OMG Transit: It started at a hackathon
OMG Transit has come a long way since Matt, Jason and Richard met and got to work creating a real-time bus app at Hack for MN 2013. After two days of development, the team presented their funtional website to a team of judges including MN.IT Director of Innovation, James Kauth and City of Minneapolis CIO, Otto Doll.
Being on a bus line at Dev Jam Studios, site of Hack for MN, led to an exciting proof of concept moment as we watched the app count down to the number 4 bus arrival at 46th & Bryant in South Minneapolis. Projected on the big screen, the app let us know the bus had arrived as we watched the bus arrive through the window behind the presenters.
Since it’s launch in June 2013 as MSP Bus, the team has grown, changed names, visited the White House, been invited to an Intel Data Services Accelerator, expanded to include public transportation options like light rail, Car-to-Go and Nice Ride Bikes, and recently launched Android and iOS Apps.
Read more about the OMG Transit team and their whirlwind year on the OMG Transit Blog.