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New TTC mobile app, help needed...

amaan

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Our team at Sameboat (we're a Toronto-based startup) is in the process of developing a mobile app for Toronto transit riders.

We've put together a short survey that we'd like to distribute and were wondering if you could help us out by filling it out and sharing it with your friends and family.

We'd really appreciate your help and any feedback. Don't hesitate to PM me for more details or just send an email to info@sameboat.co.

sameboat-logo.png

Everyone's in the sameboat, let's change the way we move together!

Transit survey: http://sameboat.co/survey
Sameboat: http://sameboat.co
 
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I completed the survey. One thing stood out. When asked if we're willing to pay for an app like this, the survey mentions "monthly". Well, your app will be dead-on-arrival if you want to charge monthly for a service like that. Most people expect it to be free from the TTC but are willing to buy an app since the TTC doesn't provide one. But paying monthly is a dead end idea -- specially if we're being asked to contribute reports on the state of vehicles and infrastructure.
 
I completed the survey. One thing stood out. When asked if we're willing to pay for an app like this, the survey mentions "monthly". Well, your app will be dead-on-arrival if you want to charge monthly for a service like that. Most people expect it to be free from the TTC but are willing to buy an app since the TTC doesn't provide one. But paying monthly is a dead end idea -- specially if we're being asked to contribute reports on the state of vehicles and infrastructure.

Android runs ads on their "free apps," great way to make money without charging the user.
 
^ so does iOS. I'm willing to pay for an app that I use often, specially if it doesn't have ads. Right now, I'm not using an app at all. The NextBus mobile site works very well, though I'd be happy to start using a well designed app based on NextBus' pinpoint accurate data.
 
How would this differ from the 3 existing TTC apps plus Google Transit?

Thanks for your comment, EnviroTO.

We're still trying to determine what our end-product will be, however, basically we're developing interactive media that will allow riders to access transit information and be able to share content that everyone can benefit from as well, including the TTC. To our knowledge, nothing in Toronto does that right now in a significant way.

We've taken cue from some of the transit and Web 2.0 research that's come out of Carnegie Mellon University and Susan Bregman's report on social media and public transportation but before we go ahead and launch our platform, there's a lot of market research we need to do.
 
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I completed the survey. One thing stood out. When asked if we're willing to pay for an app like this, the survey mentions "monthly". Well, your app will be dead-on-arrival if you want to charge monthly for a service like that. Most people expect it to be free from the TTC but are willing to buy an app since the TTC doesn't provide one. But paying monthly is a dead end idea -- specially if we're being asked to contribute reports on the state of vehicles and infrastructure.

Thanks for your feedback, MetroMan.

We adjusted the survey a little bit to clarify the question about usage fees.
 
Thank you to everyone that has filled in our survey and for the great feedback received thus far! We've reached about 50% of our target responses and encourage everyone to please share our survey with your friends, family, and colleagues that ride the TTC.

Click here to view our survey :)
 
As I answered and commented on in the survey, my most useful app I think I've ever downloaded has been the TubeMap app for the London Underground. They not only have the map of the underground but features to find your closest station, what route you should take including how many transfers and the estimated time, updates on how the lines are running and which stops the delays are at, departure times, etc. It's extremely useful so having an app that offers that plus the option for riders to submit problems as they happen would be really successful.
 
I'm still waiting for a decent TTC app on Android. But honestly, for just directions, Google Transit is pretty amazing. If they add live updates for the TTC, that would make it pretty much ideal.

I'm willing to pay for a decent app. Not monthly. But I have no issues even paying up to $10. But it better be on par with the London Underground app.
 
As I answered and commented on in the survey, my most useful app I think I've ever downloaded has been the TubeMap app for the London Underground. They not only have the map of the underground but features to find your closest station, what route you should take including how many transfers and the estimated time, updates on how the lines are running and which stops the delays are at, departure times, etc. It's extremely useful so having an app that offers that plus the option for riders to submit problems as they happen would be really successful.

Thanks so much for the feedback on the survey and for letting me know about the TfL app, it really looks amazing! Do you suppose many people would participate/contribute if there was a mechanism in the app that allowed them to report problems? And would the Commission respond favourably to something like that?

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Aly
 
Thanks so much for the feedback on the survey and for letting me know about the TfL app, it really looks amazing! Do you suppose many people would participate/contribute if there was a mechanism in the app that allowed them to report problems? And would the Commission respond favourably to something like that?

--
Aly

Ha, I've worked with both TfL and the TTC (through consultant work) and the TTC seems to be much harder to deal with, so I have no idea what their response would be to that, but it would definitely be useful and I know quite a few people who would contribute to that if there was a way to do that.
 
1) People can already report problems via @TTChelps.
2) I would never pay for an app every month, no matter how good it was.
 

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