WASHINGTON — Figuring out the best way to get from Point A to B in D.C. can require a bit of research, not to mention a workout for your thumb once all of the Metro, bus, car share, bike share and ride share apps are checked.
But one company is hoping to make commutes less of a process.
Display screens broadcasting real-time information for a variety of public transportation options are popping up throughout the D.C. area — from government buildings to apartment lobbies and coffee shops. In other cities, information from these screens is even projected on public sidewalks.
The screens are a product of TransitScreen, a transportation software company that got its start in Arlington’s Mobility Lab two years ago.
TransitScreen co-founder Ryan Croft says the city’s changing landscape has created a need for multi-modal public transit information in the area.
More apartment developments are choosing not to build parking garages in some of the most desirable neighborhoods of the city. A 60-unit apartment project planned near 14th and U Streets NW and a smaller micro-unit project in Logan Circle are two examples of this recent movement.
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In some areas, information from TransitScreen can be projected on public sidewalks, reaching more people. (Courtesy TransitScreen)
“Studies are showing that millennials are really preferring access over ownership, and that extends to cars,” Croft says.
“Developers realize that it’s very expensive to build parking, especially when people don’t even use it. Micro-units and no-parking developments are a thing of the future and a thing of now.”
Croft says the public displays encourage more people, not just those sans car, to ride public transportation. He says it shows people all of their options and even helps to “demystify the bus.”
He says, “A lot of people are very intimidated by buses because they say,
