I used Chariot a bit a couple years ago. Sad to see it go. For people who haven't heard of it, it worked like this: I live in SF, and worked in Redwood City. Every day, there was some type of large van that would pick me up a couple blocks from where I lived and dropped me off a couple blocks from where I worked. So it was like a middle ground between public transportation and Uber / Lyft.
Isn't what you described an example of how buses work. I know very little about the state of public transport in SF but if it was better won't it solve what Chariot tried to do?
There are very similar services operating in metro cities in India which can attributed to overcrowded public transportation during peak hours.
Shuttl is one which immediately comes to mind and seems to be doing good. They have a concept of you buying a fixed number of rides instead of paying per ride. The fixed package cost less and then you are locked into their service for a while / try it for a while.
It has solved the first mile problem but the last mile travel still remains to be solved.
Seattle subsidizes a similar program, including providing the vans ('vanpool'). I know this has been going for around 10 years, and I'm somewhat sure it's much older than that.
I think it's a fairly common pattern by now, startup gets bought out, and then shut down a few years later. There is probably strategic reasons for doing things like this.. Even if it does screw over the customers of the startup.
The Ford CEO famously/stupidly announced his plans to grow Ford into a data company on NPR [0]. So it’s likely he saw Chariot as a software acquisition.
All I know is once I was driving down Cesar Chavez in San Francisco and I looked over and there was a massive lot filled with Chariot commuter vans. It was the daytime on Saturday.
I thought dang they must be wasting a ton of money just having a whole fleet of commuter vans parked in a lot, unused simply because it was the weekend. I imagine this same mentality transferred to non-peak hours during the week as well.
This is purely my own speculation informed by some Clayton Christiansen, but it's possible that someone at Ford sees Ford as a transportation company, not a car company. So the job to be done is moving people and things around. Ford also sponsors the Ford GoBikes that you see all over San Francisco. This could be seen as competing with the Ford the car company. Or it's just part of the portfolio of products from Ford the transportation company.
That kind of thinking could help them mitigate disruptive pressure, especially in markets like SF where driving is pretty awful, but so is transit.
I just wanted to chime in to thank Chariot for the service they provided.
In my experience, few startups literally make your entire day better. I’ve been using Chariot to commute across SF for about two years and it has given me more time at home with my wife and son, better ability to predict when I’ll arrive at work, and a way to use my commute as a quiet space for the reading I could never quite manage on a crowded bus.
So thanks to the whole team. Very sorry that the numbers didn’t quite work out at the end of the day, as it often turns out in the startup game.
Thanks for the kind words. The ability to improve people's daily lives, as you described, was a big reason a lot of us chose to work there and something we were hoping to see at a larger scale eventually. Today's news came as a shock to most of us.
Not very surprising. There is a problem with trying to fund urban transit by selling it as a service for those who use it. urban transit is a service which benefits every member of the community it serves , both individuals and corporations, by reducing congestion. In most places with an efficient transit network, fare revenue is not the biggest source of funding.
This is shocking for americans who grow up in the post Reagan era, but some things are easier done by governments.
> In most places with an efficient transit network, fare revenue is not the biggest source of funding
It was eye opening to me to hear about train companies that heavily invest in land development and partnered with the cities to build places to go. In Japan they own department stores and actively participate in business development to grow whole areas, wherever they see opportunities.
I used Chariot for about a year commuting from the Marina district of SF to Caltrain. It was basically an adult version of a soccer mom taking the neighborhood kids to practice in a mini van. It's definitely an improvement over taking MUNI...but its not any better than using UberPool. It wasn't 'fancy' by any means. You were just crammed into a sprinter van.
As far as I remember, UberPool either wasn't available or popular at the time Chariot started. Obviously the concept of Chariot wouldn't seem viable at all if you tried to do it in 2019.
I used Chariot daily for my commute when I lived in the outer richmond (24th ave). Its existential purpose was to ensure you would only travel with fellow commuters, and not the raving lunatics who rode the muni. It was a kind of bridge above the fray.
I recently watched the Anthony Bourdain episode where he goes to Nairobi and rides on a "matatu", which are essentially privately operated party buses for commuters. I thought that was actually a pretty neat idea and could definitely see a market for that.
matatu just means taxi or something like that (it actually comes from 'three' in Swahili because the conductors used to yell "give me three" at potential passengers). they are absolutely no fun to ride since the operators pack them to the brim with people and other cargo (animals too) and they wait until full to take off (so sometimes, for infrequently traveled routes you end up waiting hours). this is all to say nothing of being in terrible disrepair. here is the taxi park in Kampala http://photos.wikimapia.org/p/00/00/37/50/05_big.jpg. each minivan is a matatu.
source: lived in Uganda for 2 years. rode matatus countless times. almost died many times. shat myself exactly twice.
I'm assuming the ease and likely success of UberPool[1] was the straw that broke the camel's back. Even Waze has a similar offering [2].
Yet I'm not at all surprised they ran out of cash (I'm assuming) and had to shutter. I do feel bad for the folks (drivers and support type folks) who are now out of a job.
People talked a lot of shit about Chariot -- "Silicon Valley tech bros got funding and invented a bus route", blah blah blah -- but urban minibus routes are AWESOME when well-executed.
Seriously we were promised flying cars and we can't even get marshrutki.
I tried the service out for a little while, but it ultimately didn't make sense to me. Routes were too rigid, schedule not frequent enough, had to schedule trips in advance, and it cost as much or even more per ride than Uber Pool/Lyft Line.
I had a chariot driver cut me off on my bike while i was riding down second street and he was turning left onto second across my lane. He stopped once in my lane and I didn't have enough time to stop so I hit the side of his van, somewhat damaging my bike. He looked right at me and then drove away. I tried to contact chariot about this and got absolutely nowhere. Glad to see them go.
I had an encounter with one of their drivers tailgating me for ~1 mile until they finally sped past me and cut me off. I was going above the speed limit. Not sure if there were customers in the car, but I would hope not.
I'd not heard of Chariot before this. Was it widely used? It looked like Uber meets carpooling, or perhaps some sort of fancy work shuttle — and work shuttle companies open and close all the time, so I don't see what's newsworthy.
They don't state why they're closing down, so I'm a bit puzzled on this one.
Seems like such a great idea on paper. I've seen these parked in various spots in SF. Why do you think they failed? Too asset heavy? I am guessing the cost of vehicles and maintenance, parking spots, regulations etc. was too much? A similar service based on uber model might be more successful, where the company doesn't own the vehicles? Not sure how to provide reliable service that way, though. Perhaps a hybrid?
I think you answered your own question inadvertently! Uber has something called Express Pool, which is about the same service/cost but more convenient. And Uber Pool / Lyft Line are only slightly more expensive but deliver you directly door to door.
in Africa, we've the 'taxi' system or aptly named Kombi's after the VW model. It picks you from say downtown and drops you by the stop sign or intersection to your house. Pretty much covers almost every neighborhood and street in a decent southern african city. Guess here in the west, it got complicated via apps. & these taxis run pretty frequently i.e maybe every 10 mins depending on capacity. I live in Austin and saw Chariot and bastard westernized appified version of the african taxi system.
In Russia we call it "marshrootka", like "routed taxi", missing link between taxi and bus. It is a large and demanded industry, cash-only and poorly regulated. Check out the variety of minivan models and conditions with single Google Images search: https://www.google.com/search?q=%D0%BC%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%88%D1%...
I’ve seen them around NYC, downloaded the app and waited for them to expand their routes but they never did.
I’m not sure why. Seems like a good idea - but I suppose it may have been a challenge to compete with the wide variety of services, including public transportation, that are available in the city.
I've seen a lot of startups that have success in SF struggle with NYC because they treat it like the same kind of city. Between the half-dozen mass transit services operating in and around the city, a robust network of express commuter buses (both public _and_ private), dollar vans and gypsy cabs, there is an extremely robust transit network here - even if unconventional at times, and maligned with delays at others. By comparison, despite having roughly comparable density within the city itself, transit in SF just sucks. I'm not surprised they never gained much traction in NYC. Via seems to fill the niche Chariot would be trying to occupy, if we're looking for a direct startupy comparison, and Via additionally operates outside of commute hours. NYC has some kind of "legacy" provider for most kinds of problems, everything from on-demand delivery of food and goods 24hrs to transportation to light laborers and most of the other trendy app platform services.
I have such a strong feeling of deja vu right now - didn't they shut down once before already, and sell off their fleet? Is this their second shutdown?
I know some people are very critical. I'm a big transit enthusiast but I still see how some work routes are long to walk, but not well served via transit, i.e. NoPa to Brannan St (Airbnb, Pinterest). Friends that were faced with trickier public transit options didn't seem enticed by Chariot. They seem to settle on biking/scootering, long walk, or choosing to take rideshare everyday.
[+] [-] idoh|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] aniketpant|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] eCa|7 years ago|reply
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshrutka
[+] [-] tim--|7 years ago|reply
They are currently running trial on-demand services, where a mini-van will come and pick you up after a request from an app[0].
I don't understand why the US cities are so adverse to setting up similar systems.
[0] https://transportnsw.info/travel-info/ways-to-get-around/on-...
[+] [-] hashhar|7 years ago|reply
Shuttl is one which immediately comes to mind and seems to be doing good. They have a concept of you buying a fixed number of rides instead of paying per ride. The fixed package cost less and then you are locked into their service for a while / try it for a while.
It has solved the first mile problem but the last mile travel still remains to be solved.
[+] [-] hinkley|7 years ago|reply
https://kingcounty.gov/depts/transportation/metro/travel-opt...
[+] [-] bernatfp|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] beavisthegenius|7 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] SilasX|7 years ago|reply
I don't mean to be the conspiracy guy, but it matches the pattern of the streetcar thing: Buy car-obviating service, shut it down.
[+] [-] canada_dry|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] fouc|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] eaurouge|7 years ago|reply
0. https://threatpost.com/ford-eyes-use-of-customers-personal-d...
[+] [-] debt|7 years ago|reply
All I know is once I was driving down Cesar Chavez in San Francisco and I looked over and there was a massive lot filled with Chariot commuter vans. It was the daytime on Saturday.
I thought dang they must be wasting a ton of money just having a whole fleet of commuter vans parked in a lot, unused simply because it was the weekend. I imagine this same mentality transferred to non-peak hours during the week as well.
[+] [-] hnick|7 years ago|reply
The acquire and kill model should only really work when there's a barrier to entry that limits replacements.
[+] [-] kelp|7 years ago|reply
That kind of thinking could help them mitigate disruptive pressure, especially in markets like SF where driving is pretty awful, but so is transit.
[+] [-] savrajsingh|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] eob|7 years ago|reply
In my experience, few startups literally make your entire day better. I’ve been using Chariot to commute across SF for about two years and it has given me more time at home with my wife and son, better ability to predict when I’ll arrive at work, and a way to use my commute as a quiet space for the reading I could never quite manage on a crowded bus.
So thanks to the whole team. Very sorry that the numbers didn’t quite work out at the end of the day, as it often turns out in the startup game.
[+] [-] ctab|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] olivermarks|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dopamean|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] laurentoget|7 years ago|reply
This is shocking for americans who grow up in the post Reagan era, but some things are easier done by governments.
[+] [-] hrktb|7 years ago|reply
It was eye opening to me to hear about train companies that heavily invest in land development and partnered with the cities to build places to go. In Japan they own department stores and actively participate in business development to grow whole areas, wherever they see opportunities.
[+] [-] capkutay|7 years ago|reply
As far as I remember, UberPool either wasn't available or popular at the time Chariot started. Obviously the concept of Chariot wouldn't seem viable at all if you tried to do it in 2019.
[+] [-] xaybey|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dawhizkid|7 years ago|reply
https://explorepartsunknown.com/kenya/matatus-rule-nairobis-...
[+] [-] mlevental|7 years ago|reply
source: lived in Uganda for 2 years. rode matatus countless times. almost died many times. shat myself exactly twice.
[+] [-] ctime|7 years ago|reply
Yet I'm not at all surprised they ran out of cash (I'm assuming) and had to shutter. I do feel bad for the folks (drivers and support type folks) who are now out of a job.
[1] https://www.uber.com/ride/uberpool/
[2] https://www.waze.com/carpool
[+] [-] unknown|7 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] leroy_masochist|7 years ago|reply
People talked a lot of shit about Chariot -- "Silicon Valley tech bros got funding and invented a bus route", blah blah blah -- but urban minibus routes are AWESOME when well-executed.
Seriously we were promised flying cars and we can't even get marshrutki.
[+] [-] paxys|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|7 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] scrumbledober|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ryanbertrand|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] beardedwizard|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] michaelleslie|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zapzupnz|7 years ago|reply
They don't state why they're closing down, so I'm a bit puzzled on this one.
[+] [-] k_sh|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] raz32dust|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gkoberger|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ryanbertrand|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dzonga|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] SergeAx|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dr_|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sethhochberg|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pianoben|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ceocoder|7 years ago|reply
https://www.wired.com/2015/05/leap-suspension-shows-regulato...
[+] [-] rconti|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] diiaann|7 years ago|reply