Not everyone gets to be validated in his or her career, in fact, most people never get the chance to hear that what they do affects another person’s life in a positive way. I am not one of those people.
Since being a part of the TransLoc team, I have had been lucky enough to hear from many riders how we affect their daily lives. One of the greatest moments for me was having a student read my badge at a campus event and proclaim “Oh my gosh, you’re with TransLoc? I love TransLoc!” He then proceeded to call his friends over to meet me. I found it humorous at first, but soon more and more students were telling me how much they rely on our app to get around—not only on campus but around the city too.
For one of the students, the size of the campus alone was a challenge. Being a freshman and very timid at the time, he basically stayed in his dorm whenever he didn’t have classes. He didn’t know how to find his way around and was too shy to ask. Finally, his roommate showed him the Rider app. He said, “my world blasted wide open after that!”
Stories like the ones I heard that day make me realize how important my work here at TransLoc really is… I’m proud to be a part of making transit convenient and easy to use for everyone. The fact is, we do what we do for the rider—realizing our founder’s vision every single day.
I now have a daughter attending college. She’s one of those students taking the bus at all times of day and night. That can be stressful for a mom, but knowing she has the app and can wait in the safety of a building, set a reminder, and leave exactly when she needs to in order to catch her bus is reassuring. I still worry, of course—I’m a mom—but I am happy she can get around independently and safely by using the Rider app.
Another part of my job involves speaking to agencies about our products and making sure they have what they need to succeed. During this process, many of our agencies have shared with me that their first priority is to their riders. One manager stated that, before TransLoc, their students would stand outside in poor weather, never knowing if the bus would be on time or stuck in the snow somewhere. He shared how important it was to them that their riders know where the buses are and not have to rely on a paper schedule while praying that it will be there on time. Our agencies and our riders are getting a better transit experience because of what my company does, and that is my ultimate goal—I am helping TransLoc take public transit from last resort for some to first choice for all.
Debra Hurst is the Director of Services at TransLoc. Her team is responsible for building the map data you see when you launch our app and supplies the hardware that many agencies use to geo-locate their buses. They also provide exceptional customer support for all of our awesome clients and riders.