Transit Talk: Crowd-Sourced Issue Reporting for Public Transit
Channel: Chi Hack Night
Date: 2020-01-08

For almost three years, Transit Talk has been an active project at Chi Hack Night. After code contributions from more than two dozen developers and feedback from more than 100 Chi Hack Night attendees, it’s ready to launch in cities around the world.

Transit Talk is a crowd-sourced issue reporting system for public transit networks, serving a similar purpose to Waze or Bike Lane Uprising, but for trains and buses instead of cars and bikes. Users of Transit Talk can use the site to report overcrowding, late arrivals, and other transit-related issues on their daily commute, and their reports are made immediately useful by becoming public for other users to see. Transit Talk aims to create a transparent record of issues riders encounter, helping riders avoid transit problems in real time while also helping transit agencies become more responsive to the needs of their customers.

At Chi Hack Night, members of the Transit Talk team will discuss how they built the platform from the ground up, relying entirely on spare-time volunteer labor. With Transit Talk now ready for primetime, they’ll also discuss strategies for outreach and plans for implementation of the site in multiple cities. Transit Talk will make its public debut at Chi Hack Night, with a live demo of the fully functioning app being given for the very first time.