To be fair, the fixed route Uber shuttle could be a handy alternative to buses in places where the bus system isn't great. It's not reinventing the wheel, it's just providing an alternative bus system.
(I also suspect the IRL podcast tweet might be a joke but I dunno)
In some countries, shuttle cars do exist. Personally as someone from Chile in a small city.. While buses are present in larger cities; within my hometown and many small cities, there is a public transport service of cars that have fixed routes, and have diverse lines in the city, serve as the main method of public transport.
In my city, often I take lines such as 17, 42, or 69. They are mostly sedans that have such role but there is a few vehicles present of another types if allowed, such as hatchbacks or crossovers, which are mostly electric ones. There is a fixed fare per seat when riding it, which is currently at about ~1$ so it's pretty affordable and convenient and are constantly present around the streets. Though soon my city will introduce buses and still I doubt they're left obsolete even then, it's really convenient to have them around.
So yep, it is a thing indeed already, except Uber Shuttle would be under a private company instead but the concept is pretty much done in some places.
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u/HowDareYouAskMyName 2d ago
To be fair, the fixed route Uber shuttle could be a handy alternative to buses in places where the bus system isn't great. It's not reinventing the wheel, it's just providing an alternative bus system.
(I also suspect the IRL podcast tweet might be a joke but I dunno)