Bus Startup Bridj Hires Gabe Klein as Chief Operations Officer

As TechCrunch's Ryan Lawler reports, the Boston-based startup Bridj recently hired Gabe Klein to join their team. Klein previously served as the director of the District Department of Transportation and commissioner of the Chicago Department of Transportation under Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Recently, Bridj has been beta-testing its service to evaluate the reductions in time, cost, and hassle of commuting in Boston through a number of pop-up minibus routes. To do this, "customers sign up, identify their origin and destination points, and then Bridj tells them where to go to meet one of its minibuses. Rather than use the same static routes as your usual city bus routes, Bridj dynamically designs routes that aggregate commuter pickups where demand is highest."

The company hopes Klein can assist in assuaging the inevitable pushback "from local government and regulators in markets that it enters or expands in. Since he’s aware of the issues facing city transit departments and speaks their language, he can speak their language and show how a system like Bridj’s can benefit the market."