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Citymapper

citymapper.com

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Re: Citymapper

#21

Post by ljm »

cstross wrote: post #3
pythux wrote: post #2

Wow that looks really useful, I did not know of this app. Did anyone here on HN use it successfully? Having a single app to allow navigating cities and buying tickets is something I have been wishing for lately (especially in cities where there is no way to buy tickets either online or via an app).

I use Citymapper extensively on trips to cities it covers. It's at its best in London (where, IIRC, the dev team is based): there, it's a life-saver. It's also effective in other first-rank anglophone world cities, such as New York. I've found its coverage can be patchy/incomplete in some cities, presumably because the data sources they aggregate are incomplete or inaccurate: at its worst, it degrades gracefully to t…

In London you can buy discounted weekly passes through them now. Working from home for just one day will negate the cost saving though, especially if you’re out in zone 4.

I don’t know how they undercut TfL on the price but I presume they’re doing something tricky with redistributing monthly or annual passes.

Re: Citymapper

#22

Post by jonplackett »

pythux wrote: post #2

Wow that looks really useful, I did not know of this app. Did anyone here on HN use it successfully? Having a single app to allow navigating cities and buying tickets is something I have been wishing for lately (especially in cities where there is no way to buy tickets either online or via an app).

It’s also really useful for seeing when transport will arrive. Just going into the map mode you will see icons for bus stops, stations, trams etc and you can tap on them to see all the arrivals. Great feature.

Re: Citymapper

#23

Post by 0b0001 »

I've been researching why my cities public transport isn't available in Google Maps. Turns out that the (mostly public) transport company assumes itself in competition to app vendors such as Google Maps and Citymapper; the bus company "doesn't own the whole experience anymore". So, while they give access to static routes with some delay, real-time data or accurate data is out of reach.

How do companies like Citymapper approach that issue? Do they usually pay fees to the transport companies, or do transport companies in the supported cities all give API access?

A proper app would definitely benefit public transport in my area.

(word has it that my area's transport tariffs are way to complicated to be mapped onto Google's API)

[Edit: to be more concise; the transportation company doesn't want 3rd parties to offer an app. How does Citymapper approach that?]

Re: Citymapper

#24

Post by Pamar »

pythux wrote: post #2

Wow that looks really useful, I did not know of this app. Did anyone here on HN use it successfully? Having a single app to allow navigating cities and buying tickets is something I have been wishing for lately (especially in cities where there is no way to buy tickets either online or via an app).

I use it often, mostly Berlin and Hamburg (but also Paris, Tokyo and Lisbon): I do not own a car so I mostly walk or use public transportation and the way they handle subways and other types of PT is the best for me.

Re: Citymapper

#25

Post by beejiu »

pythux wrote: post #2

Wow that looks really useful, I did not know of this app. Did anyone here on HN use it successfully? Having a single app to allow navigating cities and buying tickets is something I have been wishing for lately (especially in cities where there is no way to buy tickets either online or via an app).

I use Citymapper over Google Maps all the time in London, and in other cities where it exists.

Last week, I landed in Brussels and needed to catch the train. Google Map's best route was a 40 minute wait for the next train. I opened Citymapper and it suggested a train that, although timetabled for 5 minutes ago, was actually delayed by 10 minutes.

The data coming into Citymapper seems to be much more reliable. Google Maps is a great general tool that works anywhere, but Citymapper puts great attention to work perfectly within cities.

Re: Citymapper

#26

Post by larrymyers »

0b0001 wrote: post #23

I've been researching why my cities public transport isn't available in Google Maps. Turns out that the (mostly public) transport company assumes itself in competition to app vendors such as Google Maps and Citymapper; the bus company "doesn't own the whole experience anymore". So, while they give access to static routes with some delay, real-time data or accurate data is out of reach. How do companies like Citymappe…

As long as a public transportation organization can expose their data as GTFS, then most transit applications should be able to provide routing.

https://developers.google.com/transit

This is what the CTA and Metra do in Chicago. Even Metra, not known for it's technical prowess, provides a GTFS realtime feed.

Re: Citymapper

#27

Post by andybak »

larrymyers wrote: post #26
0b0001 wrote: post #23

I've been researching why my cities public transport isn't available in Google Maps. Turns out that the (mostly public) transport company assumes itself in competition to app vendors such as Google Maps and Citymapper; the bus company "doesn't own the whole experience anymore". So, while they give access to static routes with some delay, real-time data or accurate data is out of reach. How do companies like Citymappe…

As long as a public transportation organization can expose their data as GTFS, then most transit applications should be able to provide routing. https://developers.google.com/transit This is what the CTA and Metra do in Chicago. Even Metra, not known for it's technical prowess, provides a GTFS realtime feed.

I don't think that's what the person you were replying to was asking.

More "how do they get the data from cities that don't want to give it to app vendors like Google"

Re: Citymapper

#28

Post by orf »

City mapper is used extensively in London, it’s really really good. They are/where expanding into some form of Citymapper busses which is really interesting.

I had the chance to interview there, but I was put off by the absolutely terrible Glassdoor reviews[1] including consistent reports about the CEO and the internal culture.

Given that, I’m not too hopeful about the future of Citymapper. Right now they have a head start on others, but I don’t see anything to justify the 300 million pound valuation.

1. https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Reviews/Citymapper-Reviews-E1030...

Re: Citymapper

#29

Post by half-kh-hacker »

Here in the UK, some schools mandate unpaid 1-3 week work placements. I actually applied for a place at Citymapper and got a promising reply, but eventually I guess it fell through the cracks because I didn't receive any communication after.

It would have been really cool to see what goes on in a focused tech company whose product I actually use (and like), but I guess these things happen.

Re: Citymapper

#30

Post by baby »

Everybody used it in London, I couldn’t get used to it since I mainly use Google maps.

In Lyon, France though google maps doesn’t work so I recently gave citymapper a try and the interactive route where you can swipe through steps is actually really cool!

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