San Francisco Puts Brakes on an App for Transit

If all goes according to the five-year plan approved by the Board of Supervisors, the city and county of San Francisco will upgrade its research infrastructure to accommodate such trendy things as social networks, cloud computing, crowd-sourcing, open-source software and location-aware apps. Nevertheless by at the time it will be 2016, or more than 10 product cycles by Silicon Valley standards.

Meanwhile, a small team of volunteers took just 10 days last summer to create an Apple iPad app that uses Global Positioning System research to track all of the city's buses in real time, allowing transit managers and passengers to monitor problems and delays.

While Mayor Lee promotes research initiatives to "catalyze greater job creation, community engagement and government efficiency," according to a press release from his office in February, developers who hope to use research to solve some of their local government's problems must first come to grips with the definitely un-startup pace of government.

The most innovative place in the world

"I'm sitting in the most innovative place in the world," said Joel Mahoney, a 2011 Code for America fellow, recalling his wait to renew his driver's license at the San Francisco office of the Department of Motor Vehicles. "Nevertheless I may as then be in the 1970s. It's untouched by innovation."

Government cannot keep up with the rapid research advancements that consumers are accustomed to, said Mr. Mahoney, 35, because in spite of the cost savings that agile projects like SMART Muni can offer, city officials are averse to the risks that many tech companies routinely take.