Crowdsourced Bus Startup Expands Service

The first company to determine bus routes by popular demand has found success in multiple states.

1 minute read

December 20, 2018, 12:00 PM PST

By Elana Eden


Bus Stop

Bikeworldtravel / Shutterstock

"OurBus, a tech company specializing in crowd-sourced intercity and commuter bus routes, is expanding service in the Northeast and Texas," reports Metro Magazine.

OurBus launched in 2017 in New York as apparently the first company to create bus routes by crowdsourcing. Now the company is making permanent some of its more successful "pop-up routes" between Austin, Dallas, and Houston, as well as from D.C. to Norfolk, VA. It's also adding service between Rochester, New York City, D.C., Pittsburgh, and Clifton.

In addition to abandoning the point-to-point service model, the startup also differs from traditional transit agencies in that it doesn't own any buses. Yahoo Finance explained when the company launched, "It supplies only the technology and software to existing bus companies—usually charter bus companies whose buses aren’t being used to their full capacity." Rider fare also fluctuates based on demand for a particular route, Yahoo reported.

Tuesday, December 18, 2018 in Metro Magazine

Young Professional

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban and Environmental Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban and Environmental Planner

Get top-rated, practical training for planners

Overlapping highways

The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin

People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.

September 8, 2026 - Benjamin Schneider

The Hoover Dam blocking the Colorado River. The river's water level is noticeably low. The cliffs surrounding the blue water are brown and jagged.

US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico

A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.

September 11, 2026 - The Arizona Republic

Skyscrapers in Jersey City.

New Jersey’s second-largest city bans standalone data centers

Jersey City will continue to allow co-location facilities, such as those meant for research institutions that store their own data.

September 4, 2026 - The Cool Down

A New Jersey train approaches people waiting at the station.

Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds

A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.

September 15 - Mass Transit

A tall, gray power plant billows smoke into a blue sky.

EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants

Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.

September 15 - New York Times

A white RAPID bus. The lower half is light blue, and says RAPID in purple text. The bus is half visible, appearing from the left side of the image.

Phoenix announces new on-demand transit service, more frequent RAPID buses

Both new services will launch in October, and are part of Phoenix's Project Effective Access Solutions for Easing Congestion.

September 15 - KJZZ

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.