Via facts Flashcards

Question

Violence by Drivers

Answer 1

Violence by drivers (i.e. Uber's safety report) Similar to Uber they do background checks before hiring and then continuous background checks, take customer complaints seriously escalated to a special team and legal team interviews. • Cameras in vans and cars (can use simple AI to ensure that the camera is showing the inside of the car and not being covered up - don't allow the app to work if the camera doesn't work) • Ask riders to alert Via if their driver doesn't look like the person pictured as the driver --> driver might not have a background check • Notification to Via Ops if a customer's location is off-route • At end of ride can survey if the rider felt safe • Give emergency notification within the app • Note: Can differentiate options if the trip is shared or not --> more cautious or supportive for solo rides

Answer 2

Driver growth and balancing supply and demand to maximize utilization and maximize profits and driver earnings; scaling a 2-sided market place by growing supply and demand simultaneously • Utilization not only for profit's sake, but also because of new regulation in NYC about 31% cruising rate cap • Driver growth challenges with minimum wage laws, fierce competition, cap on number of TLC licenses in NYC, classification as employees o Minimum Wage Laws --> making sure people are actually working who are logged in and collecting paychecks, making sure we don't have too many people on the road collecting $17/hour when we only need a much smaller number of drivers at the moment.

Answer 3

* Paratransit in Norfolk, Virginia -->Need to train drivers really well for paratransit --> it's the only option for people with disabilities, need to train well and provide specialized training * School bus system tech platforms --> training trainers within the DOE * Increasing push for wheelchair accessible vehicles --> need to train drivers on how to use them, how to be respectful and courteous

Answer 4

**Completed:Requested --> Total number of riders that were dropped off at destination (matched, driver and rider didn't cancel, no issues that cut trip short) out of the total number of rides requested --> requires enough cars online, short wait times, drivers accepting trips and not canceling. *Driver Earnings: • Earnings are key lever for supply health --> improve earnings by improving driver utilization --> Uber did yearly price cuts to drive up demand which encouraged drivers to drive more --> can build features into product to promote driver earnings, such as default tips --> the higher the percentage of tipping, the happier drivers are and the more they drive without Via having to pay. • Ride sharing like Via or Uber Pool increases driver utilization --> Productized solutions to get people to tip more. Such as default tips. The higher the percentage of tipping, drivers make more without Uber having to pay more. Driver utilization --> [Total time driving customers a.k.a. "On Trip Time" / Online Hours] --> key to profitability and key to driver's earnings and satisfaction --> ideally the driver is on a continuous trip with at least one rider Monthly Active Platform Customers (MAPC's): Uber had 103M Total # Trips: Uber had 1.7B Gross Bookings: Uber had $16.5B --> break down to understand driver costs including promos to drivers and guarantees to drivers (i.e. give $50 extra if you do 10 trips), rider incentives/promotions; insurance is a big cost (Uber provides insurance for all drivers on a trip --> huge expense in some specific states) Revenue: Uber had $3.8B

Answer 5

Company risks: Ability to manage growth and maintain and improve corporate culture Ability to compete in highly competitive market for riders and drivers --> incentives, promotions, costs of capital versus competitors Losses for unsuccessful new service offerings --> innovating new models and new partnerships Ability to identify, recruit, and retain skilled personnel, including key members of senior management Ability to maintain and protect intellectual property rights Ability to renew licenses to operate in certain jurisdictions; other regulatory risks, such as NYC's ride-sharing cap and CA's law requiring drivers to be classified as employees (Via better set up than competitors, though) o NYC: regulations mandated minimum wage $17.22 an hour across all app-based car services and yellow cabs. In response, prices for the majority of rides into Manhattan will increase by a flat charge of $2.75 more per trip and 75 cents for group rides --> Juno blamed this regulation for their shutting down o NYC: From August 2019: he New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission voted Wednesday to extend its cap on the number of Uber and Lyft vehicles permitted to operate within the city. The commission also amended its rules aimed at limiting the amount of time drivers can cruise without passengers in Manhattan below 96th Street.Last year, the New York City Council voted to halt the issuance of new for-hire vehicle licenses for 12 months. Under the cap, Uber and Lyft could still be granted licenses for wheelchair-accessible vehicles — which both companies sorely lack — but would be prevented from adding new ride-hail vehicles for one year. Today’s vote extends that cap for another 12 months, while also cutting deadheading — or the amount of time drivers spend without passengers in the car — for both companies from 41 percent to 31 percent.The regulations come on top of new minimum wage rules enacted in February, along with a congestion charge for all for-hire vehicles and yellow taxis. Ability to service existing debt Ability to prevent disturbances of IT system, hacking --> especially as shift to EV and AV Ability to defend against any litigation

Answer 6

Transportation services is a $120B market in the US alone (Damodaran) The transportation services market is growing --> hugely successful at changing consumer behavior, bringing in people who used to take mass transit or drive private cars --> reasonable estimate that the market will double in 10 years (Damodaran) Regulation: Requiring companies to classify drivers as employees, minimum wage laws • Minimum wage laws in NY are really tough as the ops team trying to balance supply and demand, but we can't control demand and have no control over supply because they are independent contractors. So Uber instituted caps on the number of drivers they hired to ensure they didn't have too many people they'd have to pay out $17. Can't make riders request more, so can only control the number of drivers. --> The law allows driver to go to a remote area and watch Netflix for three hours and collect $17/hour; need to use data to prevent this, through acceptance rate criteria in order to stay online (can get kicked off). Uber Pool is being phased down/out --> Big opportunity for Via Uber thought Pool would create high utilization and high match rates that would help take advantage of low utilization rates of car. If nobody matches, Uber takes the hit because the rider still gets the discount and the driver makes the same rate. Uber Pool became really expensive, riders didn't appreciate it because it took too long unless the route was really cheap. Now they are raising rates to remove the discount, focusing more on higher margin project (pool will probably not be profitable).

Answer 7

o Fixed contracts for TaaS offerings (corporate or college campuses, etc.) o Fixed contracts for tech licensing o Variable revenue for consumer business and for other per-ride payments such as first/last mile and paratransit --> fees paid by drivers for use of platform and related services (hourly fee taken out of earnings or commission) --> sums to a share of gross billings (if Via riders are charged $1m and Via's revenues on those rides are $250k, then Via's share of gross billings is 25%).

Answer 8

o Corporate work force, operations and support staff o Tech development and maintenance o Licenses, permits to operate in jurisdictions o Corporate real estate and other operating costs o Incentives for riders and other marketing costs, other COGS o Insurance for the company o R&D o Business Development o Financial expenses o --> Via's already doing this to a degree, but the industry trend is to have to treat drivers as employees, which means they have to pay wages and benefits. California already requires it, other states will eventually. Damodaran thinks this means operating profits will drop to 15% steady state.

Answer 9

Via: Profitability: o Revenues:  Product/service mix • Consumer: $/ride in commission from drivers X # of rides (function of matching rider and driver supply-demand) • Platform: Monthly fee from partner? ; fixed contracts for TaaS on college or corporate campuses? • o Costs:  Fixed Costs: • Driver acquisition costs / marketing (outside of per-ride promos) • Rider acquisition costs / marketing (outside of per-ride promos) • Operations, administrative, and other corporate staff wages and benefits --> SGA, Real Estate, R&D, Financing Expenses, etc. • Permits for some cities? • Business development costs  Variable Costs: • Insurance per ride? (or is it an umbrella policy as a FC?) --> huge cost • Per-ride promos for rider acquisition • Per-ride promos and other incentives for driver acquisition, engagement, retention • Carbon pricing on the way? *If pay drivers wages and benefits it will increase operating costs. Damudaran thinks operating profits will decline to steady state of 15% ``` Capabilities: o Rider acquisition / marketing o Driver acquisition / marketing o Technology performance o Sales and partnerships o Complements and Partnerships o Differentiation o Via's financial health o Fleet management  NYC: Vans owned by the partners who rent out to drivers by the hour (4 hr min, most people choose 8+ hours) or by the week --> drivers pick up vehicle and keep for the week. Stations are just off the FDR downtown. Drivers pay for gas. Maintenance included in the rental and insurance (but there's a deductible drivers pay).  NYC private cars: NYC regulated and requires a TLC plate (Camry) (capped at 80,000 for all services) Via serves a lot more rides with fewer base of riders because they are more engaged with hourly pay and keep drivers highly engaged and highly paid. Helps with regulation around "cruising" that NYC is cracking down on. ``` Partners / New Market: • Funding stability • Operational capacity - especially for SaaS platform partnerships since they will ultimately judge our product on how well it works for them even if their operational failures are why our tech doesn't drive the results they want • Commitment • Competition --> are switching costs really low like in NYC? • Regulation Other External: • Competition: Are switching costs really low like in NYC? o Uber/Lyft o Public Transit o Personal Cars • Regulation: Leading to increased operating costs with tighter regulation o NYC minimum wage law o CA law requiring drivers to be classified as employees o Uber's license in London suspended o TLC medallion monopolies o Port authority airport access @ LGA • Market size change --> change in population size or distribution in a city or at a company • Trends in preferences: i.e. Green; frustration with MTA's service • Macroeconomic forces Risks: • Legal • Operational (not meeting expectations, stretched too thin, expand beyond expertise) • Opportunity cost of time and talent • Reputational for operational failure, safety (driving safety, assault, etc.)

Answer 10

Ways to improve efficiency / reduce driver downtime / Routing - improve utilization, driver time management: Route trips away from higher risk areas --> NYPD releases locations of all accidents, fatalities, etc. Bias trip routing away from hot spots to reduce risk of accidents and slowdowns due to accidents Avoid driving crosstown as much as possible Avoid roads with bike lanes when good weather predicted For Flex Mode: Give drivers the ability to tell Via where they want to end up at the end of their shift so the system doesn't give them a ride in the wrong direction as they near the end of their shift. When we don't do this, drivers are more likely to see the details of the trip and cancel, which hurts customer experience. Dynamically adjust how far customers are willing to walk to pickup point based upon: - Circumstances (weather, time of day (perhaps less willing to walk far late at night if drunk or in less populated area) - Individual characteristics (have they cancelled in the past?) Do we have any indication of age or disability? (legal issues? Can they self-identify to help us serve them better?)

Answer 11

There are a lot of immigrant drivers maybe we incentivize by offering language classes or social services offerings (win/win for the company too) Share rider stories  to help motivate by the purpose of their work Ease of use of driver app Can we increase how quickly they can cash out? There are startups that are changing the bimonthly paycheck to weekly or daily. Give drivers the ability to tell Via where they want to end up at the end of their shift so the system doesn't give them a ride in the wrong direction as they near the end of their shift. When we don't do this, drivers are more likely to see the details of the trip and cancel, which hurts customer experience. • Discount as a customer for their own rides --> unlock by driving a certain amount • Partner with other businesses to provide reciprocal benefits that help our drivers --> i.e. provide discounts for LA Subway and Austin Bus System; provide discounts for sporting events or concerts in return for Via promoting transportation to congested events, etc. • Swag/gifts after a certain number of rides • Platinum status after a certain number of rides --> increased hourly rate for more rides within a certain time frame, have to keep up engagement to not lose status • See what riders care about --> the rideshareguy.com Segment drivers by: o Part time versus full time o Highly engagement, medium engagement, low engagement o Those who usually operate in Blue Mode vs. Flex mode o Those who drive own vehicle versus Via branded van

Answer 12

Ways to Recruit New Drivers / Driver Growth: Segment existing drivers by: o Part time versus full time  As Stephen said: • Citizen Drivers: Gig economy, part time, just need a car • Professional Drivers: Need a separate license, comply with regulations, need insurance. Barriers to entry are higher so more likely to work closer to full time. Still, a high proportion of them are immigrants because barriers to entry are comparatively lower than in other jobs. They expect a different level of product experience, compensation, etc. Via built for this model more than Uber/Lyft. • Highly engagement, medium engagement, low engagement • Those who usually operate in Blue Mode vs. Flex mode • Those who drive own vehicle versus Via branded van Segments of potential new drivers: • Existing livery drivers • Existing chauffeurs with reservations several hours apart and time to kill in between • People driving full time for Uber and Lyft right now --> lower commission, option for hourly pay, better driver support operations, more respectful riders (not necessarily as in a rush, in the mindset of sharing versus personal car), higher utilization • People in part time jobs; College/Grad students who have predictable free time • People recently laid off from work or at companies in decline (LinkedIn) • Part time Uber/Lyft drivers --> find them on forums, at airports, etc. • Casual driver who are looking to work for an extra hour a day on way back from work. • Drivers that will lose jobs in legacy public transit systems we replace or that work for competing systems (i.e. NJ Transit drivers near Jersey City) How to target new drivers: • Advertise in places where potential drivers go (buses, target with google ads) • Part time Uber/Lyft/Livery drivers --> find them on forums, at airports, etc. • Referral bonuses --> continue and improve • Promote how much better Via passengers are --> not telling about getting there fastest way, more educated about expectation, not as obnoxious in a shared ride How to know we need more drivers: o First indicator: Completed:Requested can indicate an issue, but won’t tell you that the lack of drivers is the cause of the incomplete rides. o Need to know the # or % of riders who cancel after requesting but before pickup (often indicates wait too long) • Avg wait time from app open to driver match to pickup • Avg deviation of routed ride from a non-Via straight-path trip to destination • Low average driver cruising/downtime (although don't want this number too high because will disengage drivers and run up against regulation in places like NYC) • Segment existing drivers by: o Part time versus full time  As Stephen said: • Citizen Drivers: Gig economy, part time, just need a car • Professional Drivers: Need a separate license, comply with regulations, need insurance. Barriers to entry are higher so more likely to work closer to full time. Still, a high proportion of them are immigrants because barriers to entry are comparatively lower than in other jobs. They expect a different level of product experience, compensation, etc. Via built for this model more than Uber/Lyft. o Highly engagement, medium engagement, low engagement o Those who usually operate in Blue Mode vs. Flex mode o Those who drive own vehicle versus Via branded van Who to prompt to start driving when in need of more drivers: • Highly rated drivers • In the vicinity of the anticipated or real demand • High historical response rates at the current time of day/week when previously prompted Driver Concerns / Barriers to Entry: Need to afford a vehicle at first --> so Via gives $500 to get Metris rental Doubt about earnings --> Show average breakdown of earnings compared to Uber/Lyft Where to park the vehicle you rent, especially in NYC? Especially longer vans?

Answer 13

o Part time versus full time  As Stephen said: • Citizen Drivers: Gig economy, part time, just need a car • Professional Drivers: Need a separate license, comply with regulations, need insurance. Barriers to entry are higher so more likely to work closer to full time. Still, a high proportion of them are immigrants because barriers to entry are comparatively lower than in other jobs. They expect a different level of product experience, compensation, etc. Via built for this model more than Uber/Lyft. • Highly engagement, medium engagement, low engagement • Those who usually operate in Blue Mode vs. Flex mode • Those who drive own vehicle versus Via branded van

Answer 14

Segments of potential new drivers: • Aging, middle-aged, might be aggravated at full time job, or hard to get re-hired. Existing livery drivers • Existing chauffeurs with reservations several hours apart and time to kill in between • People driving full time for Uber and Lyft right now --> lower commission, option for hourly pay, better driver support operations, more respectful riders (not necessarily as in a rush, in the mindset of sharing versus personal car), higher utilization • People in part time jobs; College/Grad students who have predictable free time • People recently laid off from work or at companies in decline (LinkedIn) • Part time Uber/Lyft drivers --> find them on forums, at airports, etc. • Casual driver who are looking to work for an extra hour a day on way back from work. • Drivers that will lose jobs in legacy public transit systems we replace or that work for competing systems (i.e. NJ Transit drivers near Jersey City)

Answer 15

How to target new drivers: • Advertise in places where potential drivers go (buses, target with google ads) • Part time Uber/Lyft/Livery drivers --> find them on forums, at airports, etc. • Referral bonuses --> continue and improve • Promote how much better Via passengers are --> not telling about getting there fastest way, more educated about expectation, not as obnoxious in a shared ride

Answer 16

How to know we need more drivers: o First indicator: Completed:Requested can indicate an issue, but won’t tell you that the lack of drivers is the cause of the incomplete rides. o Need to know the # or % of riders who cancel after requesting but before pickup (often indicates wait too long) • Avg wait time from app open to driver match to pickup • Avg deviation of routed ride from a non-Via straight-path trip to destination • Low average driver cruising/downtime (although don't want this number too high because will disengage drivers and run up against regulation in places like NYC)

Answer 17

Considerations for Expanding / Growing Ridership: Think about the potential market sizes, our capabilities, brand compatibility, is there market share to capture or is the field saturated? Expanding geographies: Boroughs that are not currently providing a lot of Via traffic because people don't know about the service, we haven't convinced them that we are a better option for their needs and price point. Dense cities that we don't currently serve because we haven't yet prioritized putting efforts there or because they had onerous regulation we could try to change. Cities that have needs for our budding platform offerings but not a strong demand for private car or shared van rides. a. Paratransit b. School buses c. First and last mile to light rail or bus depots • Expanding existing services to earn more revenue: o Identify new use cases for current offerings by segmenting demand and potential demand by borough, demographics, etc. o Partner with MTA (or other cities' equivalent) to provide subsidies for transportation to/from transportation deserts like we do in Austin o Make current offerings more efficient, improve margins  statistical process analysis (six sigma), ID bottlenecks o Grow revenue by improving demand via more targeted marketing a. Can we identify where people work and if MTA is sending them on a roundabout way given fixed infrastructure? Perhaps with location data or by asking people to ID their home and workplace in return for a promo --> are there common commuter routes not currently served by the MTA? b. Target people who live in areas with frequent subway delays or subways that are too jam packed to get on the train during rush hour (like where I live) (Google Maps shows this data now)--> especially people who are disabled, elderly, or want to get a seat to work on the train and show them an offer for better transit, we might convert them --> they'd have to self-ID with an incentive c. Target people who live on subway lines that are not served by express trains d. Experiments to run: • Give promos that ping you based upon weather (it's going to be freezing!), location (we see you landed in Chicago, take a Via!), • Beginning or end of month • Email versus in-app push • People referred and people who refer • How does the way we initially attracted a customer affect what gets them to ride more? o Creative promos like Lyft's "Sell your car and we'll give you $250 ride credit" • New Service Ideas: o Special events:  Olympics--> athletes and officials; attendees --> many venues spread throughout a city, many commonly-used hotels  G7 and other international government summits --> same need as in Olympics but fewer visitors  Cross-city conventions (Climate Week, SXSW) Military bases --> can book seats or storage space [more on next page] Adapt the partnership model with Port Authority at LGA to provide affordable rides, with preferential access and publicity, at various types of destinations that are often congested and not easily connected to quality public transit: o Venues for drop off and pickup at events:  Citifield is only connected to the 7 train - doesn't help those in other parts of Queens, Brooklyn, or the Bronx who don't want to go all the way back to midtown Manhattan to get on a train or bus back out to other sections of the outer-boroughs  Flushing for the US Open  Javits Center  The Rockaways during summer holiday weekends Offer a B2B service for companies that want to improve their transit benefits for their employees and/or cut down on real estate costs by locating their offices away from subway lines: o Companies that currently offer cars home --> might want to reduce expense or might want to expand the offering to more employees or at more times with a lower per-ride cost o Companies with offices or plants not easily accessible by public transit --> can provide free or subsidized rides to attract better workers - either private service, or offer a Seamless Enterprise model where riders can automatically charge their company for their rides to and from work as long as the office location is in the destination or origination. o Red Hook o Brooklyn Navy Yard o Brooklyn, Queens, or the Bronx away from train lines o Companies that pay for workers to get

Answer 18

Boroughs that are not currently providing a lot of Via traffic because people don't know about the service, we haven't convinced them that we are a better option for their needs and price point. Dense cities that we don't currently serve because we haven't yet prioritized putting efforts there or because they had onerous regulation we could try to change. Cities that have needs for our budding platform offerings but not a strong demand for private car or shared van rides. a. Paratransit b. School buses c. First and last mile to light rail or bus depots

Answer 19

o Identify new use cases for current offerings by segmenting demand and potential demand by borough, demographics, etc. o Partner with MTA (or other cities' equivalent) to provide subsidies for transportation to/from transportation deserts like we do in Austin o Make current offerings more efficient, improve margins  statistical process analysis (six sigma), ID bottlenecks o Grow revenue by improving demand via more targeted marketing a. Can we identify where people work and if MTA is sending them on a roundabout way given fixed infrastructure? Perhaps with location data or by asking people to ID their home and workplace in return for a promo --> are there common commuter routes not currently served by the MTA? b. Target people who live in areas with frequent subway delays or subways that are too jam packed to get on the train during rush hour (like where I live) (Google Maps shows this data now)--> especially people who are disabled, elderly, or want to get a seat to work on the train and show them an offer for better transit, we might convert them --> they'd have to self-ID with an incentive c. Target people who live on subway lines that are not served by express trains d. Experiments to run: • Give promos that ping you based upon weather (it's going to be freezing!), location (we see you landed in Chicago, take a Via!), • Beginning or end of month • Email versus in-app push • People referred and people who refer • How does the way we initially attracted a customer affect what gets them to ride more? o Creative promos like Lyft's "Sell your car and we'll give you $250 ride credit"

Answer 20

o Special events:  Olympics--> athletes and officials; attendees --> many venues spread throughout a city, many commonly-used hotels  G7 and other international government summits --> same need as in Olympics but fewer visitors  Cross-city conventions (Climate Week, SXSW) Military bases --> can book seats or storage space [more on next page] Adapt the partnership model with Port Authority at LGA to provide affordable rides, with preferential access and publicity, at various types of destinations that are often congested and not easily connected to quality public transit: o Venues for drop off and pickup at events:  Citifield is only connected to the 7 train - doesn't help those in other parts of Queens, Brooklyn, or the Bronx who don't want to go all the way back to midtown Manhattan to get on a train or bus back out to other sections of the outer-boroughs  Flushing for the US Open  Javits Center  The Rockaways during summer holiday weekends Offer a B2B service for companies that want to improve their transit benefits for their employees and/or cut down on real estate costs by locating their offices away from subway lines: o Companies that currently offer cars home --> might want to reduce expense or might want to expand the offering to more employees or at more times with a lower per-ride cost o Companies with offices or plants not easily accessible by public transit --> can provide free or subsidized rides to attract better workers - either private service, or offer a Seamless Enterprise model where riders can automatically charge their company for their rides to and from work as long as the office location is in the destination or origination. o Red Hook o Brooklyn Navy Yard o Brooklyn, Queens, or the Bronx away from train lines o Companies that pay for workers to get

Answer 21

The app tells me I have two minutes to talk a couple of blocks to the pickup stop. I don't know which direction to go, I can't see the street signs a long distance away to compare to the map and I don't know which direction is which. I start walking one direction and my phone doesn't have the precision to know exactly where I am and which direction I'm facing (this happened to me last week) - almost missed my pickup and I was hustling --> Show step by step directions with streetview images, alert you if going the wrong direction --> will speed up pickups, less waiting, fewer missed pickups, more $

Answer 22

Can we go electric before Uber/Lyft, install or contract to EV chargers to market ourselves as Greener than our competitors? How many vehicles do you need to have? Working with partners to manage supply. Vehicles are a resource. Adding more vehicles will only affect process performance if it’s the bottleneck i.e. if we have more drivers than we have vehicles for them to drive.  but need to build slack in the system to ensure that maintenance doesn’t prevent a driver from getting a van if they want one. Look at the peak # of drivers desired per hour under various conditions (i.e. weather) over the course of a period of time (consider seasonality, weather, special events, proximity to special events and holidays). Multiply that peak demand by a variability coefficient.

Answer 23

Need to first determine what percent of demand we want to meet within number of minutes of a request for a ride • --> If we want 100% of customers to be picked up within 3 minutes we will need many drivers on the road, but this will likely mean that there will be more drivers waiting for riders to request rides, lowering their utilization and their pay and their engagement (if Flex) or lowering our profits (if Blue). • If we have fewer drivers to keep utilization high and revenue per driver high, then we risk customers cancelling their request and taking our competitors because they can get an Uber much more quickly, and we lose a sale and maybe a customer. • I'm sure Via has a theory for the % of riders that should be picked up within X minutes. o If I had to calculate that: I'd want to plot all the ride requests next to all the ride requests that resulted in a rider cancelling their request and I'd want to identify the tipping point at which we significantly lose riders. I would then want to model how much we'd have to pay in hourly wages to have additional drivers to reduce the pickup time if we routed them to the areas that were lacking a driver nearby. Compare the lost revenue and the additional cost to find the point at which it makes sense to keep a rider waiting. o Big assumptions here: 1. That riders are going to keep flipping through all the apps each time they need a ride and so there's little risk of giving up a customer's single ride because we can get them to look at us the next time. I'm not sure that's the case for Via like it is for Uber/Lyft -- we probably have to model in there the customer's lifetime value rather than the cost of a single lost ride. Here's a much simpler approach to the problem to get a first order estimate: • # of people looking for rides over the course of a shift (assume 100) • Average length of a ride (assume 10 minutes) • Assuming that all riders will be picked up at the same time --> this approach will underestimate the number of drivers needed and will reduce wasted pay. Assuming no downtime @ pickup and that the average time per ride factors in traffic accurately. • Total number of minutes needed to serve riders = 10 (minutes per ride) X 100 (passengers requesting rides = 1000 min • Total number of minutes needed to serve (1000) / Avg occupancy of the 6 passenger van (assume 3 passengers at a time) --> 1000/3 --> divided by the number of hours per driver shift (8 hours) • Calculation: (1000/3) / 8 hour shift = number of drivers needed for evenly distributed demand I don't think 100 percent of passengers will use Via, they will use other services if their wait time is too long or if the weather is poor and they have to walk far (dynamically adjust for how far people are willing to walk in different circumstances? --> must have data about when people book and cancel in quick succession?)