Bridj shuts down(bridj.com)
bridj.com
Bridj shuts down
http://www.bridj.com/
10 comments
"I used to drive but finally gave it up when my employer changed the way they compensated commuting expenses. Now, I take Boston Express Bus which costs me $315/month. The buses are always over full. There's probably about $100K per month for the Bus Company just in work day commuters."
Most buses hold about, what, 80 people - 80 x $315/month = $25k. How did you get to $100k?
It looks to me like a tough business from a capital perspective - if each bus costs your $300-500k (or you lease them), you'd have them utilized for only 4 hours per day.
Most buses hold about, what, 80 people - 80 x $315/month = $25k. How did you get to $100k?
It looks to me like a tough business from a capital perspective - if each bus costs your $300-500k (or you lease them), you'd have them utilized for only 4 hours per day.
The buses that they are currently using hold just over 50 people. I made a very conservative guess for how many people would leave the existing bus service. There are more than 10 bus trips each morning down Interstate 93 that could be considered "commuter" (400-500 people): http://bostonexpressbus.com/images/stories/schedules/I93.pdf
There are similar bus schedules from the next city over to the west, Nashua, down Route 3 and another similar schedule from the next city over to the east, Portsmouth. There are additional bus companies that service different cities and towns in Massachusetts. However, they all go to the bus station on the south side of the city.
You would have to lease the buses. The drivers would be the most expensive part of the model, though. There is a shortage of people with commercial licences in this area. The drivers can make anywhere from $45K-$60K per year in salary (not counting benefits). Brijd had already purchased shuttles/buses and had drivers. The Brijd buses were much smaller - probably 25 to 30 seats. But, had they discovered the potential business model early enough they could have bought different vehicles. There is enough demand in the area to deploy double decker buses (80-100 seats). I, and probably many others, would pay a significant premium over the existing $315/month to load/unload on the north side of the city and avoid the additional hour of commute and MBTA subway pass costs.
It would be much more difficult that a cloud based software start-up due to the capital outlays. But, it could definitely be done and be profitable.
There are similar bus schedules from the next city over to the west, Nashua, down Route 3 and another similar schedule from the next city over to the east, Portsmouth. There are additional bus companies that service different cities and towns in Massachusetts. However, they all go to the bus station on the south side of the city.
You would have to lease the buses. The drivers would be the most expensive part of the model, though. There is a shortage of people with commercial licences in this area. The drivers can make anywhere from $45K-$60K per year in salary (not counting benefits). Brijd had already purchased shuttles/buses and had drivers. The Brijd buses were much smaller - probably 25 to 30 seats. But, had they discovered the potential business model early enough they could have bought different vehicles. There is enough demand in the area to deploy double decker buses (80-100 seats). I, and probably many others, would pay a significant premium over the existing $315/month to load/unload on the north side of the city and avoid the additional hour of commute and MBTA subway pass costs.
It would be much more difficult that a cloud based software start-up due to the capital outlays. But, it could definitely be done and be profitable.
Yeah, but that's just a bus company. To be a high-growth startup, you need something scalable. Like Megabus... Oh.
BTW, I'll bet if you can get in touch with someone from Megabus they'd set up that route. In other cities they drop off in all sorts of random places. It might be some licensing or regulation issue.
BTW, I'll bet if you can get in touch with someone from Megabus they'd set up that route. In other cities they drop off in all sorts of random places. It might be some licensing or regulation issue.
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Slightly off topic, but...
I have a request for anybody who is going to be putting up your next "we're shutting down page", please tell us what it was you did, or were aiming to do.
I find whenever I see one of these notices, I have no idea what the company was, what they were trying to do, how far they got. It's like a eulogy which only tells a bit about how the person died, but shares no information about what they accomplished or even aimed to accomplish in their lives.
I find whenever I see one of these notices, I have no idea what the company was, what they were trying to do, how far they got. It's like a eulogy which only tells a bit about how the person died, but shares no information about what they accomplished or even aimed to accomplish in their lives.
It's funny that you draw the parallel to humans. I'm now imagining the obituary of my startup:
Xapateria filed for bankruptcy last week, after a long fight with customer churn. They tried an experimental fundraising approach that gave a few months of extra life, but ultimately succumbed. Xapatistas enjoyed off-sites in the Caribbean, craft espresso, and weekly frisbee tournaments. They are left behind by an excellent collection of Aeron chairs and Apple hardware.
Xapateria filed for bankruptcy last week, after a long fight with customer churn. They tried an experimental fundraising approach that gave a few months of extra life, but ultimately succumbed. Xapatistas enjoyed off-sites in the Caribbean, craft espresso, and weekly frisbee tournaments. They are left behind by an excellent collection of Aeron chairs and Apple hardware.
I was thinking much more along the lines of "Xapateria's lifelong goal of ... we experienced ... we discovered... ultimately failed due to ...", but I like your humour angle.
The BridgJ's leaving Coolidge Corner were often full durig peak times (and as such, charged about $6/ride). It was nice because ( could go to Seaport or Kendall Square without transferring trains and with a guaranteed a seat (with WIFI). It was a convenient, good service.
It easily takes an hour from Coolidge Corner to an office near South Station, despite it only being about 4.5 miles. Two trains + a walk.
Sometimes I'd take Lyft Line, but it often wasn't as cheap as pricing varied wildly....
It easily takes an hour from Coolidge Corner to an office near South Station, despite it only being about 4.5 miles. Two trains + a walk.
Sometimes I'd take Lyft Line, but it often wasn't as cheap as pricing varied wildly....
As a bike commuter in the Boston Area, I saw the BRIDJ vans (they were actually bigger than vans but smaller than busses, but I have not a name), during my commute. I could never see inside to see if the vehicles were full.
I looked into using them, but they didn't serve my area.
Seemed like a good idea, there was even talk they would be used when they cut late night T (bus) service again in Boston.
For an City that has such weak transportation, and terrible winter weather, they'll be missed here.
I looked into using them, but they didn't serve my area.
Seemed like a good idea, there was even talk they would be used when they cut late night T (bus) service again in Boston.
For an City that has such weak transportation, and terrible winter weather, they'll be missed here.
I think this was the issue. I commute into Boston from just outside the city. I would have considered using this over public transport had it been an option at all. Their routes seem to connect Boston and some edges of Cambridge that are close... but that's it.
Also saw them a lot on my bicycle commute into Boston through Kendall Sq. Never saw anyone get in or out of them.
What is (...was) the difference between Bridj and private bus services?
They had an app where you could easily schedule a ride for the next day. It took away the opaqueness that comes with using private transportation.
Private bus services are generally long distances, bridj was more or less a shuttle-sized uber.
What did they do?
Basically cross Uber/Lyft with shuttle bus.
They had an app that let you schedule a pickup and destination. Its seemed to have a flexible schedule but routes. I never used it but saw them driving around.
The hospitals and universities in Boston all run their own shuttle bus service to augment the existing public transit system.
They had an app that let you schedule a pickup and destination. Its seemed to have a flexible schedule but routes. I never used it but saw them driving around.
The hospitals and universities in Boston all run their own shuttle bus service to augment the existing public transit system.
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Here's the most important paragraph:
"We made the strategic choice to pursue a deal with a major car company who promised a close date for a sizable transaction in lieu of a traditional venture capital funding round. The close date timeline extended from weeks to months, as they sought to gain the appropriate internal approvals that we (and they) thought were already in place. Throughout, we remained convinced of the close strategic fit and both sides had every expectation that the transaction would close. Despite assurances, and all parties acting in the best of faith, that didn’t happen."
Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
It's bizarre that the board advisors would let that happen. I'm curious how they'd explain the failure. If you've ever done business with an enterprise, you should know that decisions can take years, not weeks or months. Though sometimes a few days if you get to the right person at the right time.
"We made the strategic choice to pursue a deal with a major car company who promised a close date for a sizable transaction in lieu of a traditional venture capital funding round. The close date timeline extended from weeks to months, as they sought to gain the appropriate internal approvals that we (and they) thought were already in place. Throughout, we remained convinced of the close strategic fit and both sides had every expectation that the transaction would close. Despite assurances, and all parties acting in the best of faith, that didn’t happen."
Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
It's bizarre that the board advisors would let that happen. I'm curious how they'd explain the failure. If you've ever done business with an enterprise, you should know that decisions can take years, not weeks or months. Though sometimes a few days if you get to the right person at the right time.
IMO, it sounds like a cop-out. More likely the business was pretty shaky and no one would invest at even semi-reasonable terms, so they use the "deal fell through" excuse.
Are we supposed to believe they only pursued one source of funding, which was delayed months, and during that entire time never tried to find anything else? More likely... they couldn't.
Are we supposed to believe they only pursued one source of funding, which was delayed months, and during that entire time never tried to find anything else? More likely... they couldn't.
I don't find it a cop-out at all.
A massive sales opportunity came up that could potentially allow them to bootstrap the service without further investment, or investment on better terms based on the increased revenue and growth from the sale. By the time they realized the sales opportunity wasn't going through the investors that were interested had gotten pushed back without reasonable growth to back up the push-back, and uncertainty of the major deal going through, which means the investors would have wanted more for their money then they wanted before. The situation would have then spiraled out more and more as time went on.
Such is why strategy and execution of these types of decisions is key for a startup to succeed.
A massive sales opportunity came up that could potentially allow them to bootstrap the service without further investment, or investment on better terms based on the increased revenue and growth from the sale. By the time they realized the sales opportunity wasn't going through the investors that were interested had gotten pushed back without reasonable growth to back up the push-back, and uncertainty of the major deal going through, which means the investors would have wanted more for their money then they wanted before. The situation would have then spiraled out more and more as time went on.
Such is why strategy and execution of these types of decisions is key for a startup to succeed.
Further, the way to convince someone to close is to give the credible threat of going with someone else: "If you like it then you should put a ring on it."
I agree with you. Many tales in startup-post-mortem say, "we ran out of money." The mods preface those with, "running out of money in only the proximal cause, that is, the immediate final event before shut-down. The real reasons are seldom only ' ran out of money'"
cop-out? more like a chicken and egg scenario. if they landed the deal the business would be less shaky and probably very viable, and they'd be able to land all the growth capital they wanted
I doubt you'll ever get an answer as to why the board would allow this to happen, but my guess would be that they were stuck between a rock and a hard place. Perhaps they had to forego a traditional VC investment because their last-round valuation was too high and the existing investors were not willing to either put up more money, or get diluted by raising money at a lower valuation. Second theory would be that they tried to raise a new round and simply had no takers, leading them to the corporate fund raise.
So it may not be as simple as eggs in one baset.
So it may not be as simple as eggs in one baset.
Inability to close a round, in a lot of words. This happens all the time if you can not properly sell your potential investors. The reasons vary but the result is the same.
recreational paranoia/dancing-with-conspiracy:
Maybe that "major car company" deliberately ran out the clock on them with the goal of purchasing the fraction of Bridj assets that they actually wanted at fire-sale prices, while avoiding purchasing the assets they didn't want.
Maybe that "major car company" deliberately ran out the clock on them with the goal of purchasing the fraction of Bridj assets that they actually wanted at fire-sale prices, while avoiding purchasing the assets they didn't want.
Machiavellian! I don't know about the assets (might be leased + due to creditors), but the talent is certainly now on the market for the taking.
Car manufacturers won't do that kind of stuff purely for the reason that if they want the talent/company they would just buy it at market price. They also don't have the time and risk appetite for such maneuvers. Most likely the car manufacturer just got intertwined in their own decision making, then accidentally running over the little startup.
Sometimes you only have one basket.
TLDR: Ford decided it would rather acquire Chariot wholesale than buy services from Bridj?
A more detailed Boston Globe article on the shutdown [1]
Bridj was a service that was interesting as it hit a point somewhere between traditional bus services and on demand Uber/Lyft style transportation options.
1 - https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2017/04/30/bridj-local-...
Bridj was a service that was interesting as it hit a point somewhere between traditional bus services and on demand Uber/Lyft style transportation options.
1 - https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2017/04/30/bridj-local-...
I think part of their problem is Uber's aggressive fair discounting and driver subsidies. Why would I take a Bridj when I can get a 20-minute-long UberPOOL ride through Boston for $3 - $4?
People at my company literally take an Uber to/from work daily because it's only moderately more expensive than the subway (MBTA fares are $2.25 - $2.75).
At this point Uber's grown to the size where they can just slash prices and outlast anyone who can't lose as much money as they can. I wouldn't be surprised if public transportation actually started losing a considerable amount of fares to Uber.
People at my company literally take an Uber to/from work daily because it's only moderately more expensive than the subway (MBTA fares are $2.25 - $2.75).
At this point Uber's grown to the size where they can just slash prices and outlast anyone who can't lose as much money as they can. I wouldn't be surprised if public transportation actually started losing a considerable amount of fares to Uber.
Lots of people from Southie take UberPool to Seaport, Downtown, and Back Bay neighborhoods because the bus service is so terrible (#7 in particular).
Imagine it's snowing or raining on you and three buses skip your stop because they are already full... the extra couple of bucks for door-to-door service without waiting outside and faster, predictable transit is very much worthwhile.
In addition, Uber has offered a month-long/30-day "POOL Pass" for a flat fee, with a buck or two fee per ride which isn't affected by surge pricing. When the pass was introduced it was just one cent per ride, which made it cheaper/comparable to a bus pass. The pricing has since been raised (not cheaper than bus) but still a good deal, considering the benefits. And the program has seen many adjustments without being widely rolled out or promoted, so it seems to still be a program that they are testing out.
Imagine it's snowing or raining on you and three buses skip your stop because they are already full... the extra couple of bucks for door-to-door service without waiting outside and faster, predictable transit is very much worthwhile.
In addition, Uber has offered a month-long/30-day "POOL Pass" for a flat fee, with a buck or two fee per ride which isn't affected by surge pricing. When the pass was introduced it was just one cent per ride, which made it cheaper/comparable to a bus pass. The pricing has since been raised (not cheaper than bus) but still a good deal, considering the benefits. And the program has seen many adjustments without being widely rolled out or promoted, so it seems to still be a program that they are testing out.
Can't you pretty easily bike or even walk from Southie to the Seaport?
Half of the year, and if you're willing to compete with traffic — sure.
Your coworkers haven't figured out how to get a monthly pass? A lot of employers offer a program to buy them with pre-tax income, so effectively a large discount. Can you get Uber for $40/month?
Not sure if they are still doing this "POOL Pass" thing but possibly.
https://newsroom.uber.com/us-massachusetts/july-pool-pass-ri...
https://newsroom.uber.com/us-massachusetts/july-pool-pass-ri...
Any idea why they have to charge $.01 per trip?
My wife uses the unlimited flat fare package in south bay, 2.99 per pool ride or 7 per uberX ride (with caveats that apply rarely).
My wife uses the unlimited flat fare package in south bay, 2.99 per pool ride or 7 per uberX ride (with caveats that apply rarely).
I have a few guesses:
- Their software isn't set up to do $0 rides. Even the "free" rides show the total charge and take off a discount.
- They want to do analysis on the price elasticity of demand and don't want to have a divide by zero error.
- Someone thought it'd induce better behavior. Humans start getting weird with "free" things.
- Their software isn't set up to do $0 rides. Even the "free" rides show the total charge and take off a discount.
- They want to do analysis on the price elasticity of demand and don't want to have a divide by zero error.
- Someone thought it'd induce better behavior. Humans start getting weird with "free" things.
Thanks for replying. I was wondering if they had to charge something to comply with a law or something (not that they would really let that get into the way of a feature).
They're aware of pre-tax passes — but UberPOOL prices are generally within a dollar per-trip, so they'd rather pay that premium to save the time and hassle involved with public transit.
Bridj was also slightly more expensive than public transit, and still had many of the downsides.
Bridj was also slightly more expensive than public transit, and still had many of the downsides.
Speaking first hand. UberPOOl costs me an average of slightly under 5 dollars per ride so about twice as much as the T. In exchange my commute goes from 45 minutes minimum on the t, with walking included, to about 28-30 minutes. Between the time saved, not having to walk through weather, and not having my eardrums destroyed by screeching of the rails on the red line or the random delays that can possibly double my trip time, it ends up being worth it. If the price goes above 8 dollars I do end up taking the t however.
It's unfortunate that public transport isn't better in Boston, but Uber is almost always a better value for the time and reliability
It's unfortunate that public transport isn't better in Boston, but Uber is almost always a better value for the time and reliability
Yeah, I've been taking UberPool for my work commute in Boston recently. It's still around 3x more expensive than the monthly bus pass, but at 2.75 per ride, it's plenty reasonable.
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The minimum UberX fare in Boston is $6.35
Sorry, meant UberPOOL you're right.
*fare
took me a minute (I'm a little slow after beer-o-clock) to figure out what you meant.
took me a minute (I'm a little slow after beer-o-clock) to figure out what you meant.
do people not tip?
[deleted]
As someone who lives in Boston, Bridj's office location raised a huge red flag for me. They have office space on the ground level of Newbury St.
For those not familiar, Newbury St. Is Boston's luxury shopping street. Our "5th Ave" if you will.
For those not familiar, Newbury St. Is Boston's luxury shopping street. Our "5th Ave" if you will.
They really had their office there? Why wouldn't they go somewhere cheaper and have a bridj line to their office so they could dogfood the service as well?
I'm from Boston and I had no clue that was where there office was located. Definitely a WTF.
That and the app was terribly buggy when I checked it out. Sure, it had just launched, but I couldn't even create an account.
When I lived in Boston they were in Cambridge innovation center at Kendall
Yeah I remember them there, which made the move even more shocking.
Did they tell all the people who are waiting for their buses?
I used to drive but finally gave it up when my employer changed the way they compensated commuting expenses. Now, I take Boston Express Bus which costs me $315/month. The buses are always over full. There's probably about $100K per month for the Bus Company just in work day commuters. They also do a large number of air port runs through out the day.
The problem with the buses is they go to a train/subway/bus station on the south side of the city. But, many (if not most) of the commuters work on the north side of the city. So, they have to buy an additional $65/month subway card and waste an additional 45-75 minutes a day travelling through the congested city to get to and from the buses. Using the subway system in Boston is even more miserable than driving because it is horribly managed and badly maintained. Most riders would love to avoid it.
Instead of doing local uber-like shuttles in a city already over served by subway and bus routes that compete with each other (in additional to taxis, uber, employer shuttles, etc), Bridj could have charged $350-$500 per month per person to do a run from southern NH with a Kendall Square drop off and pick up. People would have loved it. Similar routes could have been set up from the South and and West. I think they easily could have done $300,000 to $600,000 per month in revenue with that model.
It's a shame they didn't take a good look at the market. The roads in and out of Boston are hopelessly overloaded. They could have made a ton of money and improved people's quality of life significantly. I assume many other large cites (SF, LA, NYC) are the same. Employers locate in the large cities and don't pay their employees enough to live in the cities. That is a problem calling out for a business like Bridj to address.