When I heard Uber was getting into Transit I imagined something more disruptive than just aggregation of different transportation types.
Consider: Public bus systems are constrained to fixed schedules and stops for obvious reasons.
Neither apply in a Mobile App.
Uber could sign up drivers who own mini-vans or large buses, and dynamically generate "bus routes" using on key waypoints, and both ongoing and forecasted demand (based on historical data).
As a consumer, the experience is still
1) Pick a destination
2) Go to the spot where Uber asks you to go (Which already happens in places like Airports, or if you use Uber Pool which asks you to move a little closer to the route to decrease driving time
3) Get in the uber
4) Get off at a spot when the app/driver tells you which isn't exactly at your destination but close
All for a much much lower price
Meanwhile, as a driver, the experience is:
1) Follow the Uber app's navigation that tells you where your next 'Stop' is.
2) Drive around in a circle that changes throughout the day.
It's a hard problem to solve and get perfect but it would actually justify improving an existing public service.
Uber is already doing buses in LatAm and MENA. Most North American cities (except NYC really) just don’t have the density to make the unit economics work for a marketplace with buses. Also, Express POOL (shared ride with walking in order to make the trip more efficient) is already dirt cheap.
Consider: Public bus systems are constrained to fixed schedules and stops for obvious reasons. Neither apply in a Mobile App.
Uber could sign up drivers who own mini-vans or large buses, and dynamically generate "bus routes" using on key waypoints, and both ongoing and forecasted demand (based on historical data).
As a consumer, the experience is still 1) Pick a destination
2) Go to the spot where Uber asks you to go (Which already happens in places like Airports, or if you use Uber Pool which asks you to move a little closer to the route to decrease driving time
3) Get in the uber
4) Get off at a spot when the app/driver tells you which isn't exactly at your destination but close
All for a much much lower price
Meanwhile, as a driver, the experience is: 1) Follow the Uber app's navigation that tells you where your next 'Stop' is. 2) Drive around in a circle that changes throughout the day.
It's a hard problem to solve and get perfect but it would actually justify improving an existing public service.