Transit (app)

Transit is a mobile app providing real-time public transit data. The app functions in over 175 metropolitan areas around the world.

Description
Transit was designed for aggregating and mapping real-time public transit data, crowdsourcing user data to determine the true location of buses and trains. Transit was first released in 2012 for iPhone and soon after launched the Android-compatible version.

The app offers users schedules and alerts for multiple modes of transportation where available, including bus and rail. Transit was developed in Montreal, Quebec, Canada by Sam Vermette and Guillaume Campagna with the goal of minimizing the need for individuals to own vehicles in cities.

Transit is in direct competition with other transit mapping services such as Moovit and Citymapper, as well as general mapping services that also provide transit data such as Google Maps, Bing Maps, and Apple Maps.

Current Transit app executives are Chief Executive Officer Sam Vermette and Chief Business Officer David Block-Schachter. In 2018, Transit raised $17.5 million. The majority of investments came from auto manufacturers. The lead investor was Alliance Ventures. Others included Jaguar Land Rover's venture capital fund, InMotion Ventures, Accel, and Real Ventures.

Features
Transit is compatible with car-sharing and ride-hailing apps such as Uber, Lyft, Via, and Ola, along with multiple bike-share systems. In April 2018, the app expanded to include scooter-sharing systems in four American cities. The app provides users with a color-coded system that matches colors with modes of transportation in order for users to quickly associate a color with the mode of transportation they are monitoring.

In February 2019, the Transit app released an update that allows users to look up bus and train schedules for their whole city even without a data connection, or determine if a bike-sharing station has bikes available. Even when users are offline, they are able to find the nearest public transport stops and map their journey.

Supported regions
Transit is supported in 16 countries across the globe including Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, New Zealand, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Within the United States, Transit can be used in 270 regions.

Partners
Transit supports multiple mobile ticketing platforms including Token Transit and Masabi. Users are only required to input their payment information into the app one time, and then able to purchase ride and bike-share passes within the app's interface.

Endorsers
Transit has partnered with public agencies around the world to become their official or endorsed multimodal app. Agencies that have endorsed the app include:
 * Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
 * BC Transit
 * Central Ohio Transit Authority
 * Capital Area Transportation Authority
 * Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation
 * Société de transport de l'Outaouais
 * OC Transpo
 * Green Mountain Transit (Vermont)
 * Halifax Transit
 * Los Angeles Metro (Metro)
 * Maryland Transit Administration
 * Société de transport de Montréal
 * Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority
 * Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority
 * Pittsburgh Regional Transit
 * Santa Monica Big Blue Bus
 * TransLink
 * Utah Transit Authority
 * Calgary Transit
 * Golden Gate Transit
 * Pioneer Valley Transit Authority