labs@atheron:~/industries/transit-mobility/design$ design --research --prototype

Accessible transit design

Rider apps designed and tested with the people who ride.

A rider app is used by people with every kind of need, often in a hurry, outside, on an old phone. We research with your riders, prototype the trip and booking flows, test them with screen readers and large text, and hand over a design system your team can keep using.

Start a project See the example projects

// what matters here

What is different in this industry.

Research with real riders

Interviews and testing with riders who use screen readers, speak other languages or book for someone else.

Prototypes before code

The trip, alert and booking flows are tried on a phone before anything is built.

An accessibility review

Screens checked against WCAG 2.1 AA by our team, with findings written up and fixed.

A design system you keep

Components, colours and type that your team and other vendors can build with.

// example projects

Priced examples for this service.

Each one is hypothetical, labelled as such, and priced live from our rate card. Open any of them in the estimator and make it yours.

Example projectWeb appMobile app

Rider app and trip planner

Hypothetical. Not a client, not a result.

// The problem

A regional transit authority's riders check a PDF timetable and a third-party app that lags behind detours, and riders who use screen readers or speak another language struggle with both.

// What we would build

An iOS, Android and web app designed with riders, built on the agency's GTFS schedules and GTFS Realtime feeds: next departures, trip planning through OpenTripPlanner, service alerts pushed to the routes a rider follows, and nearby bike share docks from the operator's GBFS feed. Designed and tested for screen readers, large text and five languages.

// What is in it

Next departures and live vehicle positions from your GTFS Realtime feed
Trip planning across bus, rail and bike share
Alerts pushed only for the routes and stops a rider follows
Design research and testing with riders, screen readers and large text
Five languages, with your alerts translated by your staff or a vendor you choose
An admin screen to publish detours and notices

// Stack

React Native
Next.js
OpenTripPlanner
GTFS and GTFS Realtime
PostgreSQL
AWS Canada

// estimate

Build: ≈ US$124,000 to US$189,000, delivered within 29 weeksCAD 176,000 to 269,100
Hosting: ≈ US$492 a monthCAD 700 a month
Support: ≈ US$5,010 a monthCAD 7,135 a month

Prices in your currency are estimates from today's Bank of Canada rate. All invoicing is in CAD or USD.

Timeline by milestone

Discovery: 2.9 to 3.4 weeks
Design approved: 8.9 to 14.9 weeks
Core features: 1.9 to 2.9 weeks
Full build: 0.9 to 1.9 weeks
First build on devices: 2.9 to 5.4 weeks
Testing and fixes: 0.4 to 0.9 weeks
Store submission: 0.9 to 1.4 weeks
Launch: 0.9 to 1.4 weeks

Outside our hands, and added to the calendar

App store review: 1 week
Access to your GTFS Realtime feeds: 1 to 4 weeks

How it is paid

Deposit 20%: CAD 35,200 to 53,820
Discovery 9.2%: CAD 16,192.00 to 24,757.20
Design approved 9.2%: CAD 16,192.00 to 24,757.20
Core features 7.6%: CAD 13,376.00 to 20,451.60
Full build 5%: CAD 8,800 to 13,455
First build on devices 20.1%: CAD 35,376.00 to 54,089.10
Testing and fixes 2.5%: CAD 4,400.00 to 6,727.50
Store submission 6.7%: CAD 11,792.00 to 18,029.70
Launch 9.7%: CAD 17,072.00 to 26,102.70
Holdback, 30 days after launch (10%): CAD 17,600 to 26,910

Start from this example

Example projectWeb appMobile app

Paratransit and shuttle booking

Hypothetical. Not a client, not a result.

// The problem

A paratransit service books every trip by phone during office hours, sends reminders by hand, and cannot offer a freed seat to another rider in time.

// What we would build

A booking app and web portal for eligible riders and their caregivers, with trip requests, reminders by text or voice call, cancellations that offer the seat to the waitlist, and trips passed to and from your scheduling software through its API. Eligibility and booking rules are the ones your agency sets, and staff sign in with your organisation's accounts.

// What is in it

Trip requests, changes and cancellations from a phone, the web or a caregiver's account
Reminders by text or voice call, in the rider's language
Freed seats offered to the waitlist
Trips sent to and from your scheduling software
Call-centre screens that see the same booking the rider sees
Riders moved in from the current spreadsheets

// Stack

React Native
Next.js
PostgreSQL
Scheduling software API
SMS and voice API
AWS Canada

// estimate

Build: ≈ US$131,000 to US$200,000, delivered within 27 weeksCAD 186,200 to 284,700
Hosting: ≈ US$492 a monthCAD 700 a month
Support: ≈ US$2,500 a monthCAD 3,565 a month

Prices in your currency are estimates from today's Bank of Canada rate. All invoicing is in CAD or USD.

Timeline by milestone

Discovery: 2.9 to 3.4 weeks
Design approved: 6.9 to 11.9 weeks
Core features: 1.9 to 2.9 weeks
Full build: 1.4 to 1.9 weeks
First build on devices: 3.4 to 5.9 weeks
Testing and fixes: 0.4 to 0.9 weeks
Store submission: 0.9 to 1.4 weeks
Launch: 0.9 to 1.4 weeks

Outside our hands, and added to the calendar

App store review: 1 week
Scheduling software API access: 1 to 4 weeks
Your IT security review and sign-on setup: 4 to 8 weeks

How it is paid

Deposit 20%: CAD 37,240 to 56,940
Discovery 9.2%: CAD 17,130.40 to 26,192.40
Design approved 9.2%: CAD 17,130.40 to 26,192.40
Core features 7.6%: CAD 14,151.20 to 21,637.20
Full build 5%: CAD 9,310 to 14,235
First build on devices 20.1%: CAD 37,426.20 to 57,224.70
Testing and fixes 2.5%: CAD 4,655.00 to 7,117.50
Store submission 6.7%: CAD 12,475.40 to 19,074.90
Launch 9.7%: CAD 18,061.40 to 27,615.90
Holdback, 30 days after launch (10%): CAD 18,620 to 28,470

Start from this example

// questions

Questions we get about this.

Do you test transit apps with riders who use screen readers?

Yes. We recruit with your accessibility advisory group or community partners and test on their own devices.

Is an accessibility review the same as a legal opinion?

No. We check screens against WCAG and fix what we find. Whether you meet a law is for your advisers.

Can our existing rider app be redesigned without a rebuild?

Sometimes. A design review tells you whether a redesign on the current code is enough.

Back to the industry: Transit and mobility About the service: Product design and UX

// next

Not quite your project?

Tell us what you have in mind. We will come back to you with a range and the questions that would narrow it. Or book a call and talk it through.

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