If you’re in Iowa City and waiting for a bus, Iowa City Transit’s Bus on the Go app makes it easy to use your smartphone to find out when your bus will arrive. And if you’re waiting for one of Washington, DC’s terrific Circulator buses or Metro trains, you can use the “Where’s My Bus?” or “Next Train Arrival” app…
But not all transit riders are so fortunate. In fact, a review of 276 transit agency systems revealed that only 45 of them provide some information on mobile devices. And of those 45 agencies, only 15 offered their riders the real-time information precise planning requires.
We think we can do better for our nation’s transit riders. So last week, Deputy Secretary John Porcari and U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra gathered a variety of stakeholders to see what we can do to help millions more transit riders get better access to information.