Listen to this articleChaser’s parent company is the Interstate Traveler Co. LLC of Michigan starting out in 2002 with the world-wide hydrogen super highways project to build elevated magnetic levitation rail infrastructure systems which has been a multi-million dollar global effort of educating decision makers on the facts about sustainable development, solar and hydrogen systems, fuel cells, etc.. As people can imagine pushing solar and hydrogen and maglev as early as 2002 was a very hard job and very controversial to say the least. Along the way they always found themselves in dialog about integrating surface transportation systems and helping government officials understand the costs and limitations of bus rapid transit. Then a few years ago they were asked point blank if they could build and sell buses to clients over seas and that set them on the path to building the Chaser.
Below is our interview with Justin Eric Sutton, the Founder and Managing Partner of the Interstate Traveler Company, LLC:
Q: You’ve recently decided to go live on Crowdfunder.com for Seed Stage Capital Investment; could you tell us something more?
A: Yes, when the idea for the Chaser first came together about three years ago, we originally planned to keep the project in-house, yet with all the international dialog we were having for hydrogen infrastructure we realized the demand for bus rapid transit was huge and growing fast so we decided to spin the project off as a separate company and see what would happen in the crowd funding space. We chose crowdfunder after careful study of the great efforts that were put forth by their founders to make it even possible for online equity sales, along with the amazing success of the companies that have been launched on CF. Looking at the global market for new bus delivery approaching 630,000 units a year, we target an early market penetration of 1% in the first three years of production to deliver 6,300 Units a year, and reach 5% market penetration in ten years for a production rate of 31,500 Chasers per year. We are excited and hopeful that Crowdfunder.com is the best venue to launch this enterprise.
Recommended: veliSo Solves Cycling Problems With Intelligent Tech Solutions
Q: The Chaser seems to be a radical departure from typical bus design, could you explain this?
A: When we set out to build the Chaser one of the first things that we realized is the struggle of getting on and off of a standard city bus. Having to climb up a narrow set of stairs and struggle down a narrow aisle-way bumping into fellow passengers and often not even getting a seat having to stand and hold on to bars or straps so you don’t fall over or fall into a fellow passenger. With my own personal experience on city buses and several large subway systems here in America we thought the best thing to do was to flip the script, remove the isle-way and give that space back to the Traveler with wider more comfortable seats. When we realized we could do that and still build a bus that would fit inside a standard ISO shipping container we knew we had something unique and valuable that could be shipped fast and cheap to any place on the planet in complete security. What became the best feature from this readical design change is that the Chaser will exceed ADA requirements for wheel chair access. The modular construction allows the owner/operator to have multiple wheel chair ramps without disurpting normal operations which has never before been possible for traditional bus designs.
Q: What is the biggest lack of public transport?
A: From our experience consulting with transportation professionals around the world, the first and biggest lack is simple availability. Because of the costs, most BRT systems are limited and only serve a small part of the population and because of size some of the oldest and largest cities in the world they find it impossible to use standard city buses as we know them here in America. The Chaser is designed to reduce the cost of purchase, cost of maintenance and increase accessibility and comfort. We hope to set a trend as when older city buses are ready to be replaced the operators will replace them with two Chasers for the price of one city bus that will increase availability and increase the accessibility for under-served communities. The demand is huge and no matter how optimistic the market may be, it is not realistic to think that everyone will own a car as our cities grow and become more densely populated. The people need access to mobility and the Chaser will answer the call.
Recommended: TrackR Raises $50M Series B Funding To Further Expand Its Platform
Q: Why do you think now is a good time for a solution like Chaser?
A: The timing is perfect for the Chaser as an investment because the existing bus market is growing so fast there is a giant gaping whole in production capacity of the old fashioned buses and tens of thousands of those old buses are quickly reaching their end of life and need to be replace, and with the revolution of ride-share programs like Uber and Lyft a transportation system like the Chaser is a perfect fit.
Q: What are your plans for the future?
A: Keeping our eyes on the horizon we know that surface transportation will continue to grow for decades, yet, we also know that the future of automated driver-less vehicles and air-born transportation systems is upon us and we have plans to grow into those future markets in the years to come.
Activate Social Media:
