Buses were the original “ride share” concept. The difference is the city always owned the vehicle, it fits many more people and is regulated.

What if the city bus concept adapted to the popular ride sharing services such as Uber and Lyft?

Instead of buses following a predefined route every day, let the computers dynamically route the buses. People with smartphones could request a pickup and set a destination. They would then be routed to the nearest bus compatible and pickup efficient location that isn’t necessarily a predefined “bus stop”. In that app they would also define their drop-off point, which could change the bus that’s picking them up with a more efficient route. People without a smartphone would go to a normal bus stop and press a vandal resistant button. Once on the bus, they would select the destination using a built-in display.

Of course a lot more thinking and planning would need to be done so as each passenger is limited to a ride that is reasonable in time and fairly predictable.

But I think this could go a long way to getting more people to use public transportation, pay via a mobile app and stop routing buses to empty bus stops.