moovel N.A. Launches RideTap Pilot in Portland, OR, Offers Lyft and car2go within TriMet Tickets Application

RideTap SDK creates opportunities for app developers, ride providers and transit agencies to tap into each other’s services and expand the potential for mobile transportation.

PORTLAND, Ore. (May 5, 2016) — Today, moovel announced the public launch and first pilot of RideTap, an SDK (software development kit) that offers any app instant access to a growing network of public and alternative transportation providers. Available today, Portland’s TriMet Tickets app now leverages RideTap to connect public transit riders to additional transportation options. TriMet Tickets appusers can find a nearby Lyft or car2go within the app’s navigation drawer to help them get to and from their public transit stop. Initially this pilot includes Lyft and car2go, but will eventually add other local transportation options, including bike share and taxi.

Last month, GlobeSherpa – the maker of the TriMet Tickets app – merged with RideScout to form moovel N.A., Daimler’s answer to the current disconnect between public and private transportation options in North America.

“Daimler is invested in organizing all forms of traditionally siloed transportation into one well-connected experience,” said Nat Parker, CEO of moovel North America. “Since public transit is at the core of our modern transportation ecosystem, moovel aims to get more riders on buses, trains and subways by solving that first/last mile challenge with RideTap. Portland’s TriMet public agency was GlobeSherpa’s first customer and now serves as RideTap’s first host app and partner in connecting the city’s transportation.”

Recent research points to a growing app-fatigue culture: consumers spend 85 percent of their time on smartphones using the same five apps. Today’s most successful transportation services are reacting to consumer behavior by extending functionality beyond the borders of their own app and into platforms where they are more useful. Instead of riders leaving their favorite apps to search for a ride or other transit information, RideTap aims to bring that connected transportation experience inside any third party app. By embedding the RideTap SDK, real-time transit, rideshare, carshare, bikeshare or a combination of
options become instantly available to an app’s users.