By 2020: Feedback will change the marketplace – Steinberg

Tom Steinberg, founder of the influential MySociety and soon-to-be-launched Fixmytransport websites, has welcomed the announcement by TfL that it is to make its data more freely available, claiming that he had once been told by a TfL officer that this simply could not be done.  “What happens when you make your technology outward-facing on the internet is that you get massive amounts of feedback,” he says. “This means that, bizarrely and counter-intuitively, you can actually expect to get tougher questions because while your client may be very good, there is generally only one of it… Working for everyone is much harder than working for a single client.” Steinberg’s new website, which is due to be launched before the end of the year, will be based on his existing Fixmystreet site that enables people to complain to their local council about potholes, cracked paving stones, flytipping and other on-street problems. The new website is proving more difficult to set up than its predecessor, Steinberg says, however, because with transport problems it was often much more difficult to determine who a disgruntled user should complain to.

Tom Steinberg will be speaking at the Travel 2020 Exhibition and Conference on the 29-30 September. Register to attend at Travel2020.co.uk