06-21-2019, 05:32 PM
(06-21-2019, 03:14 PM)D40LF Wrote: We took the shuttle back to Conestoga rather than waiting in line to take the train back. I overheard a few comments about how GRT should make it a full time route.
That idea has a long history. Before iXpress, somebody started a Conestoga/Fairview shuttle. I think it got shut down pretty quickly. Of course, at that time a hypothetical 20 minute shuttle would be competing with a 7 taking even longer than iXpress.
I still don’t know if that is a service that has high demand. The fact that it would connect the ends of the Ion in under half the Ion time doesn’t mean anything, especially not for whether or not Ion is worthwhile; Ion is about connecting lots of destinations, not just the two endpoints. But if there is sufficient demand for the end-to-end shuttle, it ought to exist as a separate service. In particular, if it could make a profit it definitely should exist.
Going further, I would suggest that the government or a designated operator should only be able to exclude a service if they already operate that service. Not sure exactly what the definition of “a service” would need to be to make this work. Even in the absence of transit subsidies, rules against jitneying are required in order to have a stable market.