Welcome to Uberville: Uber wants to take over public transit, one small town at a time

[KamaAina]

http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/1/12735666/uber-altamonte-springs-fl-public-transportation-taxi-system

My first morning in Altamonte Springs, Florida, I was faced with a dilemma: how to travel the two miles from my hotel to city hall without a car. Walking would take nearly an hour in the sweltering June heat. Taking a bus would entail waiting up to a half hour at a stop with little shelter from the forecasted thunderstorms, followed by a looping detour to the local mall. The trip could potentially take longer than walking.

I was on my way to meet Frank Martz, Altamonte’s city manager. For nearly two decades, Martz had fought to overhaul Altamonte’s transit system with a fleet of demand-responsive public busses. He called the plan FlexBus, and it would use custom-designed software to optimize routes for vehicles that riders would order from kiosks or even desktop computers. Martz saw FlexBus as the key to transforming Altamonte, a loose agglomeration of palm tree-lined strip malls and culs-de-sac a few miles north of Orlando, into a thriving and walkable destination....

But the transit landscape had changed since Martz began his quest. In the years before FlexBus was founded, some of Silicon Valley’s most prominent companies had begun offering on-demand transportation reminiscent of Martz’s vision. So just weeks after burying FlexBus, Martz called Uber. His inquiry was blunt: did the company want to make Altamonte the world’s first public transportation system based on ride-share technology?

Martz’s proposal would make the suburb of Altamonte an unlikely test bed for one future of public transit. It would also raise questions about whether such a future can serve everyone equally, and force Martz to navigate between the transparency of public office and the demands of a multibillion dollar company with a penchant for secrecy.

[MuttLikeMe]

1. I don't think I like where this is going (see what I did there?)

no but seriously I don't like the direction they're going in (dammit)

sigh. I don't like what Uber is becoming. There.

[Egnever]

2. In many places it would be an improvement

Not sure why that is a problem

[Eleanors38]

3. Seems someone got there first regarding street cars. Uber just Evolvin'.

[FLPanhandle]

4. Small and medium town public transportation normally sucks

This should be an improvement.

[WinkyDink]

5. Ring up your own groceries and then take an Uber! Who needs unions?!

[FLPanhandle]

6. Most small town taxi's are not unionized

I know our aren't in my Florida town.

[KamaAina]

8. But most fixed-route transit operators are

That was the point.

[brooklynite]

13. Fixed route transit isn't cost-effective in most small towns.

[Tempest]

7. An hour to walk 2 miles?

The average person could do that in 40 minutes or less.

When I lived in Bakersfield I would walk 5 miles a day in 95-110 degree heat. And I was in my 50s.

[Massacure]

9. Yes, a quick Google search confirms that the average pedestrian walks at about 3.1 miles per hour.

That being said, there are a lot of variables that could affect that. A person's age, height, and health could increase or decrease that. In a residential neighborhood, there wouldn't be much to stop a person from traveling near their preferred speed, but a place with a lot of street traffic could significantly slow someone down.

[Tempest]

10. Altamonte Springs is a one stop light small town

It's built with walking in mind with everything centrally located and with well developed walkways and dedicated crossings.

My sister has a winter home near there.

[FrodosPet]

11. I wish I had that heat tolerance!

I wish I did not need air conditioning, but I just cannot deal with anything over 80 degrees without getting sick as a dog. Walk 5 miles in 100 degree heat? There better be an ER or an ambulance waiting for me when I get there.

[Tempest]

12. After living in Alaska I wanted heat

I was surprised at how many people bike, walk and jog in 100 degree weather. I thought I was going to be the only one.