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Mobile Transit App Startup Participates in Y Combinator Demo Day

Token Transit is small, but it's growing.

Among the 52 companies taking part in the Silicon Valley accelerator Y Combinator’s demo day on March 20 was a startup called Token Transit, an early stage provider of mobile ticketing for transit agencies, according to TechCrunch.

The San Francisco-based company, which doesn’t appear to have any investment backing aside from Y Combinator, offers an app that lets riders pre-pay for transit fares. When they board a vehicle, they can show their ticket to a driver instead of paying.

The app also includes a “ticket wallet” where customers can track their tickets, including how much time is left on multi-day tickets. The mobile tickets include anti-faking features such as words that move back and forth and design schemes that change from day to day. The tickets also include photos of places and things around Reno “to build civic spirit,” according to a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” thread that the firm’s executives held in early March.

The firm, which has been around since late 2015, contains a small group of founders with experience at Google and Apple. The company’s first client, according to the AMA, was the Reno, Nev.-area Regional Transportation Commission (RTC). Since launching in Reno in December, the company has also launched its app in Humboldt County, Calif., and is working on serving three more agencies.

The app is available in Spanish in Reno, according to RTC. From December through March, users downloaded the app nearly 1,700 times.

Ben Miller is the associate editor of data and business for Government Technology. His reporting experience includes breaking news, business, community features and technical subjects. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in journalism from the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno, and lives in Sacramento, Calif.