The Moovit crowd-powered transit app is already making public transportation a more accessible option for millions of commuters in cities across the globe. It gives users real-time info on which bus or train will get them to their destination and when it is due to arrive at their station.
Now the green-thinking Tel Aviv company has added another weapon in its anti-pollution arsenal: a bike-sharing feature available to users in 130 locations around the world.
Launched January 11, Moovit’s Version 4.8 for Android and iOS works like this: Find your preferred location on the map and you’ll see the number of available rental bikes noted on the map icon. Tap the icon to review the available bikes or to see how many empty slots are open to return your bike at the location. Tap “Get Directions” and Moovit will guide you step-by-step to your bicycle.
“You know those days when you’re sitting in traffic, watching pedestrians walk by faster than your bus is inching along? For days like this, and also when you’d rather enjoy the nice weather out than sit on a bus, or you’re in the mood for a little extra exercise, Bike Sharing in Moovit will help you get around,” a Moovit blogger explains.
“The bike program is a part of our promise to the users to be the omnisearch for any means of transit that can get them to their destination, in the quickest and most efficient way,” Moovit’s VP of Product Jay Meydad (formerly of Pixplit and HitPad) told Geektime.
“More and more cities understand the benefits of giving developers access to data about public transit, as well as bikes. This way, developers can create unique and useful apps to help people navigate,” Meydad continued. “The city benefits as well, making it greener and less congested.”
The eco-friendly integration is available in all or parts of Argentina, Andorra, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, México, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States.
Meydad said he expects the list to grow in the near future.
The previous Moovit update, 4.0, was released last April and features a suite of new En Route and personalization controls and a new re-engineered user interface that empower riders to share and receive live community reports about conditions of lines and stations affecting their local transit routes and potentially those of other riders.
Moovit has been downloaded by approximately 20 million people in more than 600 cities in 55 countries, in 36 languages. The community of users grows by about 1 million every month. The company, founded in 2012, has 60 employees in six countries and has won several awards for its app.
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