Stupid Question: It is this a business opportunity? How about a few parked buses? I know this goes nowhere (like the hypothetical buses), but if somebody starts renting parked-bus seats for $5 a night: is this a better situation than the actual one? It is something "good" to be done?
Not to discount intentions, but I cringed when I read "Is this a business opportunity?" I feel it's a bit uncouth to say something like that in regards to taking money from homeless people. Maybe an opportunity for a non-profit or social services to do something, but a for-profit business? I hope not.
The bus line is now "taking money". When you're for-profit, the homeless it is a paying customer and keeps his dignity. The hidden cost of non-profit or social services is dignity.
If the service wouldn't otherwise exist, is it really so bad that a business makes money off of it? The homeless still have a choice to use it or not, and a non-profit can come along and 'compete' if they are able to provide the service for a lower cost.
That said, I do agree that it 'feels' a little weird to try and make money off of the homeless.
