Using the Dadnab service, transit riders in Austin, the San Francisco Bay Area, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Portland, Seattle, Southern California, and the Tri-State New York/New Jersey/Connecticut Area can now send a text message to a local phone number to obtain transit directions. The phone numbers for each region are listed on Dadnab’s web site.
A Dadnab user sends a text message (SMS) with an origin and destination to the local telephone number for the region. Within seconds, Dadnab replies with the optimal routes and times to get to the desired destination by rail, bus, or other transit modes.
Previously, Dadnab users addressed their text message queries to an e-mail address. While most mobile phone users are familiar with sending a text message to a phone number, many of them have never sent a text message to an e-mail address.
“By enabling Dadnab users to send their text messages in a more familiar way, we’ve made it even easier for riders to get around on public transportation,”
Cauvin says that Dadnab is intended to solve three problems for transit riders:
1. Wasted time and effort. Riders spend time and effort analyzing schedules to determine the optimal route for their trips.
2. Limited access to spur-of-the-
3. Inability to memorize itineraries. Travelers often cannot remember the routes, times, and stops for a trip they’ve planned without recording them in some manner. Access to a computer, pen, or paper necessary to quickly record such information is in many circumstances limited or nonexistent.
Having recognized the benefit to their riders, transit agencies such as Capital Metro in Austin, Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) in Albany, and Trimet in Portland have featured Dadnab on their web sites.
Dadnab continues to offer the service at no cost to transit riders.
