[0xbadcafebee]

Yessss!!! There is no best one-size-for-all solution for transportation, we need lots of different methods to select the best methods for the situation. Scooters, [e-]bikes, vans, trolleys, buses, subways, trains, funiculars. (And more that have yet to be invented; personally I hope for rentable e-assist pedi-cabs to take cargo like groceries home in cities without the need for a 2-ton+ vehicle)

I think this van service combined with an "Uber Pool" model enables highly efficient trips that can supplement mass-transit. Within the planning of bus routes, there are always routes that will take a lot longer or require transfers, but are rarely taken; vans that can "go anywhere" would fill those gaps, without the need for profit-making (and without the discrimination and exploitation of taxis).

From the article, here's why van supplementation can work: "For $1.6 million, we're providing well over twice as many trips and covering 100 percent of the city with a system that picks you up within 15 to 20 minutes of your request, versus a bus that was only running once an hour." It's more expensive [to the city] but it provides much greater mobility and time-saving for citizens.

When you're a single mom and groceries are an hour ride one-way, and the bus only comes once an hour, and you work late, just getting food is a nightmare that takes 3+ hours at the end of a long day. Because of that, she may have to spend $25-50 on taxis (many grocery stores aren't open late), which further reduces her already stretched income. Supplemental transportation methods can solve this problem and transform quality of life for disadvantaged people in society.

[helloooooooo]

This kind of strategy must be combined with changing the ways cities are built. Your last point about the single mom, this SHOULDNT be a problem. At all. How did people 100 years ago deal with not having access to food without a time consuming trip? They either grew their own, or they lived close enough to a place where they could buy it. The private automobile completely killed the idea of living close to what you need.

[Originami]

100 years ago there were no single moms. Unmarried births have increased from 19% in 1950 to 72% in 2010 for Africa-American women: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/files/2014/12/e...

Largely due to the expansion of the welfare state which encourages single motherhood.

[sofixa]

> Largely due to the expansion of the welfare state which encourages single motherhood.

That's a wild claim. I highly doubt many women choose to have a kid on their own (with all the physical and mental stress that brings, not to mention time and money spent) only or mainly because they won't starve to death with their kid thanks to some welfare.

[0xbadcafebee]

Also, 110 years ago, most people in America did not live in cities

[semi-extrinsic]

This is America trying to fix problems that are caused by their poor-to-nonexistent urban planning, FWIW. I've lived in several countries in Europe, and you have to be far out into the countryside before it gets difficult to go grocery shopping with a bike and bike trailer, or even just a backpack and walking.