Could this work in Boston?

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Hey, the fact that the Fung Wah Bus is still allowed to operate at all is proof positive that anything is possible.
 
Kahta said:
http://www.theatlantic.com/national...illegal-private-bus-system-that-works/246166/

The MBTA and politicians would hate this, but I think it could work.
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Yeah I spend some winters in the Caribbean, they have those like crazy. In Barbados they're called "ZR" (Zed-R -- Due to their license plate markings)... Even the advertisement on the outside of the van you showed "LIME" is the English Caribbean phone company (Landline, Internet, Mobile and Entertainment - LIME)
They work great-- because the private systems will set their time schedules to be more frequent than the government owned providers and they actually hustle to get another fare whenever possible. I don't believe Boston is prepared for the Caribbean-style one though. ;-) As they feature loud music from the radio, so that patrons can hear them approaching, and a musical car horn to boot, nor would Bostonians put up with the conductor's attempts at fitting 4 people per row (to maximize revenues per trip.)

The tourist in Barbados love them, I suspect it is like a fast moving party on wheels whizzing down tight narrow streets and they get all caught up in the excitement. Me personally, I avoid them because sometimes they drive too fast trying to compete with one another on the road and end up getting into an accident with one another. The members of the Royal Barbados Police Force love humiliating them for their bad behaviour on the road, and completely humiliating them.

Anyway- you can see tons of Tourist videos on YouTube. If you search for "Barbados Reggae Bus" or "Barbados boogy bus" or the like." Barbados has a three tiered system to cover all 166 Square Miles. All three charge the same BDS$2 (about US$1) per ride. The smallest one is a ZR which is a small mini van like what you depicted in that article. The next is a slightly larger yellow bus ("Minibus" as called in Barbados.) and then the big blue buses are the ones owned by the government. The first two are owned by private individual(s) while The Crown owns the Transport Board.'

The main Barbados Transport Board ( http://www.transportboard.com/ ) doesn't allow over crowding, nor loud radios on board, nor are drivers able to drive as baddly as ZRs. So it is up to the person in Barbados which they want to take, but it doesn't hurt on days when the government service is running on a Bank holiday schedule... School children can take the government buses free but must pay a $1 for the ZR. Seniors can travel free on all with their ID cards.

Here's one example where the couple seems to be getting a kick out of the experience. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rooowqol1Us ) or ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPnUHeh36Ug ) The guy that comes over to them in the blue basketball jersey is the conductor who gets the fare while the driver is driving. And -no- the Conductor should not be drinking a beer while he's on the job. But that's the bull some of these ZRs try to get away with when the police are not around. That whole industry is considered a sub culture in Barbados since it goes against all norms. But ofcourse the loud music and all that is all great fun for the teenage school children which is why this thing continues.
 
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This could work in any city with a population large enough to make it profitable. The regulatory environment is another story...I'd imagine they'd get shut down pretty fast in Boston if they started popping up.
 
Rode a similar service in Grenada.

After walking around downtown for a bit, myself and my (at the time) gf were looking for a cab to go to a beach. We found a square with 10+ vans, and asked who would take us to the beach. Guy told us to get in his van. So it was us, and 8 or so locals. Van started up, and went to....the supermarket. Driver got out to do stuff. Lady got mad at the wait and got out to do her own shopping. After 5-7 minutes we started up again....and returned to where we started!

Driver has people get out and change seats (we were at the back, switched us to the front) and then finally drove us for 10 minutes and dropped us off at the beach. All the locals stayed on.

$1 per person.

On the way back, a van was waiting at the parking lot and offered to take us back to our ship for $20 each. We laughed and said we'll wait for another van to come by. He said it would be a long wait (of course). After 5 minutes, he offered to take us both for $10 total. We said ok, because honestly we didnt know if another van would come by.



Anyway, as the article points out, monopolies like the T are created for a reason. BUT, they allow tons of private shuttle services (Harvard, MIT, BU, Medical centers etc etc) so it's NOT a monopoly.

I can't see any legal argument against allowing a service, especially one that would serve 12-6am.
 
jass said:
Rode a similar service in Grenada.

Anyway, as the article points out, monopolies like the T are created for a reason. BUT, they allow tons of private shuttle services (Harvard, MIT, BU, Medical centers etc etc) so it's NOT a monopoly.

I can't see any legal argument against allowing a service, especially one that would serve 12-6am.
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I think probably the main route that dollar vans would work on due to number of persons walking down the street would be Mass. Ave. Between the Silver Line at Washington St.(Boston) and the Red Line at Central(Cambridge). No matter how the T tries to get it right, they can't fix the numerous delays on the Number 1 bus route... I took the 66 bus one day when it rained and literally buses refused to pick up anymore passengers saying they were too full, so the 66 route might work too.

Based on the fact that the colleges run their own shuttles, that leads me to believe that perhaps the MBTA doesn't include them in future transportation planning.

I seem to recall that Harvard has within thier 50-year-plan a proposal to extend a tunnel from Harvard below the Charles River and for it to emerge on the Boston side (in order to bypass that constant rush hour grid-lock bottleneck of: JFK + Memorial Drive and N. Harvard Avenue and Soldiers Field road intersections, if the MBTA played its cards right- it could go 50/50 with Harvard on the construction of that tunnel. The MBTA could get the okay for MBTA buses to utilise that tunnel too (instead of letting their 66 + 86 buses get stuck in traffic snarls there.)

In terms of BU the shuttle I've seen it at what was once Boston City Hospital (Boston Medical Center) and travelling to BU. Consequently, part of that same stretch of Mass. Ave is also MIT/Harvard's shuttle route to Longwood Medical Area (LMA) Now if the MBTA could construct a joint consortium on that route, they could have a bus (and eventually train tunnel) half-paid-for by those schools between Boston Medical Center (Boston City Hospital) and MIT's campus. There could be a connector at Hynes Convention Center to allow BU students to change to the green line. While MIT, Harvard students would continue under Mass Ave. At the junction of Mass Ave and Main Street is the existing Red Line tunnel before Central. So that could continue onward to Harvard. It could be a "C" branch of the Red Line.
 
The article is about illegal buses but the illegal taxi trade is alive and well in Boston. I saw it first hand during my two hours in Dudley Square, last week. We're just like NY, but smaller! And, cuter!
 
JohnAKeith said:
The article is about illegal buses but the illegal taxi trade is alive and well in Boston. I saw it first hand during my two hours in Dudley Square, last week. We're just like NY, but smaller! And, cuter!
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After a night out and all the legit ones are taken just wait by the storrow drive exit that empties onto Beacon street at the NW corner of the common. It's cheaper, faster, and the driver is always entertaining. I had some driver name all the different dealers on the original automile and then it saved me $10 compared to the normal fare.
 
JohnAKeith said:
The article is about illegal buses but the illegal taxi trade is alive and well in Boston. I saw it first hand during my two hours in Dudley Square, last week. We're just like NY, but smaller! And, cuter!
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There's been an accepted if not sanctioned illegal taxi busines at Logan for decades

If you take a suburban taxi to Logan -- that is officially sanctioned by Massport -- however according to the rules that taxi is treated as a limo and is not supposed to pick-up fares at Logan and therefore can't join the Taxi Pool

However -- The gimimic is that if you call a suburban taxi company -- you can arrange to be picked-up at Logan -- as there is usually a cab dropping someone off -- you just have to wait for the cab on the departure level or on a limosine lane -- depending on the terminal in question
 
Switching subjects to another "could this work in Boston" - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/17/n.../json8.nytimes.com/pages/nyregion/index.jsonp

Summary: New East River ferries are proving extremely popular for commuters between regenerated areas of Brooklyn and Queens waterfront and Manhattan. The ferries were instituted specifically to spur development on these old industrial waterfronts.

Could this work in Boston? I say yes - the Navy Yard already gets a great deal of benefit from the ferry. What about an expanded inner harbor ferry network to East Boston (more than just airport pier)? Chelsea's waterfront? The industrial area along Everett's riverfront? ... With the goal of spurring dense, waterfront, transit-oriented development?
 
Some of these have been tried before and failed. The Eastie ferry basically duplicated the Blue Line between Aquarium and Maverick, so even though it was more pleasant (and could carry bicycles), it didn't acquire sufficient ridership to succeed. I also recall a Chelsea ferry, which probably should be given another try.
 
You mean something akin to the yellow marshrutkas found in Eastern Europe?
 
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