Web site aims to go far in transit-map market
By Zoe Tillman
Inquirer Staff Writer
In the battle for the hearts and mouse clicks of Philadelphia public transit users, one Web site, HopStop.com, is trying to compete with Internet giant Google.
To get from Point A to Point B via subway, trolley or bus, riders increasingly are turning to the Web to get directions.
Google Transit, which allows users to map public-transit routes free, announced a partnership with SEPTA last month. Philadelphia is one of more than 400 cities worldwide to feed data into Google Transit since it was launched in 2007.
HopStop, a New York City-based company with about 10 employees, added a service last Friday to offer similar free public-transit trip planning for Philadelphia.
"We are a very efficiently-run, scrappy, nimble startup," said Joe Meyer, HopStop's chief executive. "We don't have armies of engineers."
HopStop was created four years ago, originally with data only available for New York City-area transit systems. Today, it offers trip planning for about 10 cities, mostly in the United States but also including Paris and London.
The company makes money by selling advertising space on its site and contracting out to provide trip-planning services to other company Web sites.
While many public transit trip-planning Web sites exist that are city-specific, HopStop and Google Transit are among the only sites that cover many cities and regions.
Meyer, who graduated with an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1997, would not reveal how long it took or how much it cost to produce the Philadelphia site.
Unlike Google Transit, which has a direct relationship with SEPTA, HopStop compiled most of its data using specially created programs. It requested data from SEPTA and then filled in the rest manually by going through each bus and train schedule.
Meyer said HopStop was unique in that it takes user feedback into account. Hundreds of users send e-mails each week with suggestions for faster or alternate routes, which HopStop engineers factor into their system, he said.
"Google Transit goes much wider than we do," Meyer said. "But we have far more depth."
HopStop is on Google's radar as one of the only sites offering comparable services, Google Inc. spokeswoman Elaine Filadelfo said.
"Our general view is that we're excited to see more offerings," Filadelfo said. "We encourage agencies to publicly provide" information so others can use it.
That does not mean Google lacks competitive spirit. Filadelfo said one of Google Transit's advantages was its connection to other features, such as Google Maps.
Google Maps could direct more users to public transit by offering those in search of driving directions alternative bus or train routes, Filadelfo said.
HopStop may not be the only competitor for long. When SEPTA announced its partnership with Google, it also made its transit data for buses and trains publicly available and free.
SEPTA occasionally checks on sites that download the information to make sure they have it right, spokesman Richard Maloney said.
The transit agency says it is not worried about sites such as HopStop, which Maloney said he was not aware of, or Google Transit taking visitors from the SEPTA Web site.
"The more the merrier," Maloney said. "We want to provide our information as widely as we can."
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