There are already some navigating apps out there that are trying to make commuting and riding trains and buses a little more convenient by giving you the information you need. But the things you know are pretty limited and are not exactly real-time. So what if there was a Waze-like app that can give you real-time information through crowdsourced interactions? That’s what you get with Pigeon, an app born out of Area 120 or Google’s experimental projects lab. And now they’re expanding it to five more cities in the U.S.
Pigeon was launched in New York City back in September 2018 and for almost a year now, commuters have been enjoying the benefits of this app and making better decisions on their daily journey. The app is now launching in five more major cities in the U.S. specifically Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. However for Android, you will need to sign up for a waitlist unlike in iOS where it’s already available.
But to prepare for when it comes to Android, what are the benefits of using this app and contributing to the betterment of lives of people in the city with this small matter? You get crowd-sourced information like what the crowds are like in the train or on the bus currently, what are some unexpected incidents that you’ve seen which might affect other people’s commute, and even provide context on these incidents. The app will actually send you notifications when there’s an incident that might be relevant for you like power outages, services changes, etc. You can even receive customized notifications so that when you’re leaving the house so you can plan around the delays, reroutes, and weather.
The reports that users send, including comments and images, are displayed on a map that shows your route in a shared activity feed. You can report on things like delays, how crowded are the trains or buses, which elevators are working or not, are there any live entertainment along your route, which areas are dirty or unsafe, and other information that may be beneficial to commuters. What we’re discovering is that people love to share information like that to help fellow commuters.
Pigeon is now available in New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. However, Android users will have to wait a little while longer for the additional 5 cities. In the meantime, you can enjoy their NYC Subway Insights Reports based on crowdsourced reports they’ve gathered the past year.
