Last-mile transportation. Ride share, shared transport, and related infrastructure

[twoNeurons]

I cam across this interesting video on City Beautiful which talked about Metro Micro. https://micro.metro.net

• Video Link

Apparently Translink did a small scale pilot on Bowen Island (with two vehicles) in 2019, but it would be great to see this adopted in some parts of Surrey or Langley to people from places with challenging bus routing... or places that cross a skytrain line.

This could even work in Vancouver, especially if your trip takes you diagonally along the grid requiring 1 or two connections. A trip from Killarney high school to meet up with friends who are playing baseball at Falaise park is a 40 minute bus ride, or 11 minutes by car.

Oak & 50th to Mountain View Cemetery to pay visit a grave is a 30 minute bus ride or 8 minutes (4.2km) by car.

Those diagonal routes are killer and these are places fairly close to major bus routes.

If you live mid-block, like the 2600 block of William st (intentionally chosen as there's no east/west on 1st ave)... and you're trying to get to some place like Mountain View Cemetery, it's an 8 minute car ride or a walk and a transfer.

I wonder if this would be popular in Surrey or Langley to get to the station.

It would be an additional charge, perhaps a flat rate with a maximum distance... mostly to serve people getting to transit stations... or the elderly.

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by twoNeurons

I cam across this interesting video on City Beautiful which talked about Metro Micro.https://micro.metro.net

Customized transit is very expensive to provide. You can gain ridership if you subsidize it the point of providing convenient enough service, but is that really the best use of scarce transit funds?

"Last mile" transit is a terrific application for autonomous vehicles, assuming that the operating cost of these can be brought down to something close to the cost of current ride share vehicles. But as soon as you need to pay a driver the economics turn against it.

[Mac Write]

I would love it if HandyDart went this direction. HandyDart with he convince of a taxi. Then they could retire the TaxiSavers and HandyDart would be the new shared taxi service for eligible people. 24/7 access, I need to get from Hospital to home just book HandyDart on the spot and within 30 minutes the HandyDart would be there. I think I found my next business that will make me a few billion or so.

[Migrant_Coconut]

It'd definitely have to fill the HandyDart niche, because that's the only way to make it viable.

The average Montreal taxi driver makes 10-11 trips daily; even the lousiest SkyTrain-adjacent bus routes get hundreds of riders in that same day, so you'd need at least 34 vehicles to replace the 370 or 15 to replace the 414, and that's going to cost TransLink in gas and maintenance. Taxi transit really only works in the boonies and in very small towns.

[chowhou]

I'd prefer if we didn't subsidize sprawl.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Doubt you can sprawl very far on Bowen Island.

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

Doubt you can sprawl very far on Bowen Island.

We're not talking about Bowen Island though, OP mentioned personal point to point trips from the suburbs to desired destinations.

...it would be great to see this adopted in some parts of Surrey or Langley to people from places with challenging bus routing.

Traditional bus routes should be sufficient, and development towards a transit oriented city should be encouraged rather than this IMO.

[FarmerHaight]

Originally Posted by aberdeen5698

"Last mile" transit is a terrific application for autonomous vehicles, assuming that the operating cost of these can be brought down to something close to the cost of current ride share vehicles. But as soon as you need to pay a driver the economics turn against it.

"Last mile" transit is also a terrific application for bikes, scooters, longboards, or walking. I realize not everyone is fit enough to choose active transportation to fill the gaps between bus and train routes, but that is why Handy Dart exists.

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by FarmerHaight

"Last mile" transit is also a terrific application for bikes, scooters, longboards, or walking. I realize not everyone is fit enough to choose active transportation to fill the gaps between bus and train routes, but that is why Handy Dart exists.

Just yesterday I saw an electric trike bike with a trailer for a mobility scooter. It appears that active transportation extends a little further into the realm of folks with mobility problems than I had thought...

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by FarmerHaight

"Last mile" transit is also a terrific application for bikes, scooters, longboards, or walking. I realize not everyone is fit enough to choose active transportation to fill the gaps between bus and train routes, but that is why Handy Dart exists.

Originally Posted by aberdeen5698

Just yesterday I saw an electric trike bike with a trailer for a mobility scooter. It appears that active transportation extends a little further into the realm of folks with mobility problems than I had thought...

In fairness, if they're (let's say) carrying light groceries or a work laptop home on the bus/train, I doubt any of those apply. It's walking or carpooling from there on.