Slashdot Mirror
'Pop-Up' Bus Service Learns Boston Riders' Rhythms, Creates Routes Accordingly
moglito (1355533) writes with this story about a new take on bus service in Boston, as reported by the New York Times: 'This new-old method of transport has comfortable seats and Wi-Fi. But its real innovation is in its routing. It is a "pop up" bus service, with routes dictated by millions of bits of data that show where people are and where they need to go. The private service uses chartered buses and is run by a start-up technology company called Bridj.' 'Bridj collects millions of bits of data about people's commutes from Google Earth, Facebook, Foursquare, Twitter, LinkedIn, the census, municipal records and other sources. "We crunch these millions and millions of data points through a number of algorithms that are existing, or that we're refining, to tell us where people are living and working," Mr. George said. "And through our special sauce, we're able to determine how a city moves."'
Everyone is going to the strip club, the a fast food restaurant late at night.
Homer Simpson had it right - public transportation is for suckers.
"And through our special sauce, we're able to determine how a city moves."'
I guess this is the only way one is going to get In n Out in Boston. But then there's the word "through", so I don't know if I want to know what they're doing.
This sig no verb.
Won't get fooled again. Um this is what bus planners have always done with the best available data, in setting routes.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
What's the price? We need this in my city please!
It sounds like if you don't have a smartphone--or don't use it to check into every damn silly little place you visit--then your transportation needs are going to be underrepresented.
It sounds like if you don't have a smartphone--or don't use it to check into every damn silly little place you visit--then your transportation needs are going to be underrepresented.
You jest. Smartphone penetration in the US populace is quite high. Our babies' nanny has an iPhone5S. Nearly every construction worker on every gig at my property in the past 2 years has had a smartphone, even the ones that looked like they couldn't afford one. Many folks in the doctor's office that I go to have one (older folks tend to have tablets).
Smartphones are way too useful to be niche any longer. YOU may use them to play solitaire or listen to podcasts, but everyday folks use them to shop, text their SOs, plan their daily lives and conduct business.
The smartphone is way more personal than a personal computer, and it's way more affordable than a PC for actually useful things where you need it.
Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
You don't need to check in, citizen. We know where you go.
Please call the IRS. They can tell you where nearly all Americans live and where they work.
Summary doesn't sound so amazing when you translate "millions of bits" of data to "hundreds of kilobytes"
The very reason that many people own cars has to do with unusual routes and unusual hours. For example some bus routes shut down at 6PM. That doesn't seem like a big problem until your job insists that overtime be worked and you don't leave work until 7 PM.. And you can not assume that a taxi will be available either as drivers prefer certain routes and certain passengers. So now you are stranded, perhaps in an industrial area or an area with no sidewalks and you are actually in danger. I have seen times when even in a severe emergency one could not get a cop for 45 minutes. If the public is ever to trust bus services they need to keep running 24/7/365 with very short wait times as well as backup buses in case one stalls or gets a flat tire.
I was wondering why no bus had come past my stop in the last three weeks. Guess I need to send out more tweets in order to get service.
If these people have ever watched any TV, they will know that the ultimate algorithms are recursive algorithms. If they used those, they should be in good shape figuring out where people want to go!
Me thinks you've extrapolated a personal experience to the general case. Yes, some people in urban areas work in industrial parks that are deserted after hours. The rest of us ... well we don't. My trust and the trust of the vast majority of the public in bus services has nothing to do with whether or not I can get a ride in 5 minutes or less after 7pm in an industrial park far enough out from the center of town that no taxi will serve the location and which is so poorly served by the police that my physical safety is threatened by being there at 7pm.
If you job site is so dangerous at 7pm and your company wants you to stay that late they need to come up with some sort of plan.
I used to work in a place that was poorly served after hours (though not particularly dangerous). If you gave up your parking spot, you got a free/discounted weekends and off hours parking pass, a subsidy for your mass transit costs and (a couple of times a year) reimbursed for a taxi service to come get you and drop you off anywhere within a reasonable distance (usually meant being taken to a subway stop, but that was ok since it ran 24/7).
Your situation has nothing to do with "trust" in a bus service and everything to do with the inability/unwillingness of your employer to support employees and maximize their productivity.
millions of bits of data
Woah, we're talking megabits. Unpossible.
Seems like a good idea until you realize that the majority of the people currently using the bus service aren't the ones carrying the smartphones or using social media apps.
This reminds me of the pothole app that allowed people to tell their city where the potholes were and then someone figured out that only the wealthy neighborhoods were getting adequate road maintenance because of the app (and webpage).
These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
Let's replace your anecdotal evidence with some information gathered by the Pew Research Center:
Smartphone Owners in 2014:
By Sex: 61% of men and 57% of women have a smartphone.
By Education: 44% of high school grad or less, 67% of some college, and 71% of college grads (or better) have a smartphone.
By Income: 47% of less than $30K/yr, 53% of $30K - $49.9K, 61% of $50K - $74.9K, and 81% of $75K+ have a smartphone.
By Age: 83% of 18-29, 74% of 30-49, 49% of 50-64, and 19% of 65+ years old people have a smartphone.
By Location: 64% of urban, 60% of suburban, and 43% of rural residents have a smartphone.
The percentages for the population who are likely to use a city bus doesn't look "quite high" to me. This demonstrates the dangers of anecdotal evidence. You normally associate with people like yourself and assume that just because your social group owns or use something then everyone else does too.
These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
The problem with averages is that almost nobody is average. Most of the population falls to the right or the left of the mean of a distribution. That means if you target the average all you're going to do is alienate 95+% of people. This kind of route planning might work for fixed trips like commutes, but if you want a transportation system that people can rely on enough to reduce car ownership it will never work.
Aren't the people going to be going to the.... bus stops?