It’s an answer to: gridlock and air pollution, dependence on foreign oil, scheduling carpoolers, insufficient use of downtown areas due to parking problems and long waits for a bus, underused and empty buses as well as overfilled ones, gerrymandered bus routes, and 500,000 people needing jobs NOW, without bureautic delay.
It will necessitate finding common ground with current municipal transit systems as well as taxi companies and drivers who shelled out thousands for medallions.
It’s in use in Chile, and probably most other countries shouldering their way into the developed world.
In Chile they’re called Collectivos. Here, I’d call them Loop Taxis or Loopers. It’s a simple concept: a driver of an ordinary car or van driving east on a major urban street for several miles, then looping around on the same or a parallel road and heading west to the start point of the loop. As he goes along, he picks up people heading in his direction until his vehicle is full. He collects a dollar from each and drops them further along his route. Passengers who need to go north or south from that point simply grab another Looper going in that direction and pay another dollar. Once it catches on (a tipping point is involved), it costs only two bucks to get anywhere, you don’t have to call a taxi company or consult a bus schedule, and you never have more than about a 60-second wait for a ride.
You may end up walking a few blocks, which is not nearly as inconvenient as a bus, and actually good for your health. Downtowns are revitalized, since people don’t have to wait half an hour for a bus, wondering if it even goes where they want to go. Exact change is no problem. Parking, ditto.
But the main power of the idea is instant jobs for half a million people. That’s one out of every 600 people in this country. If you’re out of a job, or inexperienced or unqualified or simply need the extra money, and you can get your hands on a car, you can do this RIGHT NOW!
All that is necessary is for the government to get out of the way. No screening of drivers or testing of cars; no warranty expressed or implied. Also no grabbing of municipal fees, and no tax on the earned income (why bother? It’d be too small and too hard to monitor!).
Would there be unintended consequences? Certainly. Can we cope with them? Yes, we can. Believe in the people and let them solve the problem.
Will one out of 600 people be willing to make untaxed money by performing the service of driving people down the street? Why not try it and find out?
2 comments:
I remember back in the 50s and 60s (like last century), Mexico City had something like that called "peseros", doing the same thing from the Zocalo, through downtown, and up Paseo de las Reforma. They were actual taxis who would drive that course, and fares would get on and off, each paying one peso. Now, they have buses. This concept can only be used on a well-traveled commute where no existing public transport exists.
I agree that this would be used only on well-traveled roads (otherwise there wouldn't be enough business to make a living). But at least in Chile, it co-exists with buses and door-to-door taxi services with no problems I can see. Maybe if they have unions they have problems, but I can see clear reasons why a person would choose a different vehicle: buses for the cheapest ride or to carry on a bike or other large item; loopers for medium price and more frequent service; and taxis for door-to-door convenience, reachable by 'phone.
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