Competitive Analysis

Introduction

Boulder is a town that provides plenty of options for public transportation. It is also a college town in which many students like to go out to the bars located on Pearl Street; because of this, driving while under the influence is a very prevalent problem in Boulder. In 2005, there were 109 DUI’s reported by the CU-Boulder Police Department (Crime Reports and Statistics, n.d.). It is important to contribute to the effort to keep drunk drivers off the road and to keep students safe. A way to keep drunk drivers off the road and students safe is to have a bike service that shuttles up to four people at a time up and down Pearl St. and to The Hill if needed. The bike business will offer a unique and fun way of transportation to those who need it. There are no direct competitors that transport directly on Pearl St., but there are several indirect competitors.

Analysis

The first and probably most relevant competitor is the taxi service in Boulder. Several include Boulder Freedom Cabs, Boulder Yellow Cab, Boulder 4x4 Ride Services, Yellow Cab (Boulder Transportation, n.d.). These alternatives are a bit more expensive than students who are working to go to school can afford. Another problem with taxis is having to wait for the taxi. All of these taxi services are open 24 hours, which is an advantage because many transportation services are not open 24 hours.

Another competitor is the bus service in Boulder. Boulder has an excellent public transportation system and has a bus service pretty much anywhere you need to go. Several include the Hop, Skip, Jump, Bound, Stampede, Dash and Bolt. The main competitor is the Hop because it travels along Pearl St. The Hop travels through downtown Boulder (Pearl St.), through the CU campus, and along the 29th Street Mall. During the weekdays it runs from 5:30 am to 10 pm every 8-15 minutes, and on Thursday through Saturday runs until 3am every 30 minutes. It is $1.75 per person and free for students if they show a valid student ID( Bus Schedules, n.d.). Many students like to ride the Hop because it is free and it travels to the main living areas (dormitories, the Hill, Downtown).

Night Ride is a CU program that provides free nighttime rides to CU-Boulder students anywhere in the Boulder city limits and is funded by student fees. The rides are free with a valid student I.D. (NightRide, 2005) Although this form of transportation is not used as much as the others, it is a strong competitor especially because it targets students and is free. Many students are not aware of this service and this many be why it isn’t as prevalent as the other forms of transportation.

Conclusion

All of the above competitors are very strong and popular among students. All are free for students, except the taxi services, which is why they are such important competitors.

The taxi service in Boulder runs 24 hours which is important to students