Rally Bus Empowers Riders- All About Event Experience
How many of us have wanted to go to an event with friends, but had no way of getting there? Sure, you could use Uber, or Lyft to get you there, or even public transit. But what if you wanted to go to a sporting event, and arrive with your friends at the same time? Well, now you can. Meet Rally Bus. However, if you’re looking for a bus for your trips you might be interested in bus trips to washington dc as well as others.
Rally Bus is crowd-powered travel for the 21st century. The technology connects you with other riders going to the same event or destination, then delivers high-end buses to get you there and back. You have the option of setting up your own trip, inviting your friends to join you, and not worry about anything else. This is not a new idea. Make a reservation, and they send the bus. Don’t you think being together is more comfortable, and more fun? It’s better for the community, the economy, and the planet.
This week, Founder of Rally Bus Numaan Akram took time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions.
Technologist by trade, and raised as an entrepreneur, Numaan built his career consulting for companies large and small. Akram originally conceived Rally Bus as a response to a grassroots rally in DC and personally built a website allowing for social aggregation of trips. Since then, he has applied the concept to events of all kinds by continuing development himself, and drawing on the extensive development partnerships he cultivated through his consultancy.
MF: What inspired you to create Rally Bus?
I was always good at getting people together. The idea for the company came about as we wanted to help make Stewart/Colbert’s Rally to Restore Sanity &/or Fear (Oct 2010) as successful as possible. We built a website and provided the logistics for people to charter buses collectively. We had a charter bus rental Chicago, a bus from Mississippi, even Michigan. We had buses coming from everywhere. We ended up sending 96 buses from 20 states to the rally in Washington, DC and began to apply this crowdsourcing model to every kind of event. Since then, we have realized that people are searching online for alternative ways to get to their events, whether they are out-of-towners who need connections from their hotels or locals who want to avoid paying for parking fees and gas.
MF: What problem are you trying to solve?
When there is no transit available, there is Rally Bus. People want to avoid traffic, parking problems, and congestion. We see ourselves as a green company. Also by using the Rally bus, event-goers can participate in tailgating, enjoy themselves, and not have to worry about driving home. We want to enable people to use these buses in a new way. Buses aren’t a new thing, but they need some shaking up just like any other industry. Let’s get together, and go together.
MF: Discuss any failure or setback you’ve experienced and how you got through it. What’s the key lesson?
We’ve seen everything from flat tires to hurricanes, and our strength throughout any issue has been communication. We have customer service people on the phones, answering emails, and on our social network channels, directly speaking to our customers. People want to be heard and know that you’re working on the issue as they are dealing with it, and as long as you do that, people are forgiving of the issues that come up.
MF: Do you have a message for our audience, that they could take away with them?
Rally Bus is empowering people to get to events in a smarter way. We’re all going to the event to get together, Rally Bus thinks we should get there together too.
Rally Bus provides a platform for fans to get together and go. Find your event, sign up and spread the word: they’ll send a bus anywhere there’s enough people.
MF: What’s your best piece of entrepreneurial advice in one sentence?
That everyone has ideas. It’s really all about execution.
About:
Rally Bus is a crowd-sourced, on-demand travel company. People traveling to special events, such as concerts or football games, find us online as they search for travel options to their destinations. They tentatively reserve a seat on a Rally Bus trip, which is confirmed after we meet a minimum number of reservations. Rally Bus helps eventgoers enhance the special day experience, as they meet like- minded fans in a motor coach driven by a professional.
