<story><title>Dollar vans, NYC’s other transit system</title><url>https://queenseagle.com/all/dollar-van-transit-system</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>keiferski</author><text>Sounds a bit like Marshrutkas, which are cheap vans that function as the primary “public transit” system in many post-Soviet cities.&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Marshrutka&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Marshrutka&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>mayniac</author><text>I spent a lot of summers as a child in Georgia, and have fond memories of these. At least before the old transit-style vans&amp;#x2F;minibuses were replaced with proper, licensed buses.&lt;p&gt;There was no occupancy limit. The limit is however many people can squeeze into the thing. Bench seats were common, so lots of squeezing.&lt;p&gt;Prices were cheap beyond comparison. $0.05-$0.10 per person to get on any of the city lines, a marshrutka to a town 6 hours away might cost $2-5&lt;p&gt;At least before the internet was commonplace, there weren&amp;#x27;t any maps of marshrutka lines anywhere. People knew which lines went where or asked friends. Failing that you pull the first one you see over and ask.&lt;p&gt;Tbilisi roads are insane, marshrutka drivers were on a whole other level. Minivans are really not designed to be floored from every light and thrown into corners. There&amp;#x27;s a reason nobody cycled on the road there and motorbikes were just as rare: you really do not want to share the road with marshrutka drivers.&lt;p&gt;To my knowledge, there were zero regulations. Sometimes after flagging one down, you&amp;#x27;d hear some really uncomfortable sounds coming from the brakes, or a tyre with visible ply, or a driver who&amp;#x27;s clearly tipsy, and decide not to risk it.</text></comment>
<story><title>Dollar vans, NYC’s other transit system</title><url>https://queenseagle.com/all/dollar-van-transit-system</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>keiferski</author><text>Sounds a bit like Marshrutkas, which are cheap vans that function as the primary “public transit” system in many post-Soviet cities.&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Marshrutka&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Marshrutka&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>samschooler</author><text>Gallineras (or just &amp;quot;bus&amp;quot;) or chicken buses are this concept as a (beautiful) school bus in central and some central American countries. As well as &amp;quot;collectivos&amp;quot; which are the van version.&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Chicken_bus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Chicken_bus&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>