What if public transit was like Uber? A small city ended its bus service to find out::Small-scale, tech-based solutions to transportation problems have emerged as a great equalizer in the battle for infrastructure dollars between big cities and rural communities.

    • Old_Dude@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      9
      arrow-down
      27
      ·
      1 year ago

      What makes this a bad idea? Sounds much better than busses to me. It’s on demand, not on a fixed route, gors anywhere in the town, and is still the price of a bus ride.

      • filister@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        35
        arrow-down
        4
        ·
        1 year ago

        So apart from being extremely wasteful, it is also contributing to traffic jams, scarcity of parking spaces, greenhouse gases, and whatnot.

        Seriously, you Americans are in love with your huge cars/trucks and guns. You call this freedom, but in my eyes it is quite the opposite.

      • Sanctus@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        6
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        Because you don’t need a car to get that last mile. A much better and more flexible option woykd be robust trains/trams/subway system in dense cities that take you most of the way with electric options such as e-bikes or scooters to get you thay last bit if you need it. This does nothing but keeps our society dependant on car manufacturers and litters the road with more cars.

        • KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          arrow-down
          4
          ·
          1 year ago

          with electric options such as e-bikes or scooters to get you thay last bit if you need it.

          Hi! I’d like to introduce you to winter. It destroys this as a workable solution, because for multiple months of the year it’s impossible for these to run. Meaning they’d need a last mile winter solution, such as… a car.

          There’s also the issue of these types of solutions being notoriously hard to maintain. I believe the majority of city “e-thing” companies have gone under because it’s an unworkable system.

          • GissaMittJobb@lemmy.ml
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            3
            ·
            1 year ago

            Hi! I’d like to introduce you to winter. It destroys this as a workable solution, because for multiple months of the year it’s impossible for these to run. Meaning they’d need a last mile winter solution, such as… a car.

            E-bikes, scooters, bicycles and public transit works in winter, just so long as you maintain the infrastructure they need.

            Additionally, any claims that this would not be workable from a cost perspective is false, as winter maintenance is 100% required for car infrastructure, and winter maintenance for car infrastructure keeps on happening year after year.

            There’s also the issue of these types of solutions being notoriously hard to maintain. I believe the majority of city “e-thing” companies have gone under because it’s an unworkable system.

            Completely unsubstantiated.