Saturday, December 1, 2012

Mass Transit: Bus vs. Carpooling vs. Vanpooling

I'm a huge fan of Freakonomics as it disrupts conventional wisdom and reveals the truth to unseen patterns.


Due to the recent tragedy in New York with hurricane Sandy, Freakonomics highlighted the fact that New York has the smallest per-capita carbon footprint in the U.S. as subways and buses move 7 MM passengers a day.

Buses in NY are efficient, but in reality, they could be less efficient than driving alone in your car to work.  The truth is, an average bus in many American cities carry only 10 passengers.  In Los Angeles, many buses go empty.

An average vanpool carries 8-12 passengers and is the most efficient method of transportation as almost all seats are occupied less 1-2 seat empty per vanpool.

Vanpooling is a sustainable mass transit solution for cities without proper subways or the funds to afford a rail infrastructure.  In addition, vanpooling is flexible as the routes are dynamic and aligns with the movement of employers and jobs.

At Rideshare 2.0, we plan to crowdsource and build a collaborative vanpool network and fill those empty seats.  By helping vanpools maximize their efficiency and making it easier for drivers to start their own vanpools, we'll help make vanpooling the mass transit of the future.



Original Article
http://www.freakonomics.com/2012/11/15/mass-transit-hysteria-a-new-marketplace-podcast/