Citymapper (and other similar companies) often have to establish contracts with transit organizations. They have a team of business folks who figure who and how to get API access. Basically boils down to partnerships in the case that there isn't open data. Most companies like this rely heavily on open data though.
I worked at Citymapper. The quiet, grim truth of the place is that everyone there is gritting their teeth trying to do work they're passionate about in the face of an exec team who are all gritting their teeth trying to succeed in the face of a CEO who is legitimately abusive toward the people around him.
Everyone is scared of the guy for reasons I don't really understand. Also a lot of the current/ex employees have shares that they/we want to turn into real money, so there is a perverse incentive to keep quiet on the off chance that CM's CEO figures out how to make it a real business. Plus, a lot of our friends still work there. We don't want to shit on them and make their lives even worse.
For context, from one of the cofounders, I had it explained to me that the CEO sometimes loses it and screams at people. Curses at them. Belittles them. It's something everyone manages. I didn't believe it until it happened to me. And again. And again. Everyone tip toes around him. I've watched good people come and go from CM for years now. The best people don't stay. They've gone to DeepMind, Monzo, Lyft, Facebook -- other great companies. The people who stay at CM are mostly too scared to leave or beaten down enough to believe all companies are that bad. The Glassdoor reviews are legitimate. It's a toxic work place.
> The people who stay at CM are mostly too scared to leave
How does this happen to people? Are there really no other options or something? Are they barrel-bottom candidates on their final shot? I just can't imagine feeling like I need my employer more than it needs me.
I don't have a good answer for you. A lot of people have left to much better environments and yet a subset stick around painfully aware of how bad it is. It doesn't make sense. Though my understanding of the psychology of toxic environments is that the longer you're in them, the more you normalise them. Lot of Stockholm Syndrome going on there. Lot of people claiming "of it's not that bad" and then tip toeing around all day while being micromanaged.
I've seen this happen to people I would NEVER expect to stick around a bad environment, hell, I'll seen it happen to people who have left previous jobs because of a bad environment yet they can't/won't admit where they are now is bad.
It's extremely easy to, from the outside looking in, see a bad/toxic environment but sometimes when you are in the weeds you miss it completely or think "it's not too bad".
Things I've heard from friends (people I value highly and would hire in a minute if I had the power):
* Well it's not that bad
* What if my skills have atrophied and no one wants me
* I don't think I can make as much $$$ elsewhere
* I think it's getting better
* I like the people I work with/don't want to leave them hanging
I once had a guy who had been in the industry almost twice as long as me (10 years me -> 20 years him) who wasn't sure if he could find a job that paid as much. He was making 85% of my salary at the time and I considered a number of his skills to exceed mine greatly.
Another friend had put up with overwork, denied PTO, unofficial holidays taken away, etc. He told our friend group about this and asked "Is that really that bad?". A "frog in boiling water" story if I ever heard one...
What I'm trying to convey is some people do feel forced to stay in a bad situation and some genuinely don't see it. People are weird...
Since you are ex-CM & close to people there, I just want some perspective & feedback from you on my view.
When I first heard of CM, I felt that it should have a wikipedia/waze kinda model with user participation as its the frequent travelers that have the best insight. Like a part of OpenStreetMap. With that model it could have grown faster too.
As for revenue generation, I feel ads are the best option. As a public transport commuter, you are either a tourist or a new commuter and there would be good ways to find places. Also for budget traveller, help plan a trip via only public transport and avoid taxis.
