Next-generation transportation service Bridj is slowly but surely altering Greater Boston’s transit landscape. The pop-up bus service is currently beta testing three key routes, two of which start and end in Coolidge Corner and the other in Allston, in hopes of affording Bostonians and other travelers a friendlier user-experience. In hopes of spreading this theme of commuter satisfaction, Bridj is taking its talents to Harvard Square.
On Monday, August 18, Bridj will expand service from Coolidge Corner in Brookline to Harvard Square across the Charles River, with a stop at MIT/Kendall along the way. Bus passes and pick up/drop off location information won’t be made available until Wednesday, but if you’re looking to acclimate yourself with Bridj’s busses, purchase a pass here and hop on for a ride.
Harvard Square is a logical choice for Bridj, and one that founder and CEO Matt George told me in an email has been considered for as the next venture for at least a little while. Bridj works by analyzing big and noninvasive data to determine where mass groups of people travel from and to; subsequently, the startup provides a direct line of service to those destinations that’s naturally absent from bus and subway lines.
The numbers, George noted, backed up his plan to extend to Harvard Square; therefore, the addition of the route was a no-brainer.
“The primary element of what we do is analyze tremendous amounts of data to predict need,” George said in an email. “Harvard has been in the plan for quite a while based on predicted need, and that need was confirmed via customer request.”
On Monday George was among the attendees at a Boston City Council hearing convened to discuss Bridj’s application for a jitney license in order to operate the passenger delivery at the behest of city regulations.
The meeting, which Geroge told me was an expected show of support all around, opens the door for even more expanded service. What’s next? Perhaps Boston in all of its entirety and glory.
According to the Boston Globe, Councilor Tim McCarthy said he’ll recommend to his constituent councilors that the City of Boston approve Bridj’s application and, in essence, that they’ll act as advocates on its behalf when it considers additional routes.
The jitney license applies to transit service with fixed routes, and seeing as how Bridj is built on the sensible notion that fixed routes are hardly an efficient way to get directly where you’re going, Councilor McCarthy made it clear that with innovative companies like Bridj, the city will have to update its rulebook.
“We as a city are trying to make Boston open for business 24/7,” McCarthy said via the Boston Globe. “The more options people have to get around, the better.”
Image via Bridj Facebook
