Walking the Walk (and Riding the Bus!)
Los Angeles has the reputation of being a “driving city,” which, on the surface, might make it a little awkward to be the hometown of GMV ITS North America. We’re in the business of buses, after all. How could we claim “We Make Transit Work” if we never actually took transit?
Thankfully, the results of our recent commuter survey suggest we don’t follow this auto-oriented stereotype. In fact, our team is way less likely to commute by driving than typical commuters in Los Angeles and across the United States.
Figure: Mode used for most of commute’s distance (Los Angeles County and US data from 2018 US Census ACS)
Comparing data from the 2018 American Community Survey, we found that GMV employees are ten times more likely to take transit to work than other commuters. We’re four times more likely to walk or bike to work, and a few of us work from home across the country. Most notably, we’re more likely to commute by bus than any other mode — Nearly 40% of us take the bus to work!
Figure: Modes used for most of commute’s distance among GMV employees
There are a lot of reasons to feel good about taking the bus. It’s an environmentally friendly alternative to driving, and it’s sure cheaper than parking in Downtown. But there’s another reason it’s good for us to take the bus: We actually rely on the technology we provide every day.
When we get real-time arrival predictions for LADOT DASH, or when we take a look at a digital sign at a Metro bus stop, we’re using GMV technology to improve our commute. In the tech industry, we call this “eating your own dogfood.” Tasty!
If our technology doesn’t work, many of us are directly affected by it, so we have an inherent interest to make our technology the best it can be. And by actually taking transit, we understand what other transit riders need and expect when it comes to real-time passenger information.
So, while we might be in a “driving city,” at GMV we’re proud to walk the walk by actually walking, riding the bus, or hopping on our bicycle to get to work. Our commutes ultimately make our hometown a little more livable and our technology more personal.