I'd like to read why these complaints might or might not have merit. I welcome these new intercity bus service business models and hope they can expand our ideas of transportation. I also understand, however, that public transit agencies must protect their purpose in providing uniform service at uniform rates. Cherry-picking profitable routes can undermine the integrity of the system; redistribution is a necessary fact for a public service.
The issue with the buses and curb sides are in big cities, in suburban areas equivalent buses, use strip mall lots, and likley have an office waiting room in the strip mall. DC has decided that they need to use off street facilities for their purposes. It should be pointed out that when the transit was private in the early part of the 20th century it operated with a franchise from the city and paid for the right to use the curb side slots.
Eventually the private operators went belly up and the city or agency inherited the right from the private operators. In one sense one must ask what it was the prevented Greyhound from doing this, the union drivers? Their stations or the fee to use port authority facilities in NYC? In particular the question might be asked is what would it cost the buses in NYC to use the Port Authority terminals, since transit already runs there?
Powered by. Learn more about this title and Joel's other books. Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism's yearlong study of the future of suburban development. Find out more. Authored by Aaron Renn, The Urban State of Mind: Meditations on the City is the first Urbanophile e-book, featuring provocative essays on the key issues facing our cities, including innovation, talent attraction and brain drain, global soft power, sustainability, economic development, and localism.
Megabus — King of the Road. Subjects: Urban Issues California Transportation. Comment viewing options Flat list - collapsed Flat list - expanded Threaded list - collapsed Threaded list - expanded. Date - newest first Date - oldest first. Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes. Login to post comments Email this comment. Renn's article, however, lacks sources for the "complaints" leveled against the Chinatown intercity bus services: -" Subscribe to NG Articles Get new posts by email:.
Featured Content. Books Authored by Aaron Renn, The Urban State of Mind: Meditations on the City is the first Urbanophile e-book, featuring provocative essays on the key issues facing our cities, including innovation, talent attraction and brain drain, global soft power, sustainability, economic development, and localism. More from this author The White City. The HBS Digital Initiative brings together perspectives across disciplines to help people understand how technology is transforming organizations and the greater world.
Want to learn more about technology and organizations? Email Password Remember Me Lost your password? Contrary to what I thought I would find, Megabus business and operations strategies are actually quite aligned. Megabus prides itself on its value proposition: providing safe, convenient, low cost, daily express bus service in the US and Canada. This decentralized operating model across a diversified portfolio of transportation alternatives has enabled them to capitalize on the significant growth in the intercity bus market.
Megabus extracts value through a an online booking system and dynamic pricing model that increases closer to the day of travel, they cut costs by avoiding cost of waiting rooms doing curbside boarding on public streets, parking lots, college campuses. Megabus has transitioned from a pure hub and spoke model in the Midwest to incorporate a point to point model East and West Coasts — by making additional stops along a single journey they are able to cut the costs of having additional hubs.
Scope — rapid expansion through partnerships and organic growth. Verdict: megadeal. In , they purchased two Chinatown bus companies, which enabled them to meet demand for increased routes as they expanded throughout US. This explains why theres a mix of start of the art double-decker coaches and old livery coaches. Investment in Human Capital and safety. Staff go through intense training and background checks before they hit the road.
Drivers are only allowed 10 hours of drive time daily and must comply with off duty and night driving policies. This is positive news compared to the bad safety reputation of players such as Fung Wah, which was shutdown after the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration crackdown in You know you have a customer service quality problem on your hands when you are a top contender on pissedconsumer. Megabus is lacking in process controls that would enable them to provide a more streamlined customer service experience.
Megabus has achieved strategic alignment in key areas across its business and operational model — this has certainly fueled their growth. I wish I could say the poor customer service is something they should watch out for, but I fear it wont make a dent in their business.
People will still ride Megabus. Half of the intercity curbside bus passengers are 25 or younger, and three-quarters are no older than Amtrak has taken a hit, as more than a quarter of the bus passengers have been diverted from rail travel, leading some to wonder what impact sustained growth of the curbside buses might have on future rail subsidies.
They thought it was going to be a promotional gimmick only out there for a short time. Instead, it was a promotional gimmick for which the company would be best known, available on at least a few seats on every bus on every route, with prices going up as available seats dwindle and departure nears. Because of the low cost, growth of the curbside sector and the way the bus industry is monitored, there have been concerns raised about safety despite the government giving Megabus a satisfactory rating on that front.
The Federal Motor Coach Safety Administration, which oversees 4, companies, announced in May it was shutting down 26 bus operations after a yearlong investigation. Indeed, a tire blowout was said to have figured in the Megabus crash in August that killed one person and injured almost 50 in Litchfield, Ill.
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