I think America should look into the point to point system that Istanbul developed (and likely other places) called the dolmuş. These are 10 seat cars where people split the price to move along one line. (People will usually go end to end, but can get out along the ride as desired.) The route never deviates as to provide predictability.
That said, most people take cabs because they don't want to be around other people -- else, they would take the subway, no?
Most of the time in NYC when I take a cab, it's because there isn't sufficient subway or bus coverage for the route I want: either I'm going to/from somewhere deep into Brooklyn or Queens where it's a 10+ minute walk to the nearest subway (and I'll need at least one transfer once I'm on the subway system), or I'm trying to take some particular trip across Manhattan that requires multiple transfers and is much faster by cab. As you'd expect, the trips that aren't well-served by subway are rare, but they do exist.
> The New York City-area dollar van system is highly used, and in 2011, it was rated the 20th most used "bus system" in the United States. The dollar van and jitney system has been praised as "quietly disruptive" as compared to other ride-share services, such as Uber. This has allowed the vans to operate without being restricted by the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC).
That's very interesting, it fills a void during public worker strikes spontaneously and ends up being a widely popular service. Thanks for the link.
It's the Dollar Van concept as below. The difference between it and a bus is that the dollar van doesn't pick people up in between, speeding up transactions and ensuring limited stops. The speed of pickup/dropoff is a large issue.
Except it's on-demand as the bus fills up rather than on set schedules.
It's conceptually a different model. a 10 person van stays at point A, leaves when full, and drops people off along the line on demand rather than having set stops, and doesn't pick people up.
My anecdata from 30 years in the city is that commuters only take cabs if work pays for it, or they have phone calls to make. I don't know anyone who takes one daily, except in the case of a recent job change and they haven't had a chance to move apartments to a more convenient commute.
That said, most people take cabs because they don't want to be around other people -- else, they would take the subway, no?