Coord unveils Routing API to support multimodal trip planning

Dive Brief:

Sidewalk Labs-backed data mobility company Coord announced today the first version of its multimodal Routing API, which is designed to support trip planning involving both docked and dockless bike-share and public transit.
In a blog post, Coord explains the API thinks "intermodally," which selects the best way to combine the modes to get from point A to point B most quickly. "We are hopeful that tools that provide inter-modal insights, such as our router, will help planners, policymakers, and operators leverage different modes to create transportation networks that better serve people’s travel needs," the post reads.
Coord says it is launching the routing service with information for the Washington, DC metro area and New York City, but will expand to other geographic regions soon. The company is also working on adding predictive insights to next iterations of the API to indicate changing vehicle locations or transit times.

Dive Insight:

Coord has made significant advancements since its launch in February, having released a number of tools including its Curbs API, Tolls API and Bike-Share API. All of the APIs are intended to be integral in allowing companies to streamline mobility data into efficient applications, but the newest Routing API takes that efficiency to a new level.

As Coord touches on in its blog post, bike-share has been a beneficial system for first mile and last mile travel that can connect a user to a transit station. However, locating bike-share options — especially in a city where such services are abundant — can be challenging. While other navigation apps like Transit or TransitScreen offer both docked and dockless bike-share location information, Coord is one of the first to suggest travel routes that combine bike-share and public transit options.

The Router API also conveniently comes just days after New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the upcoming launch of the city's first dockless bike-share pilot program to complement the existing Citi Bike system.

Coord has not yet announced if the next iterations of this API will include dockless scooter information, but in a market such as Washington, DC, that information is a crucial piece to the shared mobility puzzle. Lime, Spin, Bird and even Lyft have entered or are planning to enter the scooter market in the metro area, and dockless scooters have quickly become as ubiquitous as bikes in a city landscape.