Business idea for people who live in a big city and are willing to start it:
A private Shuttle service for kids that takes them to common kid friendly places: e.g. the library, museums, movie theater, the mall, etc.
It would only need to operate a few hours a day after school, weekends, and the summer. Riders could get an account set up by parents to pay for it. Drivers would be background checked. Sort of like the shuttle services that private schools use instead of busses.
Yes, yes, I know, there is already public transportation for this – if you live in a select few cities. And many parents don’t trust that. Perhaps this could be a steeping stone in the direction of more free range type activities.
I remember walking (or riding a bicycle) a good four blocks to buy comic books in a store in a small plaza that was on the corner of two reasonably major highways.
I was seven when I started doing this.
The Scarlet PimpernelOctober 24, 2014 at 12:59 pm#
I dunno, J — your shuttle thing sounds like a good idea, til you realise it’ll be cited as evidence that public anything is just too dangerous, in fact it’s so bad we had to isolate our kids in a kid-only van!
Or turn it around: A public bus is safe, cuz everyone can see everyone, but who knows what goes on inside a private van!
I grew up in Miami. We have the worst public transportation system in the country. One monorail, one mover that goes from downtown office buildings to the courthouse and back and worthless busses. If you don’t have a car, you are boned. Most stuff in my neighborhood was well beyond biking distance. The children’s museum was a 30 min drive. Jacksonville, Atlanta, Indianapolis, the Chicago suburbs, are all the same.
The idea that there are good busses, subways, or everything is within a reasonable biking distance is elitism that comes from NY, DC, Boston, and a hand full of big urban centers. Us in the burbs and flyover states don’t have that type of easy city access.
My idea is a fill for that gap, where good public transportation is not available for kids who can’t/don’t drive.
@BL: By the time I was 10, my brother (2 years younger) were already traversing the city we live in (a major city in Canada). We would either walk to the downtown core, or take public transit. Most of the time we walked. It would be a day of adventure. A few hours, there and back. Hitting comic shops, arcades, and record stores. Then popping into McD’s or shop shops for lunch. And yes, our parents were well aware of what we did. They gave us spending money and bus fair. As well as change to call from a pay phone if needed. And in our travels, we would see a slew of kids in and around the same age walking around the city. Especially the arcades. Great times! Cops wouldn’t bat an eye, and other adults wouldn’t pay mind, unless we were misbehaving. Then they would just set us straight.
@J- “I grew up in Miami. We have the worst public transportation system in the country.”
If you still live in Miami you should give public transportation another shot. I often use the Metrorail and buses even though I have a car. Buses are generally on time and run everywhere, you can plan trips with google maps and the Metrorail now goes straight into the Miami airport. I admit that part of my satisfaction is that the Metrorail goes where I need to go. It was poor planning not to extend Metrorail to more parts of Miami.
I’ve even made a few converts of other people who claimed that Miami doesn’t have a useful public transportation system. They no longer have to chauffeur their kids around or rent cars when theirs are in the shop.
J, I would love a service like that for my kids. The closest bus stop to our house is almost 30 minutes away by car. Within walking distance we have a grocery store, a Walgreens, and a McDonald’s, and that’s it as far as anything of interest to kids or teens. (As far as my idea of walking distance, I walk 2 miles every morning for fun. I’d run it if wasn’t carrying a baby.)
Actually we have a local shuttle service where I live that they started recently to help lighten the traffic. It goes up & down the main street, stopping at most of the traffic lights & it’s free. It runs every 30 min & around school start & end times every 15 min. I thought that episode was hilarious. My hubby sometimes drives a company van & they have not put on advertising logos and info so it’s just a plain white cargo van & I tease him & call it the predator / child molester van. It could also be the police / FBI undercover van.
Many American cities have much better public transit systems than people realize. It requires a willingness to ride a bus and a willingness to factor it in when you choose precisely where to live.
ahahahaha…. I love that show
When I saw this episode, I thought about how long it would take to show up on FRKs. Too funny
Business idea for people who live in a big city and are willing to start it:
A private Shuttle service for kids that takes them to common kid friendly places: e.g. the library, museums, movie theater, the mall, etc.
It would only need to operate a few hours a day after school, weekends, and the summer. Riders could get an account set up by parents to pay for it. Drivers would be background checked. Sort of like the shuttle services that private schools use instead of busses.
Yes, yes, I know, there is already public transportation for this – if you live in a select few cities. And many parents don’t trust that. Perhaps this could be a steeping stone in the direction of more free range type activities.
Sigh.
I remember walking (or riding a bicycle) a good four blocks to buy comic books in a store in a small plaza that was on the corner of two reasonably major highways.
I was seven when I started doing this.
I dunno, J — your shuttle thing sounds like a good idea, til you realise it’ll be cited as evidence that public anything is just too dangerous, in fact it’s so bad we had to isolate our kids in a kid-only van!
Or turn it around: A public bus is safe, cuz everyone can see everyone, but who knows what goes on inside a private van!
Glah… let ’em walk. 😀
Ha! I watched this episode and laughed so hard.
@The Scarlet Pimpernel
I grew up in Miami. We have the worst public transportation system in the country. One monorail, one mover that goes from downtown office buildings to the courthouse and back and worthless busses. If you don’t have a car, you are boned. Most stuff in my neighborhood was well beyond biking distance. The children’s museum was a 30 min drive. Jacksonville, Atlanta, Indianapolis, the Chicago suburbs, are all the same.
The idea that there are good busses, subways, or everything is within a reasonable biking distance is elitism that comes from NY, DC, Boston, and a hand full of big urban centers. Us in the burbs and flyover states don’t have that type of easy city access.
My idea is a fill for that gap, where good public transportation is not available for kids who can’t/don’t drive.
@J,
Are you going to use candy to lure them in?
Lol! That was funny! And I didn’t see any perversion in that whatsoever. 😉
@BL: By the time I was 10, my brother (2 years younger) were already traversing the city we live in (a major city in Canada). We would either walk to the downtown core, or take public transit. Most of the time we walked. It would be a day of adventure. A few hours, there and back. Hitting comic shops, arcades, and record stores. Then popping into McD’s or shop shops for lunch. And yes, our parents were well aware of what we did. They gave us spending money and bus fair. As well as change to call from a pay phone if needed. And in our travels, we would see a slew of kids in and around the same age walking around the city. Especially the arcades. Great times! Cops wouldn’t bat an eye, and other adults wouldn’t pay mind, unless we were misbehaving. Then they would just set us straight.
@J-, @Andrew
the shuttle should be a windowless white can driven by a big man wearing a ski mask.
@J- “I grew up in Miami. We have the worst public transportation system in the country.”
If you still live in Miami you should give public transportation another shot. I often use the Metrorail and buses even though I have a car. Buses are generally on time and run everywhere, you can plan trips with google maps and the Metrorail now goes straight into the Miami airport. I admit that part of my satisfaction is that the Metrorail goes where I need to go. It was poor planning not to extend Metrorail to more parts of Miami.
I’ve even made a few converts of other people who claimed that Miami doesn’t have a useful public transportation system. They no longer have to chauffeur their kids around or rent cars when theirs are in the shop.
J, I would love a service like that for my kids. The closest bus stop to our house is almost 30 minutes away by car. Within walking distance we have a grocery store, a Walgreens, and a McDonald’s, and that’s it as far as anything of interest to kids or teens. (As far as my idea of walking distance, I walk 2 miles every morning for fun. I’d run it if wasn’t carrying a baby.)
Here’s another clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0h0qZCjR_k
Actually we have a local shuttle service where I live that they started recently to help lighten the traffic. It goes up & down the main street, stopping at most of the traffic lights & it’s free. It runs every 30 min & around school start & end times every 15 min. I thought that episode was hilarious. My hubby sometimes drives a company van & they have not put on advertising logos and info so it’s just a plain white cargo van & I tease him & call it the predator / child molester van. It could also be the police / FBI undercover van.
Many American cities have much better public transit systems than people realize. It requires a willingness to ride a bus and a willingness to factor it in when you choose precisely where to live.
Many don’t, of course.
My family likes this show, but I generally don’t watch because I’m not a fan of cringe comedy … this was kinda humorous though!
My family likes this show, but I generally don’t watch because I’m not a fan of cringe comedy … this was humorous though!
That was awesome!!
http://www.kids-kab.com/
because a regular cab just wont do