You Can Catch the Train, but Can You Stay on the Course? Reeva Sakaria on Sustaining Yatri.
Reeva Sakaria
In India’s cutthroat startup race, a unique idea and a grand launch can spark early success - but the true test comes after the buzz fades, when staying the course is hardest. For Reeva Sakaria, joining Yatri - City Travel Guide was the easy part of her career. She came on board not out of a belief that India’s public transport was broken, but from the conviction that it wasn’t - it simply lacked connection. While her optimism helped enhance Yatri, it was Reeva’s determination that helped her navigate through every hurdle - of policies, tech, and skepticism.
Mumbai Is Constantly on the Move!
The financial capital of India faces a daily crisis of coordination when it comes to public mobility. According to the Indian Railways Passenger Statistics Report 2024, over 7.5 million people travel on Mumbai’s local trains every day, and most of them switch between buses, autos, and metros to reach their destinations. But all these modes of public transportation operate in silos. They each have their own schedule, fare system, and apps. This fragmentation fuels inefficiency and confusion, which impacts commuters’ accessibility and trust.
To Reeva, the absence of real-time updates, unified payments, and accurate route planning turned commuting into a daily gamble - especially for those already running late for important meetings. She integrated all public transportation options like local trains, metros, BEST buses, autos, etc., and created Yatri as a seamless multi-mode travel companion to simplify city navigation.
While many smart city apps take a top-down approach, Yatri is inherently user-first. Its features are designed based on real commuter feedback, and its alerts are localized. Yatri’s UI and UX is thoughtfully designed to match how Mumbaikars use technology on the move, i.e., dealing with patchy data, low battery, and the constant rush of commuting.
What Makes Yatri a Game Changer?
Despite its unique targeted features, Yatri’s USP is using the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) to integrate public transit schedules and make travel information accessible across systems. GTFS is an open global standard that shares and standardizes real-time transit data across providers. It connects different transportation systems with each other, and shares live and accurate information with the users.
With Yatri, Mumbaikars can track local trains in real time, plan seamless door-to-door commutes across multiple modes of transport, and get accurate wait-time estimates, all without juggling between multiple apps or depending on station rumors.
Reeva’s visionary incorporation of GTFS wasn’t just a technological advancement ahead of its time; it directly produced the desired outcomes. In the MoHUA Mobility Report of 2023, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs reported that integrating GTFS data reduces commute uncertainty by 30% and improves public transport adoption significantly.
What It Really Takes to Keep Yatri on Track
However, Yatri isn’t just about technology; it is a story of endurance and perseverance. Building a public mobility app in India means navigating outdated policies, working with multiple state and municipal bodies, negotiating integrations with legacy systems, and continuously learning along the way.
Reeva said, “Working with the Indian Railways and metro corporations has taught us a lot about scale, partnerships, accountability, and the value of open, interoperable systems like ONDC. It has shaped how we think about Yatri, not as a closed app, but as an infrastructure layer that must plug into India’s broader mobility and commerce ecosystem. We’ve also learnt that you need to have high emotional resilience to stay in the game because public platforms cannot move at the startup speed. It also demands prioritizing public trust, which Yatri earns not just through its features, but its consistently accurate information, clear & timely updates, and the human-centric design.”
Today, Reeva is using her expertise and learnings to scale Yatri to make multimodal public transport accessible in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities of India. She believes the future of urban mobility won’t be driven by deep pockets, but by platforms committed to connecting the dots where it truly matters.
The Journey Is the Destination
Yet, what excites her most is not the expansion, but the lessons she’ll learn along the way because she believes that’s what keeps Yatri resilient and ahead of the curve.
Yatri has caught the success train, and Reeva is ensuring it stays on the course. She is implementing her learnings to navigate through the chaos of India’s urban commuting and aims to make Yatri the mobility backbone of India.
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