Dollar Van

A dollar van (also known as Commuter Van or Jit Ney) is a privately owned transportation vehicle used to carry passengers. Dollar vans typically operate in neighborhoods within a city, such as New York City, that are under-served by public Mass Transit or Taxi-s. Some of the dollar vans in Queens are licensed and regulated, while others operate illegally without licenses. Passengers may board them at designated stops along their route or hail them as share taxis (although the latter practice may be technically illegal). The name comes from the fact that it would only cost about one dollar or so to ride with such transit. Dollar vans are primarily owned and used by inner-city African/Caribbean American, Latino, and Asian American populations. The vehicles used range from 15-seat Ford Econolines to 29-seat minibuses.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dollar_van

http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/dollar_van/

BrooklynVanLines application process in 1997: Mr. Dear said the Council had opposed the application because Brooklyn Van Lines did not meet the legal criteria for operation of a commuter service. Such a service, he said, has to have a designated route, cannot operate along Transit Authority (MTA) bus routes and cannot allow its drivers to pick up passengers who hail them. He also said the rejection had passed overwhelmingly because the Mayor's office did not complete the necessary studies nor provide a comprehensive plan of how commuter vans would fit into the transit system.

http://www.streetsblog.org/2009/04/13/transit-service-shrinking-get-ready-for-the-rise-of-the-dollar-van/

2014: a brief history of Jit Ney-s

cf MaxiTaxi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxi_taxi