MassDOT Apps Are Coming!

There’s a new app available for you IPhone users (who aren’t participating in Operation Chokehold in an hour) that lets you figure out when buses are arriving on certain MBTA routes.

I’m not sure if its the first app out or not, but MassDOT has been doing some fascinating work reaching out to the developer community and providing them with data feeds.

I was recently reading MassDOT’s 90-day implementation report (yep, I’m cool.) and was struck by a passage on data. As part of a discussion about outsourcing the 511 service, it notes their efforts to move “toward a vision of government as a wholesaler of information rather than a retailer.”

That’s a mouthful coming from a public sector entity. It’s a great idea and I’m hopeful that more useful, customer-driven products come out of the effort.