Following a successful beta programme in Cape Town, the idea of two UCT graduates is going national. Transport information portal FindMyWay is launching its services to major cities in South Africa. FindMyWay is a free service that makes commuters’ lives easier by enabling them to access public transport information of all modes from their mobile phones.

The service was launched as a beta mobi site in October 2012, where it has since provided a one-stop portal of public transport and commuter information for Cape Town. The initiative – launched by successful start-up WhereIsMyTransport – has now opened its platform to all South Africans.

The service now offers transport information for 15 transport providers across Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, East London and Port Elizabeth. In addition to the service being made available via the mobi site, FindMyWay has also made it available as a free app for major mobile platforms. These include BlackBerry® 7, Nokia, Android, iPhone and Windows Phone.

The Cape Town-based founders of WhereIsMyTransport, Devin de Vries and Chris King, launched the platform to offer better ways of connecting people to their city’s public transport systems. It addresses the lack of a centralised place to find public transport information in South Africa. It also offers transport operators a freely available platform through which they can broadcast their transport information to commuters. “All transport operators currently not on the platform are invited to contact us in order to see their information made available to the public,” adds De Vries.

“We aim to put everyday transport information at commuters’ fingertips. Our goal is to make public transport more accessible and the experience more enjoyable,” says De Vries.
He adds: “Use of the service via the native apps will provide users with an enhanced and intuitive experience. Going forward we’ll be able to alert them to delays on their commute routes or changes in public transport schedules in a timely manner, for example.”

By making public transport data more accessible, we hope to encourage more people to use public transport as a sustainable daily commuting option. “With a tool like FindMyWay, only a button press away, people will be able to explore more, reduce their carbon footprint, and be more in touch with their city,” says De Vries.

The service will be available at www.findmyway.mobi or merely search your app store for “FindMyWay” to download the free app. Based on the success of the service, FindMyWay plans to continue to add services which the public would deem useful. So if you have suggestions please mail us at hello@findmyway.co.za