After the success of Waze, an app that lets you plan your route and avoid traffic in real time, comes Israel’s next big movement app: Moovit. The company just closed a $28 million round of financing and is coming to a bus stop near you!
Moovit, which we’ve written about here, is a social transit app. Much in the same way that Waze crowdsources traffic information, Moovit uses social tools to help you move around public transportation. For most people, unless you are Swiss where the trains and buses run like clockwork, taking public transportation puts your arrival time somewhat in the hands of fate.
Now Moovit lets you track and find when the nxt bus, subway, train or even ferry will arrive, as users logged into the app bring this data with them. It connects with timetable data for better results, and in some destination cities even lets users buy bus and train tickets through the app.
If a bus or train is running behind, is overly crowded (or has a smelly passenger?), the app helps people choose what public situation to “ride” with. This also helps companies that run the lines know if there are certain troubles along the train or bus routes.
Founded in 2012, the company has about 3 million users in 100 cities, mainly in the US, Latin America and Europe. Next up is Asia.
A Waze co-founder sits on the board so we can imagine Moovit will go far, in light speed, even if it is taking the bus.
Author: Karin Kloosterman
Karin Kloosterman is an award-winning journalist, innovation strategist, and founder of Green Prophet, one of the Middle East’s pioneering sustainability platforms. She has ranked in the Top 10 of Verizon innovation competitions, participated in NASA-linked challenges, and spoken worldwide on climate, food security, and future resilience. With an IoT technology patent, features in Canada’s National Post, and leadership inside teams building next-generation agricultural and planetary systems — including Mars-farming concepts — Karin operates at the intersection of storytelling, science, and systems change. She doesn’t report on the future – she helps design it. Reach out directly to [email protected]
