An EPIC investment, lots of big talk about ride-sharing alternatives and so much media hype didn't help a Kansas City transit biz experiment that is now going bust.
Take a look at the most important news reality check out there that our mainstream friends and "journalists" have mostly downplayed:
How a Failed Experiment Could Still Be the Future of Public Transit
More description on the ride share van app demise . . .
"It flopped. Just 1,480 people rode on a Bridj van, a laughably small figure in a city of 2 million people. The city launched the program with the Boston mobility startup in March 2016, and in the past six months just one-third of riders took more than 10 rides. The one-year, $1.3 million project ended Friday. You might call it a failure.
Government officials and transit researchers call it a success."
And here's the backwards logic that powers most local government ventures into the private sector . . .
“I’ll be honest: The ridership was not the top priority,” says Jameson Auten, who leads the innovation division of the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority. “The top priority for us was learning who uses on demand. Really, the big goal for us was learning itself.”
Another cruel reality . . . Fewer people are using public transportation. Most people are simply calling an Uber.
Moreover . . .
THE EPIC KANSAS CITY TRANSIT TECH FAIL REMINDS US THAT MEDIA HYPE AND HIGH HOPES CAN'T CREATE DEMAND OVER THE LONG TERM . . . THE SAME LESSON APPLIES TO SO MANY OTHER TRANSIT EFFORTS BASED ON TWEETS, SMILES AND SECRET VOTES!!!
Sadly, this town is slow to learn the all-too-important lesson that the road to bankruptcy and/or Hell is paved with good intentions and sometimes real talk about money is more important than polite "Kansas City" nice pleasantries that ultimately cost big money.
You decide . . .
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