I've witnessed exactly that kind of informal public transport system in cities in Africa. Interesting that it's taken hold in New York.

Doubtless it occurs in numerous other cities, though i'd always assumed it was a developing countries phenomenon (cue joke about Queens).

Yeah I have witnessed that in Sao Paulo and Vilnius, it's an extremely satisfying transportation system (though illegal indeed). I wonder if the high-tech-ness brings such an advantage here.

I used to live off Flatbush in Lefferts Gardens, those vans were fantastic. If they could somehow take hold there are a lot of other routes that would work well.