Shortly before the Yankees won two of three against the Red Sox earlier this month, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority threw down the gauntlet on a new front of the East Coast’s fiercest rivalry: transit apps.
During the MTA’s Developers Conference, Chairman Jay Walder said the city’s tech-savvy community needs to “Crush Boston.”
Following in the footsteps of MassDOT, the MTA recently started unlocking data for software developers interested in building applications and tools for riders.
“Thanks for confirming that we lead the nation,” MassDOT Secretary Jeffery Mullan tweeted on May 7. “Game on.”
More than a dozen applications helping MBTA riders were built in nine months, making Boston the model for real-time transit information.
“Boston was there before us and people have seen by doing this, there has been quick, affective change,” Walder said in an interview with StreetFilms. “… We don’t move on anything that quickly.”
Mullan said MassDOT can simultaneously be competitive and collaborative.
“It’s not a zero sum game,” he said. “… Competition is fun and also fun for workers. They can pick up on the whole sports metaphor. … I would never hesitate to tell New York transit ‘Boston beat you handily.’ We’re better looking; and nicer too.”
Check out tomorrow’s Metro to see new ideas in the works for MBTA riders.
