A new app released by Xerox and the City of Los Angeles makes bold promises about revolutionizing the way we commute and get around the nation's second-largest city. It's called Go LA, and the company's new transport information app is one of the best new apps for iPhone and Android users looking to get around quickly and efficiently.
For drivers, Go LA can replace popular petrol apps and a fuel cost app by estimating the cost it will take to travel from point A to point B, all with traffic information and route recommendations in the vane of other popular driving cool apps like Waze. Waze is another popular fuel cost app, but one that focuses on gathering data from drivers on the road to predict traffic patterns, allowing users to find time-saving alternate routes. But that is where Go LA differentiates itself, as driving is only the beginning. The app also integrates with the city's Metro bus and train services, along with Lyft, Uber and taxis, and will tell you when it is easier to get there just by walking.
For fitness aficionados, Go LA can count calories burned for walking trips, and Xerox has plans to integrate the transport information app with Los Angeles's upcoming bikeshare service that will launch in the summer. The app's strength lies in allowing users to choose between multiple routes to reach their eventual destination, each ranked by what is the easiest, fastest, cheapest and greenest transportation options. The system covers freeways, bus and bike routes, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti says, and should help Angelenos choose the most convenient and quickest transportation options available to them, not to mention saving some money.
In other transport information app news, a new charter bus app called Shofur is changing the charter bus industry with an aim to provide better service to users who use charter buses for long-haul travel. App designer and company founder Armir Harris started the company in a studio apartment with just $800, but now partners with more than 500 local bus companies to offer comprehensive shuttle bus service around the nation.
Shofur's buses are painted bright orange and green to stand out from the crowd, but it is in their amenities that Harris hopes the company can get ahead. He tells stories of time spent as a young semi-professional tennis player, using charter buses to get to distant tournaments. The problem was that sometimes those same buses were late or did not come at all, causing Harris to miss tournaments altogether. With his father's background in the livery services industry, Harris knew he could do better. Shofur's brightly colored buses are said to feature heaters and seats that recline to make the journey more comfortable, but it is in the logistics of making sure riders are matched with reliable bus service that Harris hopes to earn his piece of the pie.
Whether you are a Los Angeles resident looking for better ways to get around or a long-distance traveler looking for more reliable bus service, turn to your smartphone. Today's traveling apps offer much more than just the basic mileage counting petrol apps of when the industry was in its infancy. If Go LA and Xerox can really help commuters get around by making available different transit options all integrated into a slick and attractive package, Shofur can make sure they can find a ride for the long haul, while Waze is still useful in finding the quickest ways to get around when they are confined to their cars.
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