Google has announced today that they are going to be shutting down the Pigeon transit app service. Pigeon by Googles Area 120 group gives the best route; avoiding delays, crowds, and other common disruptions. Today’s post will be going over the shutdown details. Google Announces Pigeon Shutdown
Pigeon is a crowdsourced transit app, that was launched by the Google Area 120 team, which is where the experimental Google projects come from. The Pigeon transit app helps users find best routes, informs users of delays, crowds at stations, and several other common disruptions that drive commuters crazy.
Pigeon Basic Info
The idea behind Pigeon was to make it easier to get around while commuting on public transit. Pigeon is available in the following cities
- New York: MTA (Subway, Bus, Metro-North, LIRR, and Ferry), PATH, NJ Transit Rail, NY Waterway, Staten Island Ferry
- Chicago: CTA (L and Bus), Metra
- Boston: MBTA (T, Bus, Commuter Rail and Ferry)
- San Francisco: Bart, Muni (Metro and Bus), AC Transit, Golden Gate Bus, Caltrain, SF Bay Ferry
- DC-Baltimore: WMATA (Metro and Bus), DC Circulator, DC Streetcar, VRE, MARC
- Los Angeles: LACMTA (Metro, Rapid Transit, Bus, and MetroLink)
The pigeon app was created solely for iOS, with a goal to have an Android version in the future according to the Pigeon site.
Google’s Announcement – Pigeon Shutting Down
On Wednesday, June 10th, Google sent out the announcement that the Pigeon App will be shutting down on June 24th.
- The reason Google is shutting down Pigeon is due to Covid-19 they can no longer support Pigeon.
- Those who use Pigeon will be able to do so until June 24th, 2020.
- For those users of Pigeon who wish to get the data they have within Pigeon, they have until June 24th, to access the app and select to download the data. As of July 24th, all data will be deleted.
Final Thought
We understand that Covid-19 is unprecedented, however, we would hope that Google would reconsider this shutdown or at least delay it. Cities are starting to reopen, and people will be starting to return to work. Those people who use public transportation need more information not less.
Source
- Pigeon Site – App and app shutdown information
Google Announces Pigeon Shutdown
