In a city of millions, one often wonders who else might be going their way, or at least in that general direction. For the urbanites who might be accustomed to not speaking with their vast number of neighbors, a new app has handled these transportation logistics for them...
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| Bail on the hail. Hit up the Via app. (Image courtesy allposters.com.) |
According to the New York Times, the new ride-sharing app Via is a smart, efficient, inexpensive means to get where you (and at least one other person) are going. Currently available only in certain parts of Manhattan, the app was modeled off of privately owned, shared shuttle buses in Tel Aviv.
With an estimated 150,000 taxi rides being taken per day in the Via delivery zone (32nd to 110th streets, weekdays from 6:45 AM to 9:00 PM), sharing could indeed be a useful idea. It cuts down on pollution, reduces traffic, saves money for the passengers, and thankfully eschews the subterranean horrors of the subway or the winner-take-all chariot race that is Manhattan bicycling.
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| The existential exhaustion of the subway can now be thwarted, and you'll retain a more tolerable hint of human interaction. (Image courtesy s.wsj.net.) |
At a flat rate of $5 and operating in a swath of terrain that is necessary for many to access, Via could be a happy medium between expensive solo cab rides and subway shenanigans. No worries if your ride-mate is late...the rules state they'll just have to wait for the next Via (arrival wait times are estimated at a mere 5 minutes.) There'll likely be another willing customer just waiting to hop in for a spin to where...or near...you're off to.
Via is available for free download to iOS or Android. Happy trails!
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| And who knows? You might even find a friendly new monkey to swing around your stretch of the urban jungle with. (Image courtesy commons.wikimedia.org.) |
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