can also be used to glean usage data to determine where to expand bus routes into.
There’s been some similar pilot schemes in the UK, with just a regular bus. No set stops or timetable, just an app that figures out how to route everything together. Kind of like the older “dial a bus” except higher throughput and dynamic routing.
Wow, the Metro Micro seems like an amazing service!! In Montreal, they are testing out a similar service.
As an american, this feels like an aggressively American video. Maybe Canadian as well, since they're just Americans in denial.
"Can Public Transit Beat Uber?" Is this some sort of american joke that I'm too european to understand?
Please help us
Great video! Glad Metro Micro is getting more attention.
Before moving from LA I used Metro Micro and it was very good. It was really helpful to low-income residents with its ability to get around areas with limited bus/train options, and the fact the cost was so low.
The last time I rode in November the drivers I spoke with said the prices will eventually be increased-but still lower than Uber/Lyft. The only complaint I’ve heard was that the LA Metro bus drivers feel slighted, but maybe that has changed.
Metro Micro reminds me of TCaT - a Tulare County-wide transit service with small buses that connect Tulare County cities. Can’t wait for the Cross Valley Corridor train that will eventually connect to the Kings/Tulare HSR station!
The value of taxi medallions is completely derived from artificial scarcity, and deserved to be destroyed. They were scamming us for decades. Please don't be irresponsible in trying to paint more affordable single-car transit as a bad thing, as rideshare is much less expensive in most cases to traditional taxis, even despite recent price raises and surge charges.
Uber/Lyft style rideshare IS a taxi service, the name is a misnomer. Taxi licenses are artificially scarce for good reason
I think systems like Metro Micro and MARTA Reach are most effective at linking more places to a high-capacity transit system as well as operating night services when demand is lower and train lines are undergoing maintenance.
There was a similar service here in Atlanta called MARTA Reach. It was a pilot program that only lasted a couple months and didn’t serve the areas I usually go, so I didn’t get to use it. Did look through the app though and it was surprisingly nice and easy to use like the one you mentioned in the video. Hope it comes back to stay cause I’d love to use it
In Berlin they had something similar to Metro Micro and it was great. I didn't mind waiting an extra 20 minutes to spend 11€ on a 36€ Uber ride. If I had a 1$ option I would surely take that!
Kind of a funny route to pick, since the 10 goes right down Colorado and probably would have been faster than Micro. But great to see you spotlighting what Metro is doing here. I hope you enjoyed Pasadena!
In metro Detroit there is a similar service run by the metro transit service Smart Bus. It is called Smart Flex. It offers rides in specific cities for $2-$8. I have yet to try it but in an area where public transit is really lacking, it seems like a good middle ground
Here in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, vans like these are an integral part of the transit system and work usually in a route similar to the ones that buses take, but can do it in a shorter span of time and can take shortcuts if the passengers agree with it. The fare is R$ 4,00 (a wee less than $1) and you can use your transit card (Riocard/Bilhete Único) as well! I personally enjoy taking a van a way more than taking a bus
I love micro, but just the idea right now. I live right between the current zones and I would love to take it to and from my school, which is in the zone. Can’t wait until they expand the service
Metro micro is the kind of thing I’ve wanted to see in the suburbs for years!
We’re chronically under served in bus service because we’re low density and theirs a lack of demand because everyone knows the bus takes forever.
We have good service down the main transit line but that mostly gets people to work downtown and back to the suburbs, avoiding the newer suburban shopping areas.
My workplace has the same problem. It’s fairly remote due to cheap land at the edge of the city and has a large number of employees who are not well serviced by transit because it’s not on the downtown route.
If this service existed in my city we could pack several 12 passenger vans getting people out of my work, but we wouldn’t quite have enough riders to justify a city bus.
UTA in Salt Lake City has a service similar to this for rides on demand to get transit riders to and from train stations and bus stops, a "first mile" and "last mile" solution for areas underserved by transit and the fare in included in the transit fare.
Would love to see the MTA do something like this in NYC especially for neighborhoods that are a bit of a transit desert like Flatlands or Maspeth.
Metro micro sounds like the fancy version of microbuses within My city. Nice video!
Huh, I was intrigued by the thumbnail with MetroMicro and found out you live just down the street from me. Thanks for making this, from a fellow Pasadenan :)
We have an "on demand" bus service in Rochester NY - very similar to metro micro. I've used it a few times. I've never taken an Uber.
For a while, I lived and worked such that I could take "on demand" to work. I LOVED the price, but scheduling seemed sketchy. Many times I couldn't get a ride so I took a bike or walked -- and i was always passed my many on-demand busses -- all with just one passenger in them. I was willing to go up to an hour early but it wasn't dependent.
What's interesting is the people at my work who take Uber to work -- they often arrive up to an hour early - or sit in the break room waiting for prices to go down at the end of the day. Some of these people live within the same on-demand zone.
It seems to me that smarter scheduling would make the service much better.
Many big college campuses have free and very popular night-time shuttle service for students to safely get home from late-night studying or partying. At University of Florida, it was called SNAP. They had an usable app to schedule rides at predetermined stops with the usual vehicle tracking to give estimated times of arrival, operating very similar to Metro Micro. Paying a small fee to get the coverage of LA is very reasonably!
There is a micro transit like that in Johnson County KS that has been steadily expanding the last few years. Bus routes are extremely limited but this covers the areas that are missed. As a driver for Uber/Lyft I can attest that the service has taken some of the business.
This would work well for late night service when bus service and train service frequencies are low or suspended for the night. At least in north Jersey. Getting downtown is extremely difficult during the times between 11pm and 5am.
They have services like that here in Israel in the three largest cities (and ride sharing is illegal, so there's no Uber or Lyft). I've found that the service is often not entirely worth it, and a bus would have been about the same, but cheaper.
A bus costs ~$1.75 while the on demand transit costs anywhere from double to triple that, depending on demand. The on demand also on picks you up from bus stops, so if there isn't one that nearby it will still involve a lot of walking. I've used the service when I've had heavy items that would have involved a difficult walk from a farther stop if I had taken the bus (since that's where the bus line drops me off), and instead paying the premium for a ride that might take about the same time, but drop me off at the stop right next to my house that the lines from that area don't stop at.
It feels like it's meant to compete with taxis, but the service here is more the worst of both worlds - more expensive, less direct, still involves walking to/from a bus stop, involves potentially a long wait.
I wish it was better here, it would definitely be a good complimentary service to the rather decent bus service we get.
If I understand correctly, this functions practically identically to BerlKönig, a shuttle service provided by BVG - Berlin municipal transport company. In my opinion, this is a perfect hybrid of taxi (or Uber) and conventional public transport, especially in low-populated areas or at night.
We have something similar in Tel Aviv, it's called Bubble and it's run by Dan a company that run bus lines in the metropolitan area in and around the city.
Meanwhile Uber is illegal in my home country of Denmark.
Also we have our own little Metro Micro equivalent in the form of Plustur and Flextur. Both of which are ridesharing options to compliment transit across almost all of Denmark. Both need to be booked at least 2 hours in advance though and can only be booked via the Journeyplanner app if no existing transit options shows up for that leg of the trip or that trip entirely. Plustur shows up if there's no convenient link from your address to the nearest bus stop or train station which may be too far to walk, when you have put in your time to travel, serving exclusively as a first and last mile option. Flextur however works on address to address routes, whole point A to B where existing transit may not be viable, but otherwise work the same way as Plustur.
The names Flextur and Plustur also literally mean "Flex ride", and "Plus ride"
1:33 I like seeing the fire extinguisher. Uber and Lyft really drop the ball by not requiring drivers to have first aid kits, fire extinguishers, and triangles.
Speaking of Pasadena in the greater LA, (even if you have your video on the revitalization of Denver union train station), I would love to see you do a video on Pasadena‘s history of having a major train connection through the Santa Fe initially, and then Amtrak until the 90s when the route was simply replaced with the modern metro Goldline. I also thought of greater LA because of the history of the Pacific electric trolleys, yeah I remember you did a video on that anyway. Anyway, I am curious to see you do a video on the history of Pasadena having a major intercity train connection the sides being reduced to simply connecting to LA Union Station and not San Bernardino in points east.
A great long time example of this is MOIA in Hamburg (and Hannover), Germany.
I think I've heard of this in some other areas of the US. My mom told me they were starting something like this in her county. 35,000 sprinkled across a large rural county. Biggest town is only 8000 and all but one if the incorporated towns have less than 3000, usually around 800. This gives them some public transit in an area that just doesn't have the density for regular bus service
I really like the Moia service in Hannover and Hamburg. They're a subsidiary of Volkswagen and use purpose-built electric vans. I don't really know how their routes are planned, but they'll pick up and drop off people along the way.
San Antonio’s VIA Metro has a new pilot program like the Metrobus called Via Link and it’s $1.30 a ride!
Yeah, and take a good hard look at the app and see which areas are actually covered. It's probably nowhere you want to go, unless you really want to go to the far south side to the -Toyota factory- Palo Alto College or the far northwest close to Helotes. It's just a way to justify cutting more routes in the far-flung parts of the city while offering nothing to anyone who wants to jump on it for a decent trip that isn't covered by the main lines directly. It's for the poor who can use a phone, which judging by the lack of people using the base VIA app for bus passes, is no one other than me and like five other people.
It had a bike rack! YOU DIDN'T MENTION THE BIKE RACK !!! 🚲 (Great vid, didn't realize this was a thing)
My area’s microbus service is call-only, so besides the extra inconvenience, I never know where the bus is unless I call again. This means I have to be ready for the bus for the entire time it’s likely to arrive, so I’m often sitting outside for 30+ minutes.
It also stops fairly early, which practically means if I call later than 3:30pm, I likely won’t be getting a ride.
If I could take a scheduled bus route I would, but that route was canceled due to COVID and will only reopen “once demand for commute service returns” (so never).
They are planning something like this in Vienna to solve the last-mile problem for people from the suburbs. Really looking forward to it!
Kansas City did a trial of a similar microtransit scheme and found that it cost them about $1000 per ride. It doesn't scale all that well either. If you get more riders, you have longer wait/travel times or have to pay for more vehicles and drivers. While there is a time and place for microtransit schemes like this, I fail to see why this is something actually being discussed in dense urban areas. It gives off the same feeling as a more high-tech version of a dial-a-ride service from the dark days of American transit.
That being said, there is something to be said in deviated fixed route bus service and using this tech for paratransit in urban areas. The only potential area I can see this actually being of use is in rural and very low density areas.
I see the use cases in outer suburbs and as a connector to the regional rail and having the mini-busses work a fixed route and deviate if empty to go to your pickup point "virtual bus stop" as Winnipeg on request calls it
They've started a service like this in Richmond, CA. Unfortunately, for some reason it and the buses exclude the refinery I work at.