Interest in Park Slope - Williamsburg shuttle

arh116 · January 2009

Hi. I was discussing with a friend how annoying it is to get from Park Slope to Williamsburg. You either have to take the F to the G, and the G is always a problem. Or the B/Q to Union Square to the L, which takes 45 mins + usually. How much is a cab? Just wanted to put feelers out there to see if people would make use of some kind of shuttle service between the two hoods. Like maybe at $3 a person? Leaving every 15, 20 mins or so at Thurs, Fri and Sat nights? Thoughts?

raw · January 2009

Good idea, but:

how many people could you pack in one vehicle to make a profit on $3 a person?

how much money would you spend on gas a night?

how many trips would be made in one night?

how would people trust your service and know you would not kidnap them?

arh116 · January 2009

All good points.

I'm trying to go for a price point that would be a little more than the subway, but less than a cab. If I can gauge how much people would be willing to pay, I could see if this would be a profitable venture or not. I'm really cheap and never take cabs, so I'm thinking what would I be willing to pay? Probably no more than $5...

So let's say 4-5 people per ride on average, 10-15 or so trips per night, 3 nights per week at $5 a pop = around $600-800 a week. Cost of gas? I haven't driven in a while so I'm having trouble estimating. Cost of van(s)? Cost of paying another driver(s)?

my2cats · January 2009

The Jewish Community Council of Crown Heights has a shuttle service between Crown Heights and Boro Park and between Boro Park and Williamsburgh. They charge around 2.50 per person. I think if you buy like 20 passes the fare goes down to 2 dollars.

I think if someone arranged such a shuttle between Park Slope and Williamsburgh there would be many takers. If they can do it, I think we can do it here too.

They basically have only one bus that makes the trip the whole day. They post the schedule and people use it regularly.

asharpsilence · January 2009

Subject: Re: Interest in Park Slope - Williamsburg shuttle

arh116 wrote: Hi. I was discussing with a friend how annoying it is to get from Park Slope to Williamsburg. You either have to take the F to the G, and the G is always a problem. Or the B/Q to Union Square to the L, which takes 45 mins + usually. How much is a cab? Just wanted to put feelers out there to see if people would make use of some kind of shuttle service between the two hoods. Like maybe at $3 a person? Leaving every 15, 20 mins or so at Thurs, Fri and Sat nights? Thoughts?

last time i took a cab it cost me around 15 or so

rtraindweller · February 2009

I'd pay a good $5 (I don't do cabs either) for somethin like that. I haven't been hanging around Park Slopish/Sunset Park area in quite a while because of exactly that G-F train reason. If this option were there, I'd utilize it.

khuntiennang · February 2009

are there enough people who would travel between park slope and williamsburg to make this worth it though?

i know chinatown has similar service that offer shuttles that bring people between chinatown (manhattan) and flushing (queens) directly for $2.50 one way, and another to sunsetpark (brooklyn) for the same price. there are specific spots where to pick up and drop off people, and routes are painted on the side of the vans. and each van could probably fit about 20 passengers each. i have only taken it 2-3 times, seems pretty frequent, every 10-15 mins or maybe less, not sure if there is any specific schedule tho, because the van usually waits until it's filled up or almost full before taking off, which doesnt take very long really as there are always many people in chinatown.

wisco · February 2009

i'd try a bus route first before this shuttle thing. actually, i would take the G. i seem to have great luck with it usually.

Interest in Park Slope - Williamsburg shuttle

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