Designer Adam Schwabe began 2011 by
launching Rocket Radar, a transit application for mobile devices that gives real-time next-vehicle information to Toronto Transit Commission subway and streetcar riders. His team added bus information to the service midway through the year. And last week they launched the service in four US cities: Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco and Davis.
"We've gotten a good reaction here in Toronto, and next week we're starting to reach out to users and media in those other cities to start promoting them," says Schwabe.
Thus far, the transit applications have been a side project for Schwabe and the two developers he's been working with from the beginning. For these US cities, a new part-time member was added to the team. "He's a package designer, and we've added a more real-world aesthetic to the design."
The newly added locations, which soft-launched about a month ago, were a natural fit because the transit services in those places provide data on the same platform the TTC does. "The technology was the same, so it was relatively easy for us to go to them."
In the short-term, Schwabe will be focusing on enhancing and expanding the functionality and reach of this batch of Radar apps. In the long term, adding more cities—New York, for instance—is a possibility.
Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Adam Schwabe, Founder, Rocket Radar