I imagine there are downsides though - if you're using it to get to work then surely your journey time is variable?
[1]http://www.floating-content.net/~esa/pub/files/jokinen-fists...
I don't care if it even takes longer than my current commute. I'll definitely use this if it means I get a seat, or am not in a uber crowded bus or subway. That's assuming they don't operate like a normal bus and squeeze as many people in, of course.
If you live in Takoma Park, DC, and commute to Rockville, Maryland, the public transit option is a bus to a train to a bus for 1.5 hours (if it's on time, not accounting for getting from the house to the bus stop). But the drive is 23 minutes! With Kutsuplus you request your destination and it'll send the next shuttle that's going to Rockville to you.
Even if you have to wait 30 minutes for it to arrive it's still much shorter than public transit, and cheaper, and doesn't require waiting outside for a bus or train. The typical cost for that route is over $6.50 each way! (for comparison, the daily train from Baltimore to DC is $7) But a Kutsuplus could use dynamic pricing ala Uber to change the cost along demand/efficiency. A route that uses mainly highway miles going away from the beltway should be considerably cheaper than going through the city or towards the beltway, in the morning, and cheaper in the opposite direction at night, due to common DC traffic patterns.
My main observation was that your circuity factor (the time deviation from direct travel time) was always larger the earlier you booked. So if you booked your trip online a week in advance, it appears they would assign your request to a van, and then as other new 'relevant' requests came in, they would get added on.
Essentially, your trip became the 'anchor' that drove the overall schedule. So depending on your trip characteristics, the best strategy appears to book on the day!
They get a little fee, plus the appearance of a fuller looking lot (they look like a more popular hotel), you get dirt cheap parking and a shuttle back and forth to your car.
You have to call around a bit to see if a hotel offers it or not, but once you find one that does, it can be a great deal.
With an app tracking the location of the bus, you'd at least get advance warning if the bus is off schedule, and maybe even estimated pick-up and arrival times.