Wednesday, May 27, 2009

A path to providing more rides to more people at less cost

This is one of the programs that Cherriots needs to be investigating and figuring out how to incorporate into the planning -- a method of using existing vehicles and cellphone capability to match riders with rides. As oil prices shoot up this summer, we're going to be even more hammered on funds ... we need to be thinking ahead about how to serve people without necessarily having to put them into a bus/Cherrylift. In years to come, public transit will be increasingly stressed, caught in the vise of rising costs, diminished funds, and rising demand.

I'm not saying that this particular system (Avego) is the right way or only way this could be done -- but they have the right idea, that's for sure.

UPDATE: Nice op-ed by a local fellow who's asking the right questions. Excerpt:
Now instead of neighborhood circulator buses (an idea that has not worked well in Salem), turn those resources into Super Shuttle-like service from the hubs. Super Shuttles are like coordinated, shared taxis. Riders submit the addresses where they need to go and when a load of people going to the same general area has accumulated, a shuttle van drops them off one by one in the most efficient order. It's not as convenient as regular, frequent bus service, but it is a whole lot better than no service at all — it runs where you need it, when you need it. Unlike a bus system, the vans never run empty.

Would Salem voters support it? I don't know — why don't you ask them?

Clearly asking voters over and over to support more of the same old-fashioned bus system hasn't worked. Now you're asking riders to help you choose between two bus options offering service worse than we have now. Wouldn't it be better to look at a variety of ideas for delivering excellent public transportation?

My vote is for a do over — this time with imagination.

1 comment:

Salem Man said...

that seems like iphone hitchiking. I like the outside the bus/box thinking.