The Value of Technology Disruption

October 19, 2021

by Mitch Skyer, President & Co-founder, Passio Technologies

Technology is disruption. Change is often uncomfortable and makes things harder before they are easier. The payoff is that once it’s adopted and integrated, the most difficult change becomes the most valuable to society when it comes to technology. One hundred and fifty years ago, no horse stable owner ever would have traded in their hay supplier for a gasoline pump, but today there isn’t much demand for horse troughs and pitchforks! 

Transit technology is moving to be smarter and more intuitive. Anticipating need instead of responding to what the passenger asks for is the game changer. Think of a world where we connect your personal device (cell phone) to the transit system. If you are waiting, we know you are there, and can send transit to where the demand it. Anticipated intelligence is the wave of the future. Passengers who use multiple transit systems to connect and complete their rides will see the greatest benefit in this new environment. Imagine that a senior requests a ride to their doctor appointment. It would cost $35 for a full door to door trip. As an alternative, using tools like Flex Fixed Routing, they could get picked up from home and connected to the city transit system. The trip might be just $5, or even free, because the cost to the city is a fraction of what point to point service costs. 

Finally, through anticipated technology, the system would know that the passenger is on their way to the transit stop, but has been delayed 2 minutes due to traffic. The transit bus can be directed to wait for a brief 120 seconds, there is no disappointed passenger, and the system stays in synch. 

The future is so bright, we all gotta wear shades!