“We believe in mobility as a basic human right,” declared Ziv Kabaretti, Moovit’s VP of Products, to AMI Accessible Media Host Steven Scott in an interview on Double Tap, the technology show for blind and partially sighted people. In a recent episode, the two discussed Moovit’s features, with a focus on accessibility features, data integration and future developments. 

Steven’s sight condition has necessitated his learning and adapting to new technologies throughout his lifetime, and the Moovit app– available in more than 3,500 cities and 112 countries – is the world’s leading app for public transportation, helping riders across the world navigate public transportation, making it more accessible and easier to understand.

Ziv:  We believe that we have the most accurate and richest public transportation repository compared to any other apps in our field.  In addition to drawing from publicly-available sources of public transportation information, Moovit nurtures a very unique community of people – we call them Mooviters – who are heroes in different villages and cities throughout the world who log in to a System where they help add information in areas where that information is not publicly available. In fact, this is how we started over a decade ago – when there was far less information available.

The App is driven by a mix of official data and curated data volunteered by Mooviters – it can be thought of as the Wikipedia of public transportation, with moderators, where everyone can contribute. 

Steven:  Moovit encourages more people to use public transit, moving away from using cars all of the time.

Ziv:  Connecting to different providers is our bread and butter – We understood that this is key for our growth.

We knew that we needed to find the sources, find the relevant data, and make connections with different feeds, integrate with partners and providers – meaning we have a framework that is well-positioned to connect services and continue to add cities and countries.

Steven: Let’s talk about accessibility.

For a lot of blind people – like me – we’re always looking for an app to use when we go out – we talk about this on our Show all of the time – there is the anxiety of getting over the front door.  And a big part of it is making sure that we get the bus – we don’t want to miss it.  If we go to a new place, we want to use the public transport – but we want to know that we’ve got the information at hand.  I can’t read any signage, digital or otherwise, and I need the information through an app.

How are you developing that to make sure that blind people like me are getting that information correctly?

Ziv: We are working on several levels

The first level is the UI [user interface] itself – as much as we can, we are leveraging the phone and the operating systems technologies.  As you mentioned, there is voiceover, talkback, enhancing or enlarging the screen, so whenever our users are getting into accessibility mode on their phone, what we do at Moovit is provide additional information to our users.  The app reads out relevant information, such as details of available routes.

This makes the app really, really helpful – and we’ve tested it with so many people who have visual impairments and they told us:  this is a lifesaver!

The other level in which we work is the data level.  So if we know, for example, that stops, or vehicles – buses, trains, subways and subway stations, etc. – are accessible to people using wheelchairs, and even young couples with strollers, we point it out in our results, itineraries, and suggested routes – everywhere where we can share this information about accessibility with the rider.

Moovit works with different agencies all over the world to make accessibility-related information available.

Everytime we have the opportunity to make a connection, we will gladly do so.

Steven:  I think that’s incredible – and I’m so glad you mentioned all that – because I think oftentimes these don’t make the headlines, the parts of an application that we don’t know – people getting the information they need.  That is so vital.

The Double Tap interview can also be viewed on YouTube.