Independent travel is one of the greatest barriers to community participation and gainful employment for people with an Intellectual or Developmental Disability (IDD). The situation for these individuals in Toronto was that the system was underutilizing public transit within the city. Instead, it was relying on very expensive transportation services, or the families themselves. But as services moved towards more community-based programming, outside of a person’s neighborhood, this development put additional pressure on an already burdened system. In order to ensure smooth travels, a need arose to utilize an accessibility-friendly public transit app.
Community Living Toronto realized that developing an app in-house was outside of their capacity and finances. They turned to Moovit for our White Label Application: a tailored platform, based on the world’s #1 urban mobility app, that offers rich customizations the customer requires to make it their own.
This custom solution utilized our capabilities in the field of accessibility and public transit to ultimately create ‘DiscoverMyRoute,’ an app designed to assist people with IDD with how to use public transit independently in Toronto.
The app works on any iPhone or Android device and provides trip planning, real-time arrival information for any transit line, and GPS-style step-by-step directions, including ‘get off alerts,’ that let the rider know when their stop is coming.
We tested many apps and Moovit was the full package. It’s not just an app for riding transit. It’s almost like a coaching tool. It gives people the confidence to take transit and open up their world.
It has been great working with Moovit to bring real-time data and route planning in the JAUNT app
After an extended period of development, and with the support of our technology partners, Masabi and Moovit, we are pleased to bring this modern convenience to our riding public. As our society continues to manage the current public health emergency, SilverPass will not just offer a more convenient ticketing experience, it will offer our daily commuters an opportunity to transition their traditional ticketing process to be truly contactless during a period of concern over high-touch, high-traffic surfaces.
Thanks to the push notifications available through the white label app, it’s never been easier to send service updates and alerts as they happen and gain valuable, instant feedback from our riders through surveys.
We now have a direct channel with our riders, which was especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing us to constantly keep riders informed of all the many changes that happened. We have been consistently impressed by the number of responses we received from our surveys, even during the lockdown.
Since 1948, Community Living Toronto has acted as a source of support for thousands of individuals with an intellectual disability searching for accessible and meaningful ways to live in the community. Following years of work within the field, Community Living Toronto, along with additional partners, established and created — Discover My Route, a travel training program designed to teach people 18 years of age and older with an Intellectual or Developmental Disability (IDD) how to use public transit independently in Toronto.
Using your branding, offer your citizens the simplest, and most intuitive, mobility experience
