blog.tapbus.com

Before creating TapBus, I found this wonder site called MyBus.org that was created by students at UW using real-time Metro transit data collected from each bus on its given route. At the time, I was overjoyed to find such a site that could tell me if the bus was running late before leaving home or work. Even better, I soon found out I could access the site from my mobile phone’s web browser and get the information while standing right at the bus stop.

While everything seemed great, after daily use it become obvious that the experience became stressful and left much to be desired. The biggest problem I found was the UI on the site was grossly outdated,, regardless of what device or browser you used. This compiled exponentially when frantically running to the bus stop and tapping the keys on my phone to rapidly refresh the page to see if I could catch it or would have to sit and wait for the next one.

After using the service for a couple years, I found out that the transit company provided the same data that supplied the MyBus.org website for use in other applications. At the the time, Web 2.0 was in full motion and Mashup sites were the latest buzz words. The catalyst that finally brought my realizations into clear perspective was purchasing the iPhone. While its web browsing capabilities made it much easier to use the MyBus site, It was its simply user interface that made it standout and compel me to improve my bus experience.

From this, driven by frustrations TapBus.com was created.