When Jeff and I started Jawnt, we were a scrappy team on a mission to transform how people access public transit. The pandemic had just rocked everything we thought to be normal about life in cities (where we work, who we socialize with, how we move about each day) and we knew a modern transportation solution was needed to bridge a widening gap between transit agencies and the workers, students, and community members who ride transit. After speaking to a range of employers, universities, transit agencies, and riders, it was clear just how antiquated commuter benefits were across all types of organizations — so we got to work on building Jawnt.

We’re proud to share that Jawnt helps more than 100,000 people access subsidized, sustainable transportation through their employer or organization. 

These organizations range anywhere from 10 to 20,000+ members and tend to fit into one of three categories:

• Shift-based employers: Their employees work at on-site locations and are often already heavy-transit riders. These employees, often paid hourly, benefit from an increase in their total compensation.
• Campus-based organizations: These organizations have a large number of buildings that employees, students, and/or staff travel to and from. They often have a parking crunch and need a scalable way to get people to their campuses.
• Civic- or sustainability-minded organizations: These groups have a dedicated commitment to sustainability, equity, and/or the city where they operate. Investing in transportation supports their ESG goals and their members’ general well-being.

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While 100,000 may seem like an arbitrary milestone, it represents so much more. It represents a dedicated partnership with SEPTA to connect employers like Penn to FMC to the SEPTA Key Advantage program. It represents our work with universities like Swarthmore and Drexel to improve commuter services for faculty, staff, and students. It represents our love for Philadelphia and support of the city’s Zero Fare Program for residents living in poverty. And above all, it represents a shared vision of a future where subsidized access to sustainable transportation is the norm in cities.

We feel fortunate every day to get to do such impactful work, but there’s far more to be done. Jawnt is gearing up to connect riders across the nation to the places they need to be—work, school, health appointments, grocery stores, museums, parks or anywhere in between—and as we look ahead, we know this is the first of many milestones to come.