As the Metrorail's SafeTrack rehabilitation continues, commuters around the District of Columbia are seeking out backup transit options. Sure, if the WMATA board and monitors from the Federal Transit Administration can make the overdue maintenance investments, reduce the disturbingly hostile conduct of certain "train-breaking" employees, and prevent their security employees from joining the Islamic State, Metro will eventually get back on its feet. In the meantime, riders who can't stand road rage driving have other options, thanks to D.C.'s public buses, public-private bikeshare system, and innovative private ridesharing options like Uber, Lyft, and Bridj. The last option is particularly promising: A dynamically routed, app-based bus system that may grow to serve a key public policy niche.
“Some people dislike the idea of private mass transportation, but the concrete benefits of a good incentive system are easy to spot”
UberPool and Lyft Line reduce congestion, at least compared to similar levels of service by old-fashioned single fare taxis. They certainly reduce congestion and parking demand compared to single-occupant private car reliance. But they've taken a lot of political heat for their regulatory fights, and for their designation of "driver partners" as non-employee individual contractors. In the biggest city centers that have reliable transit coverage and low pre-existing private car ownership, they've even been accused of increasing congestion by drawing former bus riders onto a growing ridesharing fleet.
Bridj, the "pop-up" bus network operating in D.C., Boston, and Kansas City, avoids these pitfalls altogether: It doesn't merely complement mass transit in transit deserts, it physically is mass transit. Its employees and drivers are real employees. And it doesn't harm aggregate bus ridership because it is a bus. It just happens to be a comfortable, technologically advanced, privately operated bus with all the incentives for good customer service and quality control that come from the profit motive in a sufficiently competitive environment. And it's cheap, too.
Some people dislike the idea of private mass transportation, but the concrete benefits of a good incentive system are easy to spot. Even in NYC and Los Angeles, many bus routes (some of which haven't been updated in decades) are money losers for which the governing transit agencies are always looking for reasons to cut. As far as these agencies' balance sheets are concerned, you the bus customer are a hassle and a fiscal burden to be grudgingly managed — rather than an opportunity to be profitably served.
Some fundamental challenges are common to both public and private bus systems: Without dedicated, protected bus and HOV lanes (or even better, comprehensive Singapore-style congestion pricing that guarantees free-flowing urban traffic for all vehicles), buses will get stuck in the congestion generated by private single-occupant vehicles.
True, it's much less rage-inducing to read your Kindle on a comfy WiFi-enabled Bridj vehicle than it is to fight stop-and-go traffic as a driver. Still, more people would use buses if they weren't stuck in the underpriced private car traffic that renders ordinary bus timing less predictable than grade-separated rail transit timing. Successful protected bus lanes and/or congestion pricing would generate a virtuous cycle as more drivers switch to the newly-faster buses, while those who must continue driving enjoy a less congested commute.
Nonetheless, Bridj is a lifeline for frustrated Metro commuters who live and work in the Bridj service area. Bridj now claims to have a larger commute market share in areas served than Uber and Lyft combined. Those outside its territory in D.C. can still rely on Capital Bikeshare, UberPool, Lyft Line and the public bus system — but with any luck, Bridj will grow into an unquestionably congestion-reducing, sustainably cheaper alternative to the car-based services. That's good news for commuters who want a comfy, cheap, low-stress ride from a bus option that finally has the incentive to provide good customer service.
This piece originally appeared at the Washington Examiner
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Alex Armlovich is a policy analyst at the Manhattan Institute. Follow him on Twitter here.
This piece originally appeared in Washington Examiner