Modernize public transit.
Reduce inequality.

TransitOPS fights income, social, and health inequality by making public transit more usable for all riders.

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TransitOPS is a non-profit organization that provides services to public transit agencies that modernize technology, reduce vendor lock-in, and lower costs.

The TransitOPS transit data platform gets schedule changes, travel diversions, vehicle locations, arrival times, and unplanned disruption information to riders quickly, improving service and customer experience.

Big Picture

The benefits and burdens of public transportation have a more significant impact on historically under-invested populations.

While government agencies are aware of this, the pace of technical change in the era of Uber and Google Maps has made it hard to meet rider expectations.

Our Approach

TransitOPS recognizes that public transit agencies manage complex technical systems and infrastructure, frequently connected through years of patchwork and under-investment.

TransitOPS provides an affordable approach to improving rider experience by improving and adding to existing technology.

Track Record

TransitOPS founders currently work as consultants at the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority, which runs five transit modes serving millions of riders.

The TransitOPS approach has been piloted, launched, and is fully operational in Massachusetts, providing timely, relevant information to riders and operations staff.

Case StudyClosing the Bus Prediction Equity Gap
Employing multiple technology interventions to get bus arrival times predictions on par with subway predictions.
Case StudyOvercoming Transit Software Vendor Limitations During COVID-19
The TransitOPS founders and other MBTA consultants managed to pull raw messages from a vendor system to provide useful information about the immediate risk of each bus due to passenger crowding.
Case StudyHow a Modern Transit Data Platform Can Improve Bus Service
Modernizing the tools used by bus dispatchers and inspectors to enable rapid service adjustments.

The Transit Data Platform

Combining transit data to support better service

Transit Data Platform
Public transit agencies are continually generating data as they provide service to riders, such as:
  • vehicle locations and diagnostics
  • schedule information
  • arrival/departure predictions
  • rider boardings/exits
  • fare interactions
  • customer feedback
  • reports from operators and other staff
  • disruptions
  • traffic
  • shuttles
  • alerts

Frequently this data exists in separate silos making it difficult to combine to support better service. Some may be in proprietary vendor software, managed by different teams within an agency, or not collected in the first place. Getting the data to the right locations can be a spaghetti-like mess.

The TransitOPS Data Platform provides the infrastructure and software to ingest this data, process it into consistent formats (such as GTFS and GTFS-RealTime), and publish it to riders and staff. The data gets monitored and observed so that agencies notice data issues before their riders do. This platform allows consistent real-time data everywhere from public transit websites to 3rd-party apps, holding vendors accountable and freeing up staff for higher-value work.