Chariot expands in S.F. and eyes Seattle, London, Toronto

Commuter-shuttle service Chariot is adding routes at home while setting its sights on an ambitious national and international expansion.

The company has long solicited route ideas from prospective riders and allowed them to sign up for proposed routes.

(It is seeking approval from regulators to take commuters between counties, which it currently cannot do.) Once requests hit a certain number in an area, vans will start serving it.

At its Citizens Advisory Council meeting in March, the agency said it is considering requiring a private transit vehicle permit for Chariot, which would include a review of its routes, stops, fees and administrative penalties.

The agency may also require private bus services to have safety training for drivers, provide ridership and location data and offer equal access to people with disabilities.

Chariot provides training for drivers and allows people with disabilities to request a wheelchair ramp.

Analysts said that while the service meets a need among commuters, it also risks creating a two-tiered transportation system divided by income.

Susan Shaheen, co-director of UC Berkeley’s Transportation Sustainability Research Center, said that while companies like Chariot can in theory complement existing public transit by reducing crowds at peak periods, it’s not clear whether that’s happening to any significant extent.

“What we are seeing is it is possibly competing with public transit so much that it hurts the ability of public transit to play a role,” she said.

Software engineer Ajay Prakash, 28, who lives and works in Potrero Hill, has a bus stop in front of his office building and often takes public transit to get to the Mission and Financial districts.