D.C. tech startup RideScout decided that launching its transit app in a new city every few months was just not cutting it anymore and as of Monday morning is now available in 69 cities across the United States and Canada. That's 64 more cities (and one new country) than the transportation option aggregator was available in as of last week, a pretty steep curve considering the platform has to account for geography and local transit options that differ from city to city.
RideScout is dubbing the 6/9 launch its "Summer of 69." Finding the fastest and cheapest route across town wasn't exactly what Bryan Adams was singing about, but getting that song stuck in peoples heads might prove a pretty good marketing strategy at least. And the expansion is impressive for the sheer amount of local data and local partnerships that were involved, since it's reliability on a local level that gives RideScout its value to users.
"We've partnered with over 300 ride providers now," said RideScout co-founder and CEO Joseph Kopser. "The platform is scalable so we could make it hyperlocal to each city and easy to use to anyone who goes there."
RideScout launched in D.C. in November, and prior to this new bonanza, had been limited to Boston, Chicago, Austin, San Francisco as well as its home base here in the District. According to the company, the new cities provide a possible 186 million people with a local version of the iOS and Android app. The cities are as widely scattered as Honolulu and Montreal. Closer to home, Baltimore and Hampton Roads are on the RideScout list, but no other Maryland or Virginia cities as of yet. The services combined in the app cover national brands like Zipcar and local car and bike services like Hailo and Citibike.
"National partnerships are definitely an important asset," Kopser said. "But hyperlocal is what people want."
RideScout's been having a pretty good month already, earning the chance to share its ideas with national policy makers as a winner of the Data Innovation Challenge from the federal Department of Transportation. This kind of success naturally inspires imitators or encourages possible rivals to mimic RideScout, but Kopser sounded enthusiastic about the idea.
"Of course we don't expect to have the market to ourselves, but no one else has come close to what we offer," he said. "It all further validates RideScout's vision."
And just in case you weren't already humming it, take it away Bryan:
Image courtesy of RideScout
