Boston is leading the charge with apps like Citizens Connect, available in the iPhone App Store
After years of feeling envious over the fact that Boston’s transit authority is the MBTA while New York’s is the much more Twitter-friendly MTA, it looks like we can all take a little breather.
MTA Chairman Jay Walder recently noted that Boston’s MassDOT Board of Directors, which operates the MBTA, is quickly outpacing New York City in the race to develop rider-friendly applications and software products, like Boston’s T Tracker, which we’ve told you about before.
Contrary to what you might expect from so-called “open governments,” the cities’ transit authorities are not developing these applications in-house, but are instead opening up all kinds of data APIs so the best private developers in the country can access transit information, including delays and even the realtime GPS coordinates of trains, buses and ferrys. Developers working for private companies are then using the free data to create user-friendly interfaces for the masses.
This governmental open source movement has been dubbed “Gov2.0,” for its efforts to re-think the way governments communicate with citizens, and it is largely being spearheaded by our friends at O’Reilly Media, including former Boston writer Alex Howard who’s now reporting from Washington D.C.
O’Reilly is hosting a Gov2.0 Expo at the end of next week in the capital, which is expected to shed light on all kinds of new tools.
Meanwhile, Boston continues to be a trend-setting city where Information Age access is concerned. Last week, we told you about the brand new mobile version of Boston.gov, and a whole slew of new apps on their way to Boston free of charge. The city already made waves with its Citizens Connect and Data Hub applications, both of which were recognized in March as outstanding Gov2.0 apps.
“Boston was there before us and people have seen by doing this, there has been quick, affective change,” Walder said in an interview with StreetFilms. “… We don’t move on anything that quickly.”
What do you think of Boston’s efforts to open up governmental communication to citizens by way of new technologies? Let us know in the comments. For another interesting local take on Gov2.o, including notes on its origin, check out this sweet post we found from MIT’s Center for Future Civic Media.
Tags: Boston, Citizens Connect, City of Boston, Company News, Data Hub, Gov2.0, O'Reilly Media, T Tracker
