Not exactly. Vanpool is a mainstay of metropolitan commuting in the United States but it's an implementation that's well behind the times. Check out Seattle's for an example.

Basically the way it currently works is:

1) The city buys a bunch of vans

2) You round up a bunch of people whose commute is similar to yours

3) You apply for the city to loan you a van

4) You become a bus driver for whoever is on your vanpool

5) profit

Right now it's subsidized by a varying patchwork of city, state and federal funds (if I'm not mistaken). Chariot, which I'd never heard of, apparently goes through Steps 1 through 4 for you and takes (5) for itself. It's one of those forehead-smacking ideas: vanpool works gangbusters but setting up vanpool is a bitch. Chariot (and now Ford) are basically saying "we'll do that for a living" and using the already-available subisidies to increase profits and undercut the rideshares.

'cuz here's the thing about rideshare: it's versatile and handy. But here's the thing about rideshare: there's no advantage in giving up the versatility. If you're going to the same place five days a week and staying there for eight or nine hours, vanpool is the way to go. And if you're Chariot, the fact that you've got 100 vans instead of 1 actually allows you to offer more wriggle room on scheduling and routing.

This is a company that deserves to win. The money is already there. Their service is basically expediting an already desired civic effect. They're competing in an open arena with no monopoly concerns - theoretically, a city could still buy the vans and lease it to whomever wanted to play. It's actually really exciting.