jitney

[Drew Danielson]

OK, first let me acknowledge that my grammar tanked in my last message.
I hereby "grammar-flame" myself.

I did some reading on the word "jitney" yesterday.  From what I was able
to dig up on the Internet, it generally refers to independently-owned or
private vans or small buses that usually follow a fixed route.  But
sites that describe a "jitney" in Pittsburgh consistently refer to
independently-owned, for-hire cars (with drivers).  In an informal
interview with a Pittsburgher at the gas station where I bought some
cigarettes last night the gentleman stated, "Pittsburgh's cornered the
market on jitneys."

I wasn't able to find this definition in connection to other cities
(searching on google.com for "jitney" "[name of city]").  The Victoria
Transport Policy Institute defines "jitney" thusly, "[j]itney services
use vans or small buses to provide self-financing, privately operated
transit service."  In this case, it's used as a technical term for a
type of shuttle service.

Note:  In my searching, I found that there's a play by August Wilson
about a Pittsburgh jitney driver currently playing on Broadway (it's
called: "Jitney").