Gyroscopic Investing

Q: Do you think private ventures like this are the future of public transit, when so many public systems are failing?

A: I think ones like this, yes, but there are a handful of companies out there that will take on a bus system and privatize it but it’ll be worse than the public system. They’ll pull money out and keep it for themselves. I think you have to hand it off to private companies that have social good as their private objective.

Basically buses suck. Even when they’re good, they suck. So we’re trying to make it less un-fun—with music and great paint jobs and making the buses really easy to ride.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/al ... it-8657656

I can remember in Austin Texas in the 1970s, the buses were amazing. I was 9 years old at the time and I traveled all over the city on my own without causing any worry for my parents. Hearing about the time parents waste nowadays ferrying children to and fro by car I'm amazed that buses aren't something people like.

A lot of it is perception; many think that only poor people take the bus, so it's stigmatized. Also, local governments have a nasty habit of regulating private bus companies out of existence for some inexplicable reason.

"Basically, buses suck" - quoted from the car section of popular mechanics.  Now there's a surprise!

"[Private buses will] be worse than the public system."  - that would be news to people in NYC.  Most of the buses that run routes out of town are privately run:  Chinatown buses, Hampton Jitney, Spanish Transportation, Red and Tan lines, Shortline, Adirondack Trailways, and several more including airport buses.

The regional trains are public, and for the most part well run.  Certainly far better than Amtrak, which is probably the worst run railroad in the First World.  Unlike bus lines though, train lines are inherently a monopoly and need to be either publicly run or managed like a utility.