Backed by a fresh new website and Knife Capital’s Grindstone accelerator programme, South African startup WhereIsMyTransport (WIMT) is today releasing its urban transportation and journey planner app called Findmyway to commuters in Tshwane, South Africa.
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Based on live data from participating transport operators in the city, the app gives users various routes and modes they can take, arranged by cost or travel time.
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Findmyway also includes an interface where commuters can communicate directly with government about delays, accidents, or service delivery, and cities can make announcements to update users about road conditions or closures.
With lacking infrastructure not capable of keeping up with South Africa’s demand, public commuting is constantly under a lot of stress. A competitor in the field of transport data collection is the Cape Town-based GoMetro which has been scooping up awards left and right over the last two years. Similar to Findmyway, Gometro provides information on local public train as well as major bus services.
“We wanted to give commuters real choice, and cities real insight into commuter needs,” said co-founder of WIMT Devin de Vries in a media statement. “The solution has to start with access for commuters, access to information, to movement, and to their cities.”
“Our goal is to make transport a frictionless process available to all types of users, whether you ride the bus every day or are a tourist visiting for the first time,” de Vries said. “Travel to a well-known destination, or discover a hidden gem: the city is at your fingertips.”
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The app is released in conjunction with the World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature Earth Hour City Challenge which seeks to promote sustainable movement and environmental awareness through a race relying on public transport only.
“This is exactly the kind of thing that speaks to the biggest obstacle to people using public transport: they need integrated information at their fingertips. This way, we tackle climate together,” added Louise Naude from the WWF.
Currently in beta testing in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Nelson Mandela Bay, Tshwane, Durban; Buffalo City, with many future versions in the works, the Findmyway app is available on Android, iOS, Windows Phone and web.
