Data-Driven Bus Service Bridj Plans ‘Dynamic’ Service for January
Transit is a big topic in the tech sector lately, and it’s been one with a lot of action in Boston. There’s Uber, of course, and Lyft, its competitor-in-commerce but ally-in-regulation, both of which operate in Boston. ZipCar, itself an early staple of changes in the transit market, was founded in Cambridge and just this week went public with its “ONE>WAY’’ service, which will allow users of the rental service to drop off cars in a different location from where they picked them up. Parking has also been a hot spot for innovation, and there’s even been some innovation around the MBTA in recent years, in terms of train and bus tracking apps.
And then there’s Bridj, a new take on bus service.
Since earlier this year, the service has provided private bus rides along a few routes in Boston, Brookline, and Cambridge. Coolidge Corner to Kendall Square, or to MIT. Allston to Copley, or the Seaport. And so on.
Users have been booking rides through Bridj’s website. Buses travel on these routes multiple times per morning during commute hours. The service first launched in June, and has expanded in the past several months. Since September, Bridj has charged between $1 and $3 per trip on private buses, most of which seat a dozen or so and are chartered through third party livery companies.
So at this point, it’s a service that involves booking a ride online, walking to a bus stop, and jumping on-board for a morning trip to work. That may provide some convenience, and may require some operational diligence, but doesn’t sound particularly innovative.
“This has been about working out the logistics of showing we can put buses on the road every morning and follow regulations,’’ founder and CEO Matt George told Boston.com last month, speaking of the service’s early stage.
Bridj, however, has sold itself as offering something more: a “dynamic’’ bus service that processes data and adjusts routes based on demand, as determined by an algorithm developed by the company. It seems like the service will take its next steps toward that model soon.
In a press release issued this week, spokesperson Ryan Kelly said Bridj plans to shut down around the holidays, from Dec. 19 until Jan. 5. When it returns, Kelly said, it will unveil a few new features. Those include the release of its app on Jan. 5, and the start of afternoon service the following day (which it had not yet provided).
Jan. 6 will also mark a move toward those dynamic routes. Details will be released the day before the launch, but for now the company is saying: “Users will input where they need to go (within a given service area), and they will be directed to a nearby pick-up location.’’ Prices seem likely to increase with the new features. “The goal is to always be cheaper than a taxi, but slightly more [expensive] than public transit,’’ Kelly told Boston.com.
Bridj turned heads earlier this year when it announced it was launching, and again when it announced it had raised $4 million and hired former ZipCar VP and Chicago transit head Gabe Klein as COO. It was able to secure permits to operate in Boston and Brookline relatively easily, but struggled at first to get a jitney license in Cambridge. It eventually reached an agreement on a six-month pilot program with the city, that was contingent on Bridj not using certain drop-off locations and streets the city deemed inappropriate.
Bridj is operated by George’s company, GroupZOOM, which also operates BreakShuttle, a bus service that offers college students at several campuses trips home during school breaks. That service was started by George while he was still at Middlebury College. (The 24-year-old graduated in 2013.) George and most of his team work out of the Cambridge Innovation Center in Kendall Square, but the company still has a few employees in Vermont.
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