Another iPhone transit app for Vancouver users has entered the fray this January.

Route411 is an app developed by fusedlogic inc. of Edmonton, and it provides stop and route info for Edmonton, Vancouver, and Toronto.

(Other apps for Vancouver transit include the TransLink app, iBusVan and the Buzzer blog app — if you’re curious!)

And here’s a little interview with Evan Adnams of fusedlogic to tell us a bit about Route411.

1. What’s Route411? What kind of features does it offer, especially in comparison to apps like iBusVan or the TransLink iPhone app?

Route 411 is a maps based transit application for the iPhone that uses Open data from the transit authorities in a given city. It allows a transit user to find stops based on location, or to browse around the city to find other stops, and view all the stops in a route, along with each stops times for that route.

Right now, there is some overlap of features [with other apps], as is expected. However, we are looking at some pretty exciting city-specific features coming down the pipe that go beyond just transit.

2. When exactly did it launch? How are downloads going so far?

We had a soft launch on Friday the 8th of January, with a sale price of 99 cents, and an official launch the following monday, with the standard price of $1.99. Sales have been great, beyond expectations, and the community response and support has been tremendous!

3. What made you decide to build Route 411?

Our own frustrations with knowing when a bus would arrive and seeing a need that could be filled with the usage of available open data.

4. How much time and work went into developing the app?

We had several iterations of Route 411, the first was built to use API calls to the respective city’s transit servers, and supported bus location (GPS). But it was a little too far ahead of the curve, so we modified it to use Google Transit data instead.

5. Can you tell me a bit about fusedlogic and what you guys do?

fusedlogic is one of Canada’s leading social media engagement firms. We were incorporated in 2000 and in March we’ll be 10 years old. Our focus is to help organizations understand how to bake social strategies into enterprise processes rather than simply bolt on social technologies on the end of a marketing campaign…Further one of our specialties is working with government agencies on open government initiatives which is at the core of Route 411. Without the open data access from Vancouver, Edmonton and Toronto this type of innovation wouldn’t be possible.

6. Since you’re based in Edmonton, how were you able to test the Vancouver and Toronto data?

We found individuals in the respective cities via Twitter, blogs, and personal contacts and then sent them demo builds, and asked for feedback to make sure it worked :)

7. What’s next for your app?

MORE CITIES! As well as some aesthetic tweaks, and responding to user feedback. We want to know what YOU want. We don’t want to dictate features to our users.

8. How can people get in touch with you if they have feedback?

Go to route411.ca and click on “Contact Form” that goes right to my inbox. We love hearing from customers as to their thoughts regarding Route 411.

9. Are you a regular transit rider? What’s your favourite seat when you ride transit?

I’m not an active transit guy anymore, but I was. When I do ride now, I like the front seats where you face inside the bus. I find there’s more legroom and I can look out the opposite window.

10. Anything else to add?

We believe that the timing for Route 411 is brilliant since the Olympics are coming up this month and our application will allow people to navigate Vancouver and the Olympic venues from the moment they board the train from the airport…