Can technology help Orlando overcome its traffic woes? David Thomas Moran and Nathan Selikoff think it’s a good first step.
Moran and Selikoff met through a community art project focused on public transit in Orlando, bonding over their mutual love for the city and their frustration over how difficult it can be to get around these days.
They also agreed on what they think is the core issue holding back more potential public transit riders: a lack of real-time data.
After a brainstorm session, they formed the tech company Omnimodal two years ago with the help of the social enterprise accelerator program Rally. Moran and Selikoff say their goal is to persuade people to ditch their driving-alone routine for a multimodal solution.
“We certainly can solve this issue of public transit feeling like a puzzle with missing pieces,” Moran said.
One of the duo’s first goals is to simply educate people about the variety of transit services available. Their second objective is to help people already using public transit plan their schedules more efficiently.
“Everything that we do is really pushing for more integration, more openness,” Selikoff said.
Moran and Selikoff are working with local transit agencies to collect its real-time data, translate it and then deliver it through existing apps like Google Maps. Not only does this information assist riders, it can also help municipalities identify and address inefficiencies in their systems.
Selikoff said they eventually plan to release their own app that passengers can use to plan and pay for a variety of transit services.