DC startup TransitScreen simplifies transit options

A D.C.-based startup is trying to simplify transit options for riders all across the world.

“Really, it’s about making all of your transportation options available at a glance,” said Matt Caywood, founder of TransitScreen, a service that collates live information on multiple transportation services such as Metro, Uber and bike shares in a single place.

Caywood originally earned a PhD in neuroscience but turned to entrepreneurship in the D.C. area because he “had always had an interest in transportation, and [he] had always had an interest in making an impact on people’s lives.”

TransitScreen’s screens are situated in high-traffic buildings instead of being available on an app.

“Most of the time, when people are walking around, they’re too busy on their phone, tweeting, snapping, whatever. They’re not thinking about transit, they’re not thinking about their next trip. So having a channel of information, like a public screen, is really the best way to get people.”

Caywood said the number of people that look at TransitScreen signs is in the hundreds of thousands each day, with the service being expanded to cities around the world, including London, New York City, Portland and Toronto.

Caywood also said that he’s but one of a large pool of researchers with the potential to become area-changing entrepreneurs. “I know that some of the people I worked with at federal labs were some of the smartest people I knew, and there are a lot of them.”

The main barrier for these talented people to become entrepreneurs is capital, he told What’s Working in Washington.

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“We need to think, as a region, about ways to reach those people who have great ideas, and help them kind of ease into entrepreneurship,” Caywood said.

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