The Detroit Bus Company, was formed by Andy Didorosi after being frustrated by local government when they cancelled a planned Light Rail that would have connected parts of Detroit which seriously needed public transportation. The video above features Andy where he explains his thinking at the time he started his company.
Special features of The Detroit Bus Company are that the buses are powered (partially) with BioFuels and their unique Live Bus Tracking app for customers that uses bus drivers’s iPhones to determine the location of a bus. Customers with the app are able to view the location of a bus and the expected time of arrival at a particular stop. This is probably one of the most effective tools in any public transport system (perhaps even more to cleanness): managing expectations.
An idea like this might not particularly work in any city around the world. For instance, in South Africa if an entrepreneur were to start a business like this, taxi associations would likely protest and even go to the point of vandalism of these buses to prohibit service to start. Not to mention the grumpy century-old bus service (no names mentioned) in Cape Town that will try any legal method to prohibit such a service from benefiting the public.
Just another way a young person is making a difference.
Video source: Dark Rye.