Ease Your Commute With This iPhone App!

Your commute just got easier.

Thanks to a newly updated iPhone app from the Park Slope-based , commuters can now more accurately gauge when to catch the subway or bus – or even where to find parking.

The free app — which was released on Monday — uses a combination of information from sources like the MTA and Department of Transportation as well as user-generated commentary to give users updates on the status of any subway, bus, parking spot, or traffic crossing in the city.  

“Basically, we layered on the ability for people to make the data that is already out there more accurate,” said Dylan Goez, Head of User Experience for Roadify. “[Someone] could say, ‘Hey, the F train isn’t running,’ and we could send that info out to our users faster than the MTA could process it.”

It works like this: if you’re waiting for the B61 bus, simply hit “Give A Bus” on the app once it comes. The app will record the time you spotted the bus, and Roadify users waiting further down the bus route can check to see if the bus is running on time.

The idea to add the crowd-sourcing component to the Roadify app really took hold during December’s post-Christmas blizzard, when Roadify was instrumental in keeping Park Slope residents updated about which roads were plowed via their blog and Twitter.

The updated app was this month voted top "Getting Around NYC" app in the city-sponsored BigApps Competition, as well as third best app overall. Roadify’s user base recently grew to over 18,000 New Yorkers, though the majority of users are in Brooklyn.

Park Slope resident Nick Nyhan was first inspired to start Roadify after becoming frustrating circling for parking in the neighborhood. Nyhan, Goelz and Dan Robinson soon began collaborating on an idea for a company that would take the hassle and confusion out of getting reliable commuting conditions.

In the new iPhone app (the original app launched in November), users can also say “thanks” to other uses who provided helpful transit tips, gain “Street CARma” points for sharing information, and share information with non-Roadify users via Facebook and Twitter.

“It’s not just a transit app,” said Amy Janzen, who handles communications for Roadify. “It’s a community app.”