“If everyone will use the app, it will help our region become less congested and more connected,” Texas Transportation Commissioner Laura Ryan said in a video address to unveil Houston ConnectSmart, an all-encompassing app developed by local agencies to address traffic.
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) was awarded $8.9 million in 2016 by federal officials to create the app, along with Houston-area public agencies, including Metropolitan Transit Authority, Houston TranStar and various city and county agencies. The result, after years of development, is a coordinated app, designed by Houston tech firm Metropia that allows a user to plot a trip and receive real-time information about how long it would take to drive, ride a bus or train, bicycle or walk to the destination.
The app also:
- Offers up-to-date parking information about available spaces on streets, some neighborhoods and private parking lots.
- Connects to Metro’s online ticketing system so people can buy transit tickets.
- Calls a tow truck through TranStar’s Tow and Go program if a user breaks down on an area freeway.
- Sees available BCycle bikes at kiosks and where they can be returned.
“It can also help you connect with other people who want to go where you want to go,” said TxDOT Houston District Engineer Eliza Paul, referring to carpool options.
Pulling in that traffic, transit and other sources of data is what allows ConnectSmart to work, said Yi-Chang Chiu, founder of Metropia, who helped develop the app. Buying transit fares through the app would not be possible, he said, unless Metro opened its internal tech to the company.
Metro and others also required that the app feature options for those with mobility, hearing or sight challenges.
“We are making this app and mobility options available and accessible to all,” Chiu said.
At its core, officials said the entire endeavor is about laying out more options for travel. Those options, among others, will be increasingly important as Houston grows from 8 million residents in the near future to an estimated 10 million by 2050, Paul said. Acknowledging TxDOT has been “highway centric,” she said providing options other than vehicles will be vital to how residents travel.
“There are a lot of things we can all do together,” Paul said.
That starts, many added, with recognizing the opportunity technology provides and the possibility of changing some people's habits.
“Leaving your car behind is an important maxim for this region,” said Houston At-Large Councilman David Robinson, chairman of the Transportation Policy Council at the regional Houston-Galveston Area Council. “We have data at our fingertips, and we are only going to make things better.”
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