Pigeon crowdcsourced public transit app is no longer happening

Remember Pigeon? That experimental app we told you about last November that planned on expanding to five more US cities is shutting down. The group behind the app has decided to put an end to the project. The main reason? Coronavirus. No, no employees were infected but a lot of circumstances have been affected. Pigeon will shut down on June 24. That is less than a couple of weeks from today. The Pigeon app is supposed to be another navigation app that would help in commuting and riding buses and trains. It’s something like Waze that could give information in real-time.

Pigeon had potential. It was supposed to provide information through crowdsourcing. As part of Area 120 and Google’s experimental projects lab, its developers planned on expanding further in the US. Sadly, the developers could no longer support it due to unfortunate circumstances.

Public transit isn’t available in most cities anyway so there is no immediate need. When asked if it would be rebooted, the devs said there are no plans to do so in the future. It’s one of Area 120’s many experiments that didn’t end up becoming a reality.

Pigeon app wasn’t exactly a Google project but a product of Area 120 composed of people within Google. It’s a way for employees to unleash their creativity and try on new ideas.

If you used Pigeon before, know that the data you generated will be deleted. You can get a copy of the data if you want. Simply visit the app to request a copy to be sent to your email. Your data will be sent before July 24, 2020.