I remember jitney's in Pgh !! In the 70's I used to ride in jitney cars with my mother to get back from the grocery store. In some cities, "jitneys" are called "hacks"-- unlicensed cab drivers driving their own cars. Perfectly safe if they're neighborhood folks that you know.

There used to be a similar/related practice called "slugging" as well, it seems to have faded as Uber rose up.