Tech-based microtransit is trying to innovate solutions to San Francisco’s crowded public transportation system by taking cues from a ride system from the 1970s.
While Muni is trying to streamline its services and is hiking fares, entrepreneurs are trying to fill the gaps where public transit is lacking.
Susan Shaheen, co-director of the Transportation Sustainability Research Center at UC Berkeley, described the trend as a new phenomenon, likening the slew of “shuttle startups” providing on-demand shuttle services to the “renaissance of the jitney, fueled by information technology.”
“The concept of ride sharing is not new, but the technology that now accompanies it is,” said Shaheen. And while jitneys, independently operated minibuses that transported passengers to transit hubs at low fares in the 1970s, were once viewed as competition to public transportation and folded under heavy taxation, microtransit startups are now looking to complement existing services with technology.
A pioneer in this new wave of “shuttle startups” is Chariot, a 2-year-old company that offers an app-based van commuter service. Chariot already operates 10 routes throughout the city. The newest, serving Mission District residents traveling to the Caltrain terminal and other SoMa locations, began operating Monday.