Until recently, American city dwellers have been fairly limited in their choice of mass transit options. Public bus lines typically constitute the cheapest but least flexible option, while private cab companies offer a straight shot to your destination, but at a higher premium. In some cities rail lines supplement bus service, but commuter trains are subject to many of the same scheduling headaches as public bus lines.
Over the course of the past decade, however, a new generation of entrepreneurs has been shaking up American public transit by serving patrons with small fleets of vehicles that satisfy niches long neglected by public transit. Some of these are carpool startups and ride sharing services, while others consist of shuttle bus fleets operating on schedules designed to accommodate commuters for whom public transit is not a viable option. City planners now refer to these private transportation enterprises as “microtransit”
Microtransit is an ideal way to both foster private enterprise in a community, and provide a public service by supplementing gaps in public transit service. In a recent article in CityLab, author Eric Jaffe writes that “private microtransit outfits can target certain niche populations in a way public agencies with a mandate to serve as much of the public as possible cannot.” He also notes that, “in an ideal world, microtransit providers would become the feeders to public transportation’s core routes.”
It’s a bright vision of a new, more inclusive kind of mass transit. With microtransit services on the rise in cities all across America, there’s never been a better time to invest in a small fleet of shuttle buses. At Las Vegas Bus Sales, we’re committed to outfitting transit companies with the new and used buses they need to serve their communities. Our extensive inventory of buses features a broad selection of options ideal for transit services of all sizes. Want to learn more about all the buses available at Las Vegas Bus Sales? Browse our entire inventory online, and give us a call today for more information.