More than 20 new agencies subscribe to Royale

More than 20 agencies across the U.S. and Canada, from Long Island to Ontario to Santa Monica and everywhere in between, are the latest subscribers to Transit as their all-in-one mobile platform. With a subscription to Transit Royale, agencies are giving their riders a first-class app experience with complete Mobility-as-a-Service functionality and getting insights from their ridership that can’t be found anywhere else.

With Transit Royale, riders get exclusive app features like more routing options to pick their ideal journey in Transit’s trip planner and early access to new features like Transit’s schedule change viewer, providing a timely heads up on holidays and planned service adjustments. Agencies also add some fun to the daily commute by giving riders personalized emoji avatars while they ride, plus a special app icon and theme that matches their transit system’s identity. The result: a locally-specific, fully-featured app that works in more than 300 cities worldwide, so agencies have a world-class mobile experience that is at once universal and locally branded.

Royale provides the high-quality app experience upon which transit agencies can integrate their offerings into a unified “Mobility-as-a-Service” bundle that combines real-time trip planning, mobile ticketing, and on-demand microtransit, as well as connecting modes like bikeshare and taxis.

Subscribed agencies are already building a complete MaaS experience for their riders with Transit. C-TRAN, Golden Empire Transit, LA Metro, Milton Transit, RideKC and UTA, for example, are integrating on-demand microtransit into the app so riders can plan complete trips that connect with fixed-route service. Big Blue Bus, Golden Empire Transit, Milton Transit, NICE Bus, RTD and Omnitrans, meanwhile, offer mobile ticketing directly within Transit so riders can plan, track and pay for their trip in one app.

These integrations are possible thanks to the open, interoperable approach to Mobility-as-a-Service that Transit takes with partners across the industry. With a single Transit account, riders can already access mobile ticketing through Bytemark, Masabi, and Token Transit across more than 60 transit systems; bikeshare with PBSC and BCycle; and on-demand microtransit from Padam Mobility, RideCo, Spare Labs, and Via.

When agencies subscribe to Royale, they get a direct line to riders that helps agency staff stay on top of what their ridership needs. Subscribing agencies can distribute surveys to riders on the app’s home screen and even get instant feedback while their customers are onboard, answering questions like “did the bus come when you expected it?” or “is this stop accessible for wheelchairs and strollers?”

The Royale upgrade for the latest cohort of agencies began appearing for riders in late February, allowing app users to simply tap and redeem their free subscription. Transit agencies that are newly subscribed to Royale include:

• ABQ Ride in Albuquerque, NM
• Big Blue Bus in Santa Monica, CA
• C-TRAN in Vancouver, WA
• CARTA in Charleston, SC
• Cornwall Transit in Cornwall, ON
• CW Ride systems (Albany Transit System, Corvallis Transit System, Lincoln County Transit System, Benton Area Transit, Linn Shuttle, Lebanon Inter-Neighborhood Xpress) in Oregon’s Cascades West region
• FAST in Fairfield, CA
• Golden Empire Transit in Bakersfield, CA
• Knoxville Area Transit in Knoxville, TN (official launch March 28)
• Loudoun County Transit in Loudoun County, VA (first system operated by Keolis North America to upgrade to Royale)
• Metro in Los Angeles County, CA 
• Milton Transit in Milton, ON
• Monterey-Salinas Transit in Monterey, CA
• NICE Bus in Nassau County, NY
• Omnitrans in San Bernardino, CA
• RideKC in Kansas City, MO
• RTD in Denver, CO
• SolTrans in Vallejo, CA
• UTA in Salt Lake City, UT
• WeGo Public Transit in Nashville, TN

These agencies join RTA in Dayton, OH, DTA in Duluth, MN, RTS in Rochester, NY, and Metro Transit in St. Louis, MO, which were announced as the first agencies to become Royale subscribers in November 2021.

“Since Guillaume and I started Transit a decade ago, our mission has been to help people get around without their own car. As the company has grown, we’ve always put public transit first, working closely with our partners across the industry to bring everything riders need together in one place,” said Sam Vermette, CEO of Transit. “Thanks to Royale, our team is working hand-in-hand with agencies to build the best, most complete mobile app and giving public transit riders the experience they deserve.”

Quotes from our transit agency partners

“Our successful partnership with Transit has made it easier and more convenient for people to ride our services,” said Jay Fox, UTA Executive Director. “We are excited about the launch of Transit Royale, which will provide our riders with even more features within the app to enhance their experience.”

“Having convenient access to route schedules, real-time vehicle locations, and accurate ETAs is a priority for our customers,” said Dan Freudberg, WeGo Public Transit Deputy Chief Operating Officer. “WeGo is excited to partner with the team at Transit to provide the enhanced features of Transit Royale to all Nashville area riders.”

“Our partnership with Transit has enabled us to provide a customer-focused, best-in-class mobile experience for our riders,” said Ed King, City of Santa Monica Department of Transportation Director. “We are excited to partner on the launch of Royale and make these new features available to customers at no cost. These innovative enhancements will improve the user experience and allow customers to continue making informed choices as they navigate Santa Monica and the Westside of Los Angeles.”

“C-TRAN began our partnership with Transit in 2021. Upgrading our riders to Royale fits perfectly with our commitment to providing world-class service for Clark County, and putting the best information we can directly into riders’ hands,” said Shawn M. Donaghy, C-TRAN Chief Executive Officer. “Thousands of C-TRAN riders are using the app to plan trips and track vehicles in real time, and we’re thrilled to continue our relationship with Transit. This next step is one more way to improve access to public transportation in our community and enhance the rider experience in the process.”

“ABQ RIDE is currently making the transition to the Transit app and we are looking forward to it offering our passengers a user-friendly experience,” said Stephanie Dominguez, ABQ RIDE Transit Interim Director. “The app is such an important tool for our riders, and ensuring that they are able to easily navigate our system helps us achieve our goal of an accessible transit system.”

“Our partnership with Transit has allowed Omnitrans to provide its customers enhanced information, connectivity, and more recently, the addition of purchasing options,” said Erin Rogers, Omnitrans CEO/General Manager. “Transit Royale is the next innovative step towards true one-stop shopping for transit customers, and we’re pleased to provide it in our community.”

“Empowering our passengers with the information and technology to make their riding experience the best it can be is a no-brainer,” said Carl Sedoryk, Monterey-Salinas Transit General Manager/CEO. “We are excited to continue our partnership with Transit and provide our riders with the Royale experience.”

“Mobility as a Service is a critical part of making more sustainable travel – like transit or micromobility –  part of North Americans’ daily habits,” said C.J. Bright, Keolis North America Director of Evolving Mobility. “We’re excited about Transit Royale’s new integrations for our partners at transit agencies, and for new functionalities that will further improve the trip planning experience for the passengers we serve. Adding tools like Royale is a critical step in evolving mobility.”

“Lincoln County Transit partners with seven counties to provide riders with a seamless transit experience,” said Cynda Bruce, Lincoln County Transit Director of Transit. “We are excited to launch Transit Royale to build on this progress and provide our customers with cutting edge technology to plan trips and track buses in real time.”

“The Linn Shuttle and Sweet Home Transportation program travels between several towns and links our riders up to many of our transportation partners,” said Dawn Mitchell, SCOSHI/Linn Shuttle Executive Director. “We are looking forward to the Royale upgrade in the Transit app being a way for our riders to conveniently find everything transit when it comes to trip planning and answering the most popular question: ‘Where’s the bus at?’”