What we do

Transit Tech

We publish the official open APIs that power mbta.com, digital screens, Google Maps, and other third-party apps. Our goal is to provide MBTA riders with the most accurate data possible about service—this includes schedules, real-time arrival predictions, real-time crowding updates, and upcoming disruption alerts.

Part of our strategy for improving this important information for riders is to empower our front-line operations staff with useful technology. As our dispatchers and other officials adjust service to keep it running smoothly, we want riders to see those changes reflected on apps and digital screens. It’s why we built Skate, the MBTA’s mobile bus dispatch app, and it drives our work managing and improving on our other many tracking and dispatch technologies.

Learn more about Skate

Road Control Supervisors Dorsey Dugan and Brian Clifford, who helped design Skate, a mobile dispatching app for bus inspectors

Digital Ride

The Screens team delivers real-time information to MBTA riders in stations, at bus stops, and on vehicles. Our researchers, designers, developers, and product/project managers are uncovering new use cases for screens in stations, designing new informational experiences, piloting new hardware, and building the software that supports these ideas.

For example, in 2017 we successfully piloted solar-powered electronic ink (E-Ink) screens along the Green Line. We are now expanding those signs across the Green Line and to certain high-usage bus stops to improve the MBTA experience for all riders, including those without access to smartphones.

A photo of an e-ink sign at Heath St with a Green Line trolley waiting with open doors next to the curb

Fare Partnerships

The CTD Fare Transformation team is responsible for helping MBTA riders find the best way to pay for transit—a critical step in their access to bus, subway, commuter rail, and ferry service. This team manages and develops some of the interim solutions between the current and future fare system. Our team of developers, product managers, analysts, and sales focus on ensuring riders can easily find and understand the easiest and most cost-effective way to purchase their fares.

Reduced fare gate at a Blue Line station

Website

MBTA.com is a key component of the Authority’s communications to riders. Our team includes designers, developers, writers, and product managers who build tools and resources riders need to plan trips, learn about improvements to service and operations, and become active participants in the system.

Learn more Visit MBTA.com

Digital Transformation

The new Digital Transformation program partners with MBTA departments to uncover inefficient workflows, recommend new approaches, and implement solutions to improve the lives of MBTA staff.

We're currently building a tool to help bus and train operators pick their shifts. We also create trainings to make sure MBTA operations and engineering staff have the knowledge they need to do their jobs safely. Additionally, we help MBTA departments manage key communications during process updates and emergencies.