https://jalopnik.com/texas-town-replaces-its-public-transit-with-uber-like-s-1823707829
Curious about what everyone thinks of this. Viable solution, or nonsense idea by voters who constantly refuse real public transportation?
I have mixed feelings about it. I'm more curious to know what the cost is compared to other forms of transit, for both the city and the rider. I've always felt that Uber/Lyft wouldn't be able to compete with mass transit on cost due to the economies of scale, but with the van being shared by riders going the same way it might at least reduce the difference. I wonder if you need more or less vans than buses, since the vans' routes are unpredictable and only people going that way go on the van going that way, I'd be concerned with the headways.
I'm not surprised at all that Arlington is the one doing it. If I had heard a city was doing it, Arlington would have been in the first 5 that came to mind.
This was one of the articles covered on Modern Cities last week:
https://www.moderncities.com/article/2018-mar-the-cities-trading-in-busses-for-ride-hailing-services
It is going to be interesting to see how ridesharing and public transit will coexist in the near future. At first many cities were trying to partner with the "ubers" for first and last-mile solutions. Then, it seemed like these private companies could potentially compete head-to-head. Now we have an example of a city calling it quits and contracting them entirely?
It's hard to predict how this will all shake out. Not to mention autonomous vehicles, bikeshares, electric scooter sharing, and hyperloop tech making their own waves.
I'd place things in their context first. Arlington, TX is pretty suburban and sprawling in land area and without any centralized pockets of decent density. In addition, prior to a commuter bus route starting up in 2013 as a pilot project, it was the largest city in the US without mass transit.
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/news/2013/08/18/starting-today-arlington-dips-a-toe-in-the-mass-transit-pool
http://www.metro-magazine.com/bus/news/290892/arlington-texas-launches-first-mass-transit-service
It's always been believed that low density areas like Arlington are most suitable for first and last-mile solutions and this is basically that. Now if JTA or DART gives up transit and switches their entire operation to ride hailing services, then that would be something.