Move the world

Founding story

The Routing Company was founded by a triad of transit leaders, rideshare experts, and cutting-edge academic researchers, brought together by a shared mission to move the world.

Our journey so far

From lab to streets

Our story begins in the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and TU Delft Labs, where our co-founders Alex and Menno developed a passion for the engineering and mathematical challenge of dynamic on-demand public transportation.

Their ingenuity, academic work, and improvements in computation inspired The Routing Company’s initial routing technology. This technology presented a radical improvement to the efficiency of existing on-demand transit systems, with up to 10x the passengers serviced per vehicle hour.

Once Alex and Menno realized what they had created, they decided to bring their solution to the world. They brought rideshare experts and transit leaders on board to help take The Routing Company from an idea to a critical solution to major real-world transportation problems.

Our team’s experience, technology, and passion for connecting underserved communities places The Routing Company in a unique position to solve the world’s transit problems, while delivering great user experiences and technology solutions.

Leadership

CEO

James Cox

Ridesharing pioneer, who built and launched uberPOOL across 41 cities, started UberX in Australia and was also previously Chief Product Officer at the EV innovator, Canoo.

VP of Marketing & Policy

Lindy Norris

Award-winning marketing and public affairs leader, with experience from the White House to the TEDx stage and who was formerly an executive at at New Flyer (North America’s largest transit bus manufacturer).

VP of Operations

Pandora Shelley

Experienced startup executive, with a proven track record of scaling operations and who was the CEO of the largest startup incubator in the Southern Hemisphere.

Co-Founder & CTO

Alex Wallar

Optimization expert, who co-founded The Routing Company after his seminal PhD paper at MIT’s Computer Science lab led to the algorithm which redefined high-capacity ride-sharing.

Co-Founder & Director of Algorithms

Menno van der Zee

On-demand system entrepreneur, who co-founded The Routing Company after completing an MSc from TU Delft and driving international research into optimization algorithms.

Senior Advisor

Dick Alexander

Transit industry leader, with 40+ years experience in transport ranging from operations to executive management including interim CEO of Transdev and leadership at First Transit & ATE. Previously served as Chief Development Officer for TRC.

Director of Product Management

Niko Rekhviashvili

Established product chief, start-up founder and Fulbright fellow who drove product management at 3+ major international corporations.

VP of Finance

Fisher Pressman

Accomplished finance leader with international financing, M&A, analytics, and franchising experience, operating in both public and private company environments.

Transit Advisory Board

Flora Castillo

Freddie Fuller

Wynton Habersham

Gabriele Mack

Dwayne C. Sampson

K. Jane Williams

Where we’ve been and where we’re going

Timeline

2019

May, 2019
Researchers in ridesharing optimization from MIT and TU Delft depart academia to found Routable AI. They quickly bring on ridesharing veterans including the developers of UberPOOL and UberBus.

2020

Dec, 2020
Routable AI rebrands as The Routing Company (TRC) and launches the PingoTM platform for on-demand public transit. TRC raises $5M in seed funding from The Engine, an MIT investment fund.

2021

Jan, 2021
TRC debuts the PingoTM platform with our first on-demand transit system in Houston, Texas, managing both technology and vehicle operations.
Apr, 2021
TRC goes international with HITRANS and West Coast Motors (WCM) in Scotland, introducing call center booking, passenger pre-booking, and in-vehicle payments for the first time.
Jun, 2021
TRC brings transit to Escaldes-Engordany, Andorra, to expand accessibility for residents, empowering people in wheelchairs to indicate their accessibility needs in-app for the first time.
TRC Co-Founder Menno van der Zee (left) riding Bus a la Demanda with Escaldes-Engordany Mayor Rosa Gili Casal (center) on launch day
Jul, 2021
TRC lands in the Pacific Northwest with Kitsap Transit to offer point-to-point on-demand services across Bainbridge Island, growing ridership while cutting call center volume in half.
Sep, 2021
TRC expands its footprint in Washington State with King County Metro and the US Department of Energy, developing Transit ConnectTM to guarantee on-demand connections to nearby fixed-route services.

2022

Apr, 2022
TRC continues to grow, scaling its team to more than 40 members and raising $15 million in funding, led by global climate activist and investor Tom Steyer’s fund, Galvanize Climate Solutions.
Aug, 2022
TRC proves its platform’s power with more than 10% of Escaldes-Engordany’s population riding weekly, averaging more than 8.5 passengers per vehicle-hour.
Sep, 2022
TRC expands the PingoTM platform with Pingo Flex and Pingo Journey, allowing agencies to operate flexible services and riders to plan multi-modal trips.

2023

Jan, 2023
TRC launches in the Municipality of The Hague, the third-largest city in the Netherlands.
Jan, 2023
TRC expands on the Pacific Coast with new deployments in Fairfield, CA; Lassen, CA; and Clallam, WA; and launches our first midwestern service in Ames, IA.
Feb, 2023
TRC welcomes its fourth region in Scotland — and signs a contract with Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
Feb, 2023
TRC expands into the United Arab Emirates with an MOU to develop shared on-demand transportation in the federation.
TRC CEO James Cox at UAE's World Government Summit signing MOU with MOEI.
Mar, 2023
TRC signs with SMART — its first partnership with a rail provider and third agency in California, with service anticipated to launch in late spring.
Apr, 2023
TRC expands into England — its partnership with East Sussex County Council marks TRC's first deployment in England, and its fifth in the United Kingdom.
May, 2023
TRC signs with Emirates Transport — the largest government-owned public transport provider in the United Arab Emirates.