Night School, planning to use school bus fleets to supplement late-night Bay Area transit, lost the regulatory fights Uber and Lyft handily won.
Susie Cagle reports on the dissolution of Night School, a start-up promising low-cost, late-night bus options in Bay Area neighborhoods under-served by public transit. Like its ride share brethren, Night School drew regulatory attention from the California Public Utilities Commission. But where ride-hailing services succeeded, Night School couldn't push through.
From the metro that brought us the infamous Google buses, using the off-hours school bus fleet as an affordable service was lauded at first. “Unlike Uber and Lyft, [Night School] was not a ‘platform,’ and never described itself as such—it was a private bus service with professional, insured, licensed drivers, regulated vehicles, clear routes, and consistent fares.”
Cagle suggests that the current regulatory environment favors start-ups with significant financial backing, even when they ride roughshod over the rules. Companies that “play nice” cannot compete, even when it might be in the public interest that they do so.
FULL STORY: How a Start-Up That Wouldn't Break the Rules Was Forced to Fail
Oregon Passes Exemption to Urban Growth Boundary
Cities have a one-time chance to acquire new land for development in a bid to increase housing supply and affordability.
Where Urban Design Is Headed in 2024
A forecast of likely trends in urban design and architecture.
Savannah: A City of Planning Contrasts
From a human-scales, plaza-anchored grid to suburban sprawl, the oldest planned city in the United States has seen wildly different development patterns.
Washington Tribes Receive Resilience Funding
The 28 grants support projects including relocation efforts as coastal communities face the growing impacts of climate change.
Adaptive Reuse Bills Introduced in California Assembly
The legislation would expand eligibility for economic incentives and let cities loosen regulations to allow for more building conversions.
LA's Top Parks, Ranked
TimeOut just released its list of the top 26 parks in the L.A. area, which is home to some of the best green spaces around.
City of Rochester
Boston Harbor Now
City of Bellevue
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Birmingham, Alabama
City of Laramie, Wyoming
Colorado Department of Local Affairs
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.