Jake Sion

COO @transitapp

[Sheel Mohnot @pitdesi]

One app I really miss: @Detour

It was an immersive podcast experience that blended storytelling with location- you’d walk through a city while an amazing narrator (like Ken Burns) guided you, syncing their voice to your exact position... you could do them at your own speed, the audio would work even if you walked faster.

It felt like being inside a documentary, with local voices, hidden histories, and personal anecdotes unfolding as you moved.

It was founded by @andrewmason (post-Groupon)... at the time (10 yrs ago) it was one of the best demos I’d ever gotten. Intimate, place-based audio.

I think it probably struggled as a business (not sure how you acquire customers for a travel app like this), was acquired and shut down by Bose in 2018. No replacement has captured that magic for me since.

They spun out the tech that they used to build it, and it became @descript (audio & video editor)

You could make a better version today with AI, personalized to the user.

Imagine: NYC, by Lin-Manuel Miranda
Mumbai, by Suketu Mehta
the sounds of Reykjavík, by Bjork
A foodie tour of Rome, by Massimo Bottura
Mexico City Taco Truck Tour, by Rick Bayless

[Transit @transitapp]

💰 It’s budget season, and many transit agencies are facing critical funding shortfalls! 🚨

We’ve mobilized riders in…

🚃 Vancouver
🚌 Kansas City
🚋 San Francisco
🚎 Pittsburgh

… to speak up through local advocacy campaigns and save public transit in their cities! 📢

[Jake Sion @jakeasion]

My heart is breaking for the innocent people brutally murdered by Hamas, and for all those taken hostage 🇮🇱💔

Sending love to everyone senselessly suffering because of these terrorist attacks

עם ישראל חי

[Transit @transitapp]

Rats. They're everywhere.

But mostly in New York.

We asked Transit riders to tell us when they saw rat(s) at a subway station, ran the numbers, and found which @mta stations had the most tails on the rails.

Behold, the great NYC Subway Rat Detector: https://t.co/NOapzJU7Gs 🐀

[Jake Sion @jakeasion]

Most transit agencies communicate detours as big blocks of confusing text.

Often, the alerts are designed more for bus drivers and make no sense to riders. Right on Main St, left on 1st Av, right on Oak St..🤔

We're helping them make that experience so much simpler

[Transit @transitapp]

What you expected:
🚏🚏🚏🚏🚏🚌

What you got:
🚏❌❌❌🚏🚌

Bus detours: they're everywhere. When you find your stop's been moved? It's often too late. 😤

If only we could detect detours automatically... 🤯

Live first in MTL, in a collab with @stminfo https://t.co/AWmhT57trN

[Transit @transitapp]

Ten years of Transit. Wow.

From the (very-deep-subway) depths of our hearts, thank you for riding with us.

Tonight we'll blow out a candle and enter our double-digit era. Our wish? More 🚲, more 🚌, more 🚈.

Bisous,
Transit 🎈👋

[Transit Partners @transitpartners]

✅ Transit-branded masks
✅ Transit-branded videos
✅ Transit-branded brochures
✅ Transit-branded furniture
🪴 Transit-branded... plants? (they *are* green)

But most importantly...

👋 Our crew is here! Come say « allô » anytime at Booth 264.

https://t.co/yeX27IyOZi

#APTAexpo

[eric goldwyn @ericgoldwyn]

In early 2022, @alon_levy, @elifensari, & I are going to hire someone, who can help us figure out how to build high speed rail along the northeast corridor for less than $100 billion. We want to learn from other countries and apply those lessons to the US. Get in touch!

[Jake Sion @jakeasion]

Data here: https://t.co/YSYbQPd6Vk

[Jake Sion @jakeasion]

NYT framing of the cycling revolution in Paris: “…need for solutions to the deaths that have resulted from the free-for-all in the streets”

2020: 1 🚶‍♂️killed by a cyclist vs 44 road deaths by motor vehicles.

But it’s the bikes causing anarchy, right?

https://t.co/QuSe8WVCBK

[Transit @transitapp]

Today we're launching something new.

You've probably wondered at some point, "how does Transit make money???"

Well... business models are hard. We've thought about ours a lot. (A LOT.)

And we're going with one that puts transit riders first: https://t.co/8CaTp3DIMe

[Andrew Salzberg 🇺🇦 @andrewsalzberg]

I’m launching a newsletter on decarbonizing transportation. Transportation is an enormous (and growing) source of emissions, and we’re nowhere near figuring it out. We’re not even having the conversation. I’d love to have you sign up: https://t.co/dtqwwyQlnd

[john gordon @j6ordon]

I’m so dang happy to announce this collaboration. This will be a huge win for Metro customers. https://t.co/5afJu0caA8

[Jake Sion @jakeasion]

@Cecile_Lecoq Thanks Cécile!

[Jake Sion @jakeasion]

We’re also opening up the raw data to other organizations - transit agencies, researchers, the media etc. - so that they can build on our work. Request it at https://t.co/SzqxLpqyEt

[Transit @transitapp]

Demand for public transit seems to have bottomed out. It's down 74% across the board.

And with fewer things to rush to, "rush hour" has virtually disappeared.

You can see how demand has changed, hour-by-hour, city-by-city, with customizable charts here: https://t.co/VwiBWDzpnz

[Transit @transitapp]

Demand for public transit is down 61%, according to our stats. Despite this, transit agencies continue to be a lifeline for people who NEED to travel.

Here you can see real-time demand in different cities. Agencies need our help — let's lend them a hand. https://t.co/VwiBWDzpnz

[Transit @transitapp]

We have new policy muscle at Transit! And that muscle is a brain. A warm welcome to @andrewsalzberg, our new (and first!) policy advisor. He’ll be using his urbanist nun-chucks to help us unaddict cities from their cars.

We talk all things 🚲🛴🚆🚍🚘 ici: https://t.co/vAcfXG6GEF

[Big Blue Bus | A City of Santa Monica Service @SMBigBlueBus]

😍Our favorite app just got better! You can now use @transitapp to buy BBB Single Ride tickets! 😱🙌

⏬Download Transit today at: https://t.co/IfUlGFQJee #SkiptheWait

@santamonicacity @SaMoPlanning @SustainableSM @GoSantaMonica @AskGoSaMo @tokentransit

[David Zipper @DavidZipper]

An experiment to watch:

"[The] plan...envisions “mobility hubs” clustered near transit stops throughout Pittsburgh. There, travelers would find...bike-share stations, Zipcar vehicles, Waze carpool pickup spots, and...e-bikes and scooters from Spin."

https://t.co/BOtgz6gicF

[Arvind Narayanan @random_walker]

My university just announced that it’s dumping Blackboard, and there was much rejoicing. Why is Blackboard universally reviled? There’s a standard story of why "enterprise software" sucks. If you’ll bear with me, I think this is best appreciated by talking about… baby clothes!