I was in SF last week on cyborg business (borgfest), but I changed my travel habits a bit. I usually take the bus, muni metro, and BART everywhere I need to go. I never take a taxi because, like here, they arent where you need them and you dont know when one will come (if ever) if you call. Its not about the money, its about the uncertainty. This is a lesson that I learned ever since I got involved with Austins public transit scene. Back then a bus ride was just 25-cents! Clearly, it WASNT ABOUT THE MONEY. Today, the same ride is $1 and the *perceived* reliability isnt much better. Even though the monthly stats show bus on-time arrivals in the 90% range, your personal experience with a particular route or incident may carry more weight than knowing that the system as whole, is performing rather well. Over the last several months, Cap Metro has been rolling out real-time arrival information for its buses, rapid buses, and trains. By the end of the year, you should have the certainty of knowing that a bus is on-time, early, or late, because youll be able to see it on your smartphone from the comfort of your nearby air-conditioned office, home, bar, cafe, restaurant, or store. Knowing that something is actually coming in 8 minutes is much better than wondering if its coming at all. Okay, back to my SF story. As your intrepid transportation commissioner, I decided that it was time to personally transition from crafting policy for regulating TNCs to using them and understanding how they can get better once they are legalized. It also happened that I was in a bit of a rush a couple times and had a heavy suitcase, so instead of hopping on the bus with my handy Clipper card (universal transit payment card), I whipped out my phone and summoned a Lyft. All three times, the ETA was 3-8 minutes! Wow. One of the times was during peak demand and surge pricing of +150% was in effect. I did it anyway because I knew that meant more than double the usual cost. Maybe too many people dont understand math, but it means a trip that usually costs $13 will cost an additional $19 for a total of $52. I think the app could probably provide an example or an estimate like I just did. So lets think about that. I needed to get to where I was going on time and the bus wasnt going to help me in the allotted time. It doesnt matter how inexpensive or green. I need a transportation solution. I could have called a taxi and paid much more than the bus and even LESS than the TNC, but I had very little confidence that one would show up in time to get me where I was going. So, I paid a premium for the CERTAINTY. Its not about the money. In fact, some times, the rides are less expensive and the taxi drivers complain that the TNCs are under-cutting the market (actually they complain whether the fees are too high OR too low). As far as I know, while the city regulates the minimum fees that taxis can charge, theres nothing that prevents them from collecting less to pleasantly impress their customers! But Im going to guess that that may work for a while, but until and unless they solve the CERTAINTY problem, they are going to get crushed. See chart below.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 18:27:49 +0000
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