Transit
Transit operates a multimodal urban mobility platform anchored by a consumer transit navigation app used by 8 million monthly active riders across 1,000+ cities, monetized via premium Royale subscriptions, 180+ transit agency sponsorships, and a developer API serving customers such as SNCF Connect.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- HeadquartersMontreal, Canada
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Transit does
Transit is a Montreal-based software company that operates a multimodal urban mobility platform centered on a consumer mobile app for real-time public transit navigation, complemented by agency-facing tools and a developer API. The core product aggregates raw transit data (GTFS static schedules, GTFS-realtime feeds, and proprietary on-demand APIs) from more than 1,000 cities across 37 countries, normalizes it, and delivers real-time bus and train arrival predictions, step-by-step GO navigation, multimodal trip planning across fixed-route transit, on-demand services, bikeshare, and scooters, and crowdsourced vehicle tracking contributed by 8 million monthly active users. The platform processes 3.5 billion API calls per year, tracks 130,000 vehicles in real-time, and integrates 11+ on-demand operators including Uber, Lyft, Via, Spare, and RideCo via open standards (GTFS-flex) and its co-developed GOFS specification.
The company operates three commercial revenue streams. First, a B2C subscription product called Transit Royale, available via app store monthly or annual auto-renewing subscriptions, offers unlimited departure schedules, additional trip planning options, and custom app themes. Second, a B2B agency partnership product has 180+ transit agencies sponsoring Royale for their riders and purchasing access to the Transit Terminal dashboard, dedicated analyst support, and in-app messaging and marketing tools; agencies report 91% more app opens and 65% more GO trips after sponsorship. Third, a B2B API licensing business serves 160+ customers including SNCF Connect (1.65 billion annual API calls), CoStar, IKE digital kiosks, and various transit agencies, with a freemium tier and paid enterprise scaling. A fourth emerging stream layers transaction fees on contactless fare payment integrated through Apple Wallet and Google Wallet.
The company has raised approximately $26.6 million across rounds from 2015 to 2018, with investors including Accel, Real Ventures, Alliance Ventures, InMotion Ventures, BDC, and Accomplice. Founded in 2012 by Sam Vermette (CEO) and Guillaume Campagna (CTO), Transit operates as an independent, privately-held company headquartered in Montreal's Mile End neighborhood with 11-50 employees, and has no disclosed parent company, acquisition history, or subsequent institutional funding rounds.
Transit firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Transit
- Legal name
- Transit App Inc.
- Website
- https://transitapp.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Transit operates a multimodal urban mobility platform anchored by a consumer transit navigation app used by 8 million monthly active riders across 1,000+ cities, monetized via premium Royale subscriptions, 180+ transit agency sponsorships, and a developer API serving customers such as SNCF Connect.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Transit industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Public Transit Navigation Software
- NAICS
- Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation (485)
- SIC
- Transportation Services (4700)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Ride-Hailing & Taxi Aggregation Platforms (BPAMAIAE)
Keywords
Where Transit is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Montreal
- HQ country
- Canada
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Transit business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Transit Royale Consumer Subscription: Transit offers a premium subscription called Royale, available on iOS and Android app stores via monthly or annual auto-renewing subscriptions. Riders can also receive Royale for free if their transit agency sponsors it. The subscription provides unlimited departure schedules, additional trip planning options, custom app themes and icons.
- Transit Agency Partnership (Royale Sponsorship): Transit agencies pay to sponsor Royale for their riders, gaining branded app experience, in-app messaging, Transit Terminal dashboard access, dedicated analyst support, and targeted marketing campaign tools. Over 180 agencies sponsor Royale. Agencies can also pay for on-demand transit integrations.
- Transit API Licensing: Transit provides APIs to third-party developers, platforms, and transit agencies. Free tier offers up to 5 API calls/minute and 1,500 calls/month. Paid tiers with higher call volumes are available for enterprise customers. Notable API customers include SNCF Connect (1.65B+ API calls annually), CoStar, IKE digital kiosks, and University of Toronto researchers.
- Fare Payment Integration: Transit integrates contactless fare payment information, allowing riders to purchase transit fares via Apple Wallet and Google Wallet through the app. Agencies can optionally enable fare display and purchase flows using GTFS-Fares V2.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Others | Free app for all riders |
| Subscription | Monthly | Transit Royale subscription for riders |
| Freemium | Monthly | API Free Tier |
| Other | Annual | Business Intelligence Analyst compensation (job posting) |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
Transit product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Transit operates a multimodal urban mobility platform centered on its consumer mobile app, which delivers real-time bus and train arrivals, step-by-step GO navigation, crowdsourced vehicle tracking, and multimodal trip planning across more than 1,000 cities and 37 countries. The company monetizes via the Transit Royale premium subscription, partnerships with 180+ transit agencies that sponsor Royale for their riders, and developer-facing Transit APIs that power third-party apps, departure screens, and digital kiosks with 3.5 billion API calls per year.
Product overview
Transit is a mobility super-app providing a unified platform for urban navigation combining real-time transit tracking, multimodal trip planning, and premium subscription services. The core Transit App offers free real-time bus and train arrivals for 1,000+ cities, powered by 8 million monthly active users contributing crowdsourced data through the GO feature. Transit Royale is a premium subscription (often sponsored by transit agencies) offering enhanced trip planning, custom themes, and agency-branded experiences. The Transit APIs enable third-party developers and transit agencies to embed Transit data into their own platforms, handling 3.5 billion API calls annually. Transit Terminal is an agency-facing dashboard for partner transit systems to monitor app usage, send service alerts, and access rider feedback analytics. On-demand services integrate with 11+ providers (Uber, Lyft, Via, etc.) and open standards (GTFS-flex, GOFS) to provide seamless booking within the app.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Transit Royale: Premium in-app subscription service providing unlimited departure schedules, additional trip planning options, custom app themes and icons.
- Transit API
- Transit Terminal
- GO
- GOFS
Products and services
- Transit App Free consumer mobile app for iOS and Android providing real-time bus and train arrivals, multimodal trip planning, step-by-step GO navigation, crowdsourced vehicle tracking, service alerts, and contactless fare purchase for riders in 1,000+ cities across 37 countries.
- Transit Royale Premium subscription tier of the Transit app offering unlimited departure schedules, additional trip planning options, custom themes and icons, and agency-branded experiences for individual riders and transit-agency-sponsored users.
- Transit APIs Developer APIs providing real-time transit departures, multimodal trip planning, accessibility information, service alerts, bike/scooter/carshare availability, and vehicle tracking data for third-party platforms; free tier plus paid enterprise tiers.
- Transit Terminal Web-based agency dashboard for transit agency partners to review routes, track app usage, push service alerts, monitor rider feedback (Rate-My-Ride and Instant Surveys), and access benchmarking reports.
Quantifiable outcome
- 91% increase in app opens when agencies sponsor Royale
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use Transit
Customer profileNamed customers15 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Transit technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration17 records
AI capability2 records
Feature9 records
Transit partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- TransLink (Metro Vancouver)coreTransLink partnered with Transit to provide free Transit Royale to Metro Vancouver riders, making Transit TransLink's official recommended trip-planning platform ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The app serves nearly 300,000 TransLink riders monthly and has been enhanced with specialized routing for BC Place Stadium and the FIFA Fan Festival at PNE fairgrounds.
- SNCF Connect & TechcoreSNCF Connect & Tech uses Transit's API to power the trip planning capabilities for the SNCF Connect platform (app and website). The platform counts over 1.65 billion API calls annually, making it Transit's largest known API customer.
- MobilityData (GOFS development)coreTransit co-developed the GOFS (General On-Demand Feed Specification) standard with MobilityData, an open-source specification for real-time on-demand transit trip planning, scheduling, and booking. Transit actively supports and promotes GOFS alongside GTFS-flex.
- 180+ Transit Agencies (Royale Sponsors)core180+ transit agencies globally sponsor Transit Royale for their riders, including TransLink (Vancouver), TTC (Toronto), OC Transpo (Ottawa), UTA (Salt Lake City), MST (Monterey-Salinas), CATA (Lansing), Omnitrans (San Bernardino), CT Transit (Connecticut), Société des transports de Lévis, Knoxville, Salt Lake City, Calgary, and others.
Scale indicators16 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Transit competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Uber: Uber's app includes a Transit feature for planning multimodal trips combining rideshare with public transit. It is both a deep-link partner inside Transit (Uber booking) and a partial competitor for urban mobility trip planning.
- RideCo: RideCo provides on-demand transit software for agencies, including microtransit and paratransit. It is both a deep-link integration partner in Transit and a competitor for agency-side demand-responsive transit technology contracts.
- Remix by Via: Remix (acquired by Via) provides transit planning software for agencies designing routes and networks. While focused on planning rather than rider-facing apps, it competes for transit agency technology budgets alongside Transit.
- Spare Technology: Spare operates a demand-responsive transit platform used by agencies for microtransit and paratransit. It integrates with Transit via GOFS but competes for the same on-demand transit agency contracts and rider relationships.
Broad incumbents
- HERE Technologies: HERE provides enterprise-grade mapping and transit APIs used by automakers, logistics firms, and transit platforms. It competes with Transit's API business in the developer/B2B data layer for real-time transit and routing.
- Google Maps: Google Maps bundles transit directions, real-time arrivals, and multimodal trip planning into Android and a default-installed app across iOS, providing a free alternative to Transit's core product. As the steward of GTFS, Google also sits upstream of Transit's data layer.
- Apple Maps: Apple Maps is pre-installed on every iOS device and has steadily expanded its transit and real-time arrival capabilities. It represents a powerful, free incumbent that Transit's consumer app must differentiate against on data quality and UX.
Direct peers
- Citymapper: Citymapper is a direct competitor in the urban transit navigation space, providing real-time multimodal trip planning across buses, trains, bikes, and ride-hailing in 40+ major cities. It targets the same urban commuter persona and competes for transit agency data partnerships.
- Swiftly: Swiftly provides a real-time transit data platform for agencies, including AVL (automatic vehicle location) processing, passenger information, and analytics. It competes directly with Transit's Transit Terminal dashboard and API products for agency-side contracts.
- Moovit: Moovit is the closest direct competitor to Transit, offering a multimodal transit navigation app serving 1.7B+ riders in 3,500+ cities. It was acquired by Intel in 2022 for approximately $900M and competes head-to-head for transit agency partnerships and consumer mindshare.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Transit social profiles
Digital presenceTransit financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Transit leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
Transit funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds5 records
Investors9 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Transit M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Transit
What does Transit do?
Transit operates a multimodal urban mobility platform centered on its consumer mobile app, which delivers real-time bus and train arrivals, step-by-step GO navigation, crowdsourced vehicle tracking, and multimodal trip planning across more than 1,000 cities and 37 countries. The company monetizes via the Transit Royale premium subscription, partnerships with 180+ transit agencies that sponsor Royale for their riders, and developer-facing Transit APIs that power third-party apps, departure screens, and digital kiosks with 3.5 billion API calls per year.
Is Transit a public or private company?
Transit is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Transit founded?
Transit was founded in 2012. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Transit based?
Transit is headquartered in Montreal, Canada, in the North America region.
How does Transit make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Transit Royale Consumer Subscription is the primary driver. The others are transit Agency Partnership (Royale Sponsorship), transit API Licensing and fare Payment Integration.
Who are Transit's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are Uber, RideCo, Remix by Via and Spare Technology. Broad incumbents are HERE Technologies, Google Maps and Apple Maps. Direct peers are Citymapper, Swiftly and Moovit.
Does Transit have an API?
Yes. Transit offers real-time and trip planning APIs that provide mobility information around any given location, including real-time transit departures, wheelchair accessibility information, service alerts, and bike/scooter/carshare availability. The APIs also provide multimodal trip results combining public transit, on-demand services, and shared mobility into single journeys. Developers can build departure screens, trip planners, or apps using Transit data. Free access provides up to 5 API calls per minute and 1,500 API calls per month. The company has 3.5 billion API calls per year, 160+ API users, covers 1,100 cities across 37 countries, and tracks 130,000 vehicles in real-time. Notable customers include SNCF Connect & Tech (1.65B API calls annually), Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District, IKE digital kiosks, Greater Cleveland RTA, CoStar/ForRentUniversity, and University of Toronto researchers. Developer documentation is at api-doc.transitapp.com.
What industry is Transit in?
Transit's product category is Public Transit Navigation Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAMAIAE, Ride-Hailing & Taxi Aggregation Platforms. Its NAICS code is 485 and its SIC code is 4700.