tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6973565365969366405.post3118951368673020632..comments2023-09-19T00:57:08.930-07:00Comments on Network Musings: NYC launches shared cabs, joins worldAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02127609476881611549noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6973565365969366405.post-24134420596410810792010-02-23T10:40:02.444-08:002010-02-23T10:40:02.444-08:00Your comments makes me wonder, why do the smaller ...Your comments makes me wonder, why do the smaller shared taxis disappear? If a particular route proves very successful and turns into an increasingly large vehicle, ultimately a bus, that seems fine.<br /><br />But why don't the shared taxis go find another route that has the right volume for their services? Or why aren't people willing to pay a little bit more for the more comfortable and faster shared taxi than the bigger minivan or bus?<br /><br />Why do they disappear altogether?<br /><br />Transportation policy people are always yearning for the real-time on-demand point-to-point and filled-to-capacity transit of their dreams. Shared taxis gets close to that. Why did they disappear?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02127609476881611549noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6973565365969366405.post-3871542383802445712010-02-23T09:57:16.154-08:002010-02-23T09:57:16.154-08:00Here in Mexico City, we used to have such "co...Here in Mexico City, we used to have such "collective" taxis a few decades ago. The big cars evolved into vans (VW Combi), which evolved into microbuses, which are evolving into buses. The problem was that lots of small vehicles obstruct the traffic more and are less rentable than few big ones... Still, there are some routes that keep the small vans. Many people still use taxis, because they are everywhere and relatively cheap, compared to other countries.<br /><br />A similar tendency occurred in St. Petersburg (Russia): vans with capacity for 14 passengers, but recently the city restricted their routes, and now most of them are minibuses.<br />In post-soviet times (although now not so often, since more and more people have cars), when transport was scarce, it was common to stop a private vehicle and agree on a fare, i.e. non-official taxi service. Extra source of income in harsh times...Carloshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05026482014739987226noreply@blogger.com