I have written about the regrettable disappearance of system design in prior National Bus Trader articles (see https://transalt.com/article/survival-and-prosperity-part-4-service-concepts/; https://transalt.com/article/cutting-costs-by-mastering-time-and-space-part-i/ – including the substitution of robots for live Earthlings for creating routes and schedules and selecting stops (see https://transalt.com/article/drivers-v-robots-part-7-betrayal-by-robots/). Today, the term “system design” is most-commonly applied to digital systems or applications. In transportation, system design refers to an effort to configure the vehicles of a single mode, or a combination of modes, into some coherent form so that they work together as a system. At its best, the design of a public transportation system includes multiple modes (or types of
Continuing with this series describing critical “missing pieces” of an operable public transit network (see https://transalt.com/article/making-public-transportation-work-part-1-alternative-work-schedules/ and https://transalt.com/article/making-public-transportation-work-part-2-park-and-ride-lots/), this installment overviews yet another essential component of public transportation that has gone largely missing for decades: Feeder Service. In limited contexts, some feeder service still exists. The most common and visible remnant is service to airports – provided by a variety of modes including taxis, transportation network companies (which smother almost everything else on access roads in front of most or many airports’ terminals), personal automobiles (“visitors” dropping off or picking up airport passengers typically comprise about a third of the
Particularly regarding fixed route transit and paratransit, the abandonment of designing a system has cost these modes dearly. This is largely because software emerged in the early 1990s to configure routes, establish schedules select stops and dispatch – and we stopped bothering. As all National Bus Trader readers know, transportation involves more than just the vehicles. There must be roads, bridges, tunnels, rest stops and parking lots – for starters. And this is only if the “system” comprises personal vehicles, trucks and taxis. For shared-ride vehicles, especially large ones (buses and motorcoaches), much more is needed for a “system” to
To be blunt, public transportation has become our nation’s worst industry. Worst than Big Pharma. Worst than Big Energy. Worse even than the U.S. Healthcare industry – although these bastions of corruption, incompetence, waste and reckless disregard share many characteristics in common with public transportation. The tragedy is that it was not always this way. Even in “The Car Country,” public transportation had plenty of great moments and great thoughts. Regrettably, most of these occurred in the 1960s and 1970s. More tragically, many of these ideas are even more feasible – and far-more-needed — now. On the positive side, internal
Uber, Lyft and other TNCs are part of the largest, most extensive and diverse criminal enterprise this country has ever seen. Having this network’s activities exposed in open court would not only disclose their collusion with countless other companies, but could mean the end of their operations in your State – and possibly beyond. Or it could lead to regulations that would kill their business model and crush their profits. Facing someone with my knowledge, these companies would NEVER proceed to trial: Their practices would be exposed even if they won. The principal challenge is to control your client(s) –
Just when the opportunity to slaughter the commercial airline industry and explode into prominence, the same old do-nothings in the motorcoach industry continue to do what they do: Nothing. The term ‘impotence’ would be understated and misleading, since that term would suggest, at least, that some sort of challenge failed. Five previous articles about this opportunity in National Bus Trader obviously accomplished nothing – unless they triggered a misguided response by the airline industry, which as least recognizes the opportunity (see discussion below). But the TNCs, already exploding into the schoolbus and transit industries, cannot be far behind – if
Maybe these are the three genuine stages of life. They certainly appear to be for the U.S. motorcoach industry. In parts 1-4 of this series, I identified the greatest opportunity for motorcoach growth in decades (see https://transalt.com/article/survival-and-prosperity-part-1-magic-corridors/), followed by describing the major features of the vehicle that could accomplish this feat (https://transalt.com/article/survival-and-prosperity-part-2-the-magic-coach/), and finally outlining some innovative operating approaches to maximize ridership and profits when deploying a few (see https://transalt.com/article/survival-and-prosperity-part-4-service-concepts/). At least a handful of operators are listening – unless, of course, they saw these opportunities before I did. Recently a few tour companies have been expanding into medium-distance airline
Uber, Lyft and other TNCs (Transportation Network Companies) are part of the largest, most extensive and diverse criminal enterprise this country has ever seen. Having this network’s activities exposed in open court would not only disclose their collusion with countless other companies, but could mean the end of their operations in your State – and possibly beyond. Or it could lead to regulations that would kill their business model and crush their profits. Facing someone with my knowledge, these companies would NEVER proceed to trial: Their practices would be exposed even if they won. The principal challenge is to control
Nearly 350 years ago, as his third “Law of Motion,” Sir Isaac Newton pointed out that, for every action, there is a reaction. But this principle is not restricted to physics. It is part of human nature. As we evolved as a species, then a society and then an economy, this principle has become more and more necessary. With the last four decades’ changes in the distribution of wealth, transit ridership should have increased. Instead, it has declined dramatically. The reaction to this decline has taken three basic forms: (a) an increase in private contracting (see https://transalt.com/article/defending-contractors-part-6-contracting-fixed-route-transit/ ) , (b)
In Parts 1 of this series (see https://transalt.com/article/survival-and-prosperity-part-1-magic-corridors/), I identified a significant, if not extraordinary, opportunity for tens of thousands of motorcoaches to survive and prosper by “mode-splitting” passengers away from short- and medium-distance commercial airline flights. In Part 2 (see https://transalt.com/article/survival-and-prosperity-part-2-the-magic-coach/, I described the characteristics of the vehicle that could accomplish this task. In Part 3 (see https://transalt.com/article/survival-and-prosperity-part-2-the-gains-of-winning-the-cost-of-failure/), I provided the rationale for this opportunity, and concluded by summarizing the characteristics of the vehicle needed. Yet one question remains: Once one has such a vehicle, what does one do with it? On a broad scale, Part 1 of this
