Google’s crowdsourced transit app Pigeon is expanding beyond the Big Apple subway — and now provides service updates for every public transit service in the New York region, the company announced Wednesday.
The Waze-like iPhone app launched last October, but had been limited to the subway. As of Wednesday, it also encompasses city buses and ferries, MetroNorth, the Long Island Rail Road, NJ Transit and the PATH train.
“By crowdsourcing reports about public transit, Pigeon seeks to make it easier for New Yorkers to figure out the best way to get from point A to point B in real-time,” Pigeon co-founder Laura Rokita said in a statement.
The service lets straphangers sign up for regular updates on the status of their commute, based on their current location and the time they need to be at work.
The updates are informed by both official MTA service notifications and user-generated reports.
Riders stuck on trains can file reports of delayed, crowded, empty or rerouted trains. Their counterparts on platforms can report crowds, closed entrances and stations, and broken elevators, escalators and ticket machines.
There’s also a “miscellaneous” category for other issues — including “performer,” “bad conditions” and “really!?!” — which came in handy earlier this summer when a power outage trapped some riders in trains for over an hour.
Google plans to expand Pigeon to San Francisco and Chicago later this year. The app is currently only available for iPhone users, but a spokesperson for the company says an Android version is in the works.
In the meantime, Android users can choose from a bevvy of other apps — including the MTA’s own MyMTA app, which is also rolling out personalized, location-based notifications.
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