What a concept: sending the buses where the crowds are

Oskar Lange monument at the Wrocław University of Economics. Picture taken on April 26, 2005 by Paweł Dembowski. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Charlotte roads are jammed; a tollway deal with a private company bars any new highways for the next fifty years in the second-fastest growing city in America; and the Republican candidate for mayor, Scott Stone, is complaining about even the incremental improvement of a downtown streetcar line as the spawn of the devil.

But here is what they are doing in Singapore, another crowded, fast-gorwing financial center:

Crowdsourced buses in Singapore, what would Oskar Lange say?

by Tyler Cowen on June 11, 2015 at 2:02 pm in Economics | Permalink

Crowdsourcing of buses will begin this summer, with transport rerouted according to data amassed from commuters’ smart cards. Unlike many similar cards elsewhere, these are tapped on boarding and alighting from buses, providing a fuller picture.

Based on this data, plus passenger feedback, routes will be retraced with fewer stops and — courtesy of expressways — shorter times

Ultimately, the plan is to build into crowdsourcing on demand, where passengers use smartphones to tell buses their locations and, depending on volume, can expect be picked up accordingly.

“Economics is the question at the end of the day,” says Mr Liu. “Will people be willing to pay a bit more for this convenience and direct service? So will it make commercial sense?”

That is from Louise Lucas at the FT.

- See more at: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2015/06/crowdsourced-buses-in-singapore-what-would-oskar-lange-say.html#sthash.3IfrTWY6.dpuf