Mobile apps look for instant success to help them build a large user base. The Canadian developers that created a public transportation app called The Transit App have just hit a similar jackpot after just being live for 72 hours. The app has been downloaded 35,000 and the Montreal-based even got a boost from Funkmaster Flex who asked his followers to give the app a try. The good results for the FounderFuel accelerator team and Cofounder Sam Vermette’s download numbers show the progress that was made with the second version of their app.
Vermette was excited about the results and said, “We launched Tuesday and we had 10,000 downloads the first day, 15,000 the next day and we thought that was a good run. Then we saw we were Editor’s Choice in the Canada App Store. It’s been a really exciting ride.”
Thanks to the app getting a spot light from the Canadian App Store, The Transit App climbed up to the #2 spot for a navigation app and the #1 position for apps in the Canadian store.
The Transit App’s original version has 500,000 downloads and was run on a subscription model. however, the users were not willing to pay for all the features and Vermette says that, “transit riders don’t want to pay for a transit app, no matter how good it is.” That all changed when the 2.0 version was made free.
However, being free was not the only reason for early success because the transit app had to take on the behemoth of Google Maps. FounderFuel manager Ian Jeffrey believes that the apps “killer design” sets it apart and makes it attractive to customers. He adds that ,“Technically speaking The Transit App is a very solid team. Both [Vermette] and Guillaume Campagna are solid engineers and Sam is an incredible designer. They’ve had some real traction, and we were somewhat confidant that going free would have an impact. Obviously it did.”
The Canadian startup and its app cover 37 transit markets with an even mix of 22 spots in the US and 15 in Canada. The app includes major Canadian cities like Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver along with multiple transit systems that are not in the city.
The quick success for the company may be a good start but their is a tough road ahead. Google will be an issue for the company further down the line because the app uses data from the firm’s General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS). The Canadian firms app relies heavily on the transit data provided by Google for third-party developers but also has to compete to draw clients away from Google itself.
A good area for the company to expand is Europe. However, real-time data of the 160 million daily trips on the continent are not available to third-party developers. This trend may be changing as Paris became the first city to make the data available with The Transit App jumping on the opportunity to integrate the city into its system.
Vermette sees his app turning into a “transit passport” that will reside on a mobile device. He adds that, “The concept of not being able to board a bus if my card is empty or if I don’t have any change is ridiculous.” The startup will get a chance to grab more attention as its launches an Android version and participate in a FounderFuel Demo Day.
Source: TechVibes
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