Compiler’s Blog

Beyond Translation: The Case for Content Localization in California’s Digital Services

2026-05-29T00:00:00Z

Hard-coding Google Translate into a government website might satisfy a legal checkbox. In 2026, it shouldn’t satisfy anyone who actually cares whether people can use a service.

California is a multilingual state. More than 200 languages and dialects are spoken here, and roughly 44% of households speak a language other than English at home. In Los Angeles, this reality is even more pronounced. Over half of city residents above age 5 speak a language other than English at home. Yet core civic services, like licensing, benefits, health information, voting tools, are still delivered online via clunky third-party tools, layered over an English-first experience.

On paper, this may look like progress. In practice, it too often means that the hardest part of language access is left out of the picture altogether. The literal and word-by-word translation performed by apps like Google Translate can be technically accurate, while overall meaning is altered or altogether lost. The city of Los Angeles can become, literally, “The Angels.”

These errors may seem small, but when navigating digital interfaces, they can easily route people in the wrong direction, with the wrong documents, and the wrong expectations. They can cause someone to miss a deadline, abandon a form, or get rejected at the end of a submission flow they don’t have time to repeat. This can mean the loss of access to transportation services or food benefits that folks really need. For many of those same people—many of whom have already had too few reasons to trust institutions—a confusing or failed government interaction confirms what they already feared, which is that these systems weren’t really built for them. And that suspicion, once reinforced, is hard to undo.

To prevent these outcomes and ensure equitable access to critical government services across communities, we need more than just content translation. We need content localization, a practical framework for building digital service experiences that are intuitive in languages other than English.

This is work the Compiler team is passionate about, as we have seen firsthand how quickly poor translation services can misguide people and undermine outcomes. We also know that comprehensive content localization across government websites is achievable, but that it is far more straightforward when agencies adopt a baseline set of operating standards.

Here’s our proposal for what those standards could be.

What is content localization?

Content localization is the process of adapting language so it actually works in context, inside a digital product, within UI constraints, using program-specific terminology, matching cultural expectations, and handling local vocabulary and place names correctly. In plain language this means investing time in finding the appropriate word choice or considering app specific context like the size of a button on a webpage.

At Compiler, we focus on localization because we’ve seen that there is a huge gap between “translated text” and an online service that’s actually usable. We know that unless we plan for translation from the beginning, these systems will fail people at critical moments.

The Compiler-built Cal-ITP Benefits Application is an example of an online service where language has been thoughtfully adapted and formatted.

Deciding what languages to translate

Every agency should have a framework for determining which languages it supports. In some cases, that framework is prescribed by law or funding requirements, such as a Language Access Plan (LAP). In others, the agency must establish its own method for making that determination. What matters is not whether every agency uses the same tool, but whether the decision is made through a documented process that uses evidence, assigns responsibility, and is updated on a regular cadence. Some relevant inputs you might consider include service-area demographics, program usage, contact center language requests, website analytics, community-based organization feedback, and observations from frontline staff.

Proposed Operating Standards

Once you’ve determined what languages your team is going to support it’s time to do the work:

Establish glossaries + style guides for all languages
If English gets a style guide, covered languages deserve them, too. Include program names, proper nouns, acronyms, tone/formality, and terms that must remain stable across pages and forms. Head Start has a useful example of this, with a Spanish-specific translation style guide and shared terminology resources.
Make internationalization a baseline requirement
Internationalization, often referred to as i18n for short, is the engineering and design work that makes a website or app adaptable to multiple languages and locales. Procurement for websites and apps should require that products are translation-ready, instead of translated, with externalized strings, translation keys, support for text expansion, and (where relevant) right-to-left layouts.
Define high priority workflows to receive bilingual QA before release
Not every page carries the same risk. Agencies should designate high-consequence flows, like eligibility, submissions, deadlines, and payments, and hold them to in-language editorial review and functional QA as a release standard.
Design for trust
When stakes are high, people want to verify. LA County’s Voting Solutions For All People (VSAP) research found that the experience for non-English speaking voters could be substantially enhanced if voters could easily toggle between their preferred language and English, reflecting a real need to confirm meaning and earn trust with non-English speaking users.
Scope and fund content localization separately (including maintenance)
Content localization and translation work should be budgeted separately, and accounted for as ongoing service work. If it’s treated as an end-stage add-on, anything added later will only be available in English, recreating the initial problem.
Centralize ownership
We recommend agencies designate a small internal team of experts to be accountable for multi-language support across all programs and functions. This team should advise programs early, own language style guides, coordinate translators, and keep terminology consistent across sites and applications. While we strongly recommend this ownership function be done in-house, we believe it can enable the success of both internal and external translators. Outsourced translations services can be a good fit for agencies that don’t have full time needs or only need periodic help.

If California can set baseline expectations for accessibility, privacy, and security, it can also set new benchmarks for critical language access that reflect the reality of what people need.

The good news is we’re not starting from scratch.

California has already demonstrated that raising the bar for digital services is possible, and that the infrastructure, the will, and the expertise to go further are already here. This is an opportunity to build on our existing progress, and to make language access equal to any other standard we hold our digital services to.

About Compiler

Compiler is a woman-owned software consultancy built by people who use and rely on public systems every day. We partner with government agencies and mission-driven organizations to design, build, and sustain digital services that work better for everyone. Our team combines human-centered design, data expertise, and modern engineering practices to help agencies deliver accessible, maintainable, and equitable digital tools.

If you’d like to learn more about Compiler’s human-centered localization practices or partner with us on a new project, we’d love to talk. Email hello@compiler.la to get started.

How Compiler Research Transformed Scheduling for Smaller Transit Agencies

2026-04-03T00:00:00Z

As transit riders, we depend on accurate schedule information to get where we need to go. Too many of us, however, are all too familiar with the frustration of missing schedules, inaccurate holiday schedules, and other situations that affect travel.

But it’s not just commuters who struggle with the effects of scheduling. Smaller transit organizations are trying their best, but face budgetary constraints, technical hoops to jump through, and timing issues that affect how transit information is disseminated to the public.

Overview: The challenges smaller transit operators face in keeping schedules up to date

On behalf of the California Integrated Travel Project (Cal-ITP), our research team at Compiler asked this important question to local transit agencies across California in an effort to find a solution for scheduling issues.

Immediately, we found a pattern: The smaller an agency was, the more likely it was to still be creating its schedules by hand. Because smaller agencies often don’t have extra money for things like scheduling software, they instead get stuck with the tedious, time-consuming process of manually building their schedules using spreadsheets. This time-intensive and error-prone process can result in inaccurate schedules that become the frustration of many bus riders.

While GTFS data can be created manually in tools like Excel, it is also time-intensive and requires subject matter expertise. It’s similar to trying to run payroll in Excel — while it can be done, it’s difficult and not ideal. Digital programs are the gold standard within the industry, saving time, money, and effort.

Identifying the issues with common scheduling software vendors

To begin tackling this problem, our team first sat in on demos of scheduling products in the market and talked to several vendors in the ecosystem. The main issues we saw were:

Prohibitively expensive pricing models — Many solutions have pricing models that require annual contract minimums based on fleet size, making the cost of the software (not to mention the resources needed to procure) prohibitively high for small agencies.
Smaller agencies have different training needs — An agency with a full-time scheduler on staff can more easily dedicate resources to having that person fully trained on the scheduling platform they use. For a small agency, where the same person who schedules may also sometimes drive a bus, training for platform mastery requires a different approach since they’re only using the software one to two times per year at most.

It’s not that smaller agencies don’t want to use external vendors for scheduling, it’s that they can’t always afford them, and they don’t always have enough people or training to use software efficiently.

Diving into research and interviews at four smaller California transit agencies

To better understand the challenges smaller agencies are facing, Compiler conducted extensive research via interviews and site visits with the following four agencies in California:

CleanAir Express
Ventura County Transportation Commission
Simi Valley Transit
Merced The Bus

The VCTC team at our on-site visit during the Remix Pilot.

These agencies ranged in size from nine to 50+ vehicles and covered various types of routes, from local to commuter. They consisted of a mix of urban and rural agencies, and all had varying degrees of familiarity with the end-to-end GTFS process and were all looking to streamline scheduling operations and GTFS management.

Auditing each agency’s current situation

Our primary goal was to understand from staff at these agencies the specific challenges they faced when it came to scheduling — including planning new routes, changing existing ones, and moving towards electric vehicles. Our interview questions focused on the following major themes:

Existing operations: How well is your existing scheduling process working?
Technology considerations and dependencies: What issues do you encounter with the tech you have?
Staffing, resources, and other constraints: What prevents you from being able to maintain up-to-date schedules?
Big picture and future goals: How could improved scheduling help your agency meet its longer-term goals?

What was revealed in interviews

After the Compiler team spoke with and interviewed the staff at the smaller transit agencies, we discovered four key themes that highlighted why they were struggling with scheduling.

Scheduling software is cost-prohibitive for small agencies
Most small agencies only change schedules one to two times per year, and staff may only need to perform a couple of required tasks per year using the software. Because of this, staff may need refresher training to perform tasks that they only do once a year. “I probably logged in [to Remix] about 6-7 times over the course of four months. Maybe took an hour for the big schedule change and a few minutes here and there for minor updates,” said Whitney from SBCAG.

It’s hard to produce high-quality, accurate GTFS using manual processes
There’s a higher risk of manual error when using a process that begins in Excel and then imports into multiple tools. Also, GTFS terminology may be different across various tools, so it can be hard to keep track of the process and quality. Similarly, GTFS validation errors are complex to troubleshoot.

Well-designed, interoperable software can improve efficiency
The team found that staff can complete scheduling and operational tasks more quickly and efficiently thanks to automation, and they gain new insights when they can visualize their routes and operations. “We’re trying to better understand what our contractor is doing. I thought it was really helpful to visualize our current route path because we don't really have a good way to do that in any of our existing software,” reported Claire from VCTC. Staff save time when they can do multiple scheduling tasks within one tool instead of cobbling together data using several programs.

Good help and customer support is critical for lower-usage tools
Staff often need to search for information that they only access biannually, and they may lose time if they have to contact support in asynchronous workflows. Because of this, support requests without prompt response times or clear SLAs may cause users to abandon the task at hand or use workarounds.

Implementing Remix by Via for a free-trial pilot

To workshop a solution, we partnered with a vendor named Via to provide a free trial of their Remix automated scheduling platform to these four agencies. During this limited-term engagement, Compiler would directly observe these agencies' use of the platform and evaluate how well it met their needs.

Compiler’s team consisted of one UX researcher, one technical lead, and one product manager. Via also contributed one customer success lead and one implementation lead. Research consisted of user interviews, competitive and landscape analysis, and site visits, totaling 10+ interviews and 40+ hours observed using Remix.

Together, the team went onsite and completed onboarding and training on the Remix platform at each agency. After training, we shadowed staff as they performed key tasks using Remix:

Route planning
Schedule changes
Managing and exporting GTFS
Reviewing data and reports

We also observed operational tasks such as adjusting runcuts using agency-specific labor rules and guidelines.

Good news: Insights from our pilot have now been incorporated into Remix’s feature set

Over the course of six months, we worked collaboratively and iteratively with technical and executive team members at Via to share our insights from the pilot program. We also contributed to their roadmap of new product and feature improvements.

Via has implemented a number of product improvements for Remix that benefit smaller transit agencies, all of which were based on our research, including:

A new support ticketing system
More GTFS-focused training materials, including live webinars and online content
GTFS validation error tools
GTFS URL management

One of the most important components that we helped identify was the need for additional training resources targeted for transit agencies with smaller staffs that only update schedules once or twice per year.

Remix has been purchased by CalSTA on behalf of smaller transit agencies to provide access at no cost

In a huge win for smaller transit agencies, CalSTA announced in November 2024 the purchase of Remix’s suite of planning and scheduling software on behalf of smaller transit agencies in California. Thanks to CalSTA taking a lead role, 234 small agencies in California can not only test and learn the Remix software at no cost, but actually put it to use to save operator time and ensure bus schedules are accurate.

Informed by Compiler’s research findings that providing hands-on education and platform training were equally as important as access for adoption, agencies will now receive support through a program administered by Cal-ITP to do just that.

This program will take a customer-centered approach to proactively identify agencies that qualify for licenses and support them through onboarding, training, and monitoring the quality of new GTFS data created.

In-house Caltrans staff will focus on data quality, while the Compiler-staffed customer success team will focus on communications, agency outreach, and customer support to ensure that the adoption process runs smoothly and helps expand access to smaller transit agencies across the state of California.

The Compiler customer success team is proactively promoting the program to ensure eligible agencies are aware of this beneficial opportunity. Our team supports agencies every step of the way, — managing the intake and application process, connecting accepted agencies with the appropriate Remix resources and contacts, and providing streamlined support as they use Remix for their scheduling and operational needs.

Our Customer Success team is standing by to help agencies onboard onto Remix. Photograph by Lex Ryan.

Internally, this program works through close coordination and collaboration across multiple partners. The Compiler-staffed customer success team collaborates with the Caltrans transit data quality team, Remix vendor representatives, and Remix program and project managers to provide a quality experience for the agencies.

This is a direct win for the small agencies in California. Additionally as Remix is now available on the State of CA Software Licensing Program (SLP) any state or local government can view published prices and purchase using this contract vehicle.

Compiler: Bringing human-centered research to help make California transit better

Behind every transit program are human beings trying to serve their community. At Compiler, our passion — and expertise — is making government tech solutions easy-to-use and accessible for all. Our work speaking with smaller transit agencies on this case study, conducting research around their pain points, and training them on Remix is part of our commitment to improving the state of public transportation in California.

We’re optimistic that with continued support for research projects that bridge the gap between agencies and technology solutions, we can further move the needle on the data quality that riders depend on every day. We are confident that this, in turn, will translate to a substantially improved rider experience and increased access to transit services that work better for everyone.

If you’d like to learn more about Compiler’s human-centered research practices or partner with us on a new project, we’d love to talk. Email hello@compiler.la to get started.

About Compiler

Compiler is a woman-owned software consultancy. We are cyclists, pedestrians, and bus-riders and we are passionate about solving technology challenges that support a climate-resilient future. Reach out to learn more about how we can help you make sure your technology spend provides the best outcomes for your staff and users.

This project was completed under the Technology, Digital and Data Consulting (TDDC) Master Service Agreement (MSA) - TDDC MSA 5-22-70-25-341.

Case Study: Strengthening California’s Digital Disaster Recovery

2025-12-15T00:00:00Z

In January 2025, a series of catastrophic wildfires swept across Los Angeles, devastating communities and disrupting essential public services. More than 15,000 structures were destroyed, hundreds of thousands of residents were forced to evacuate, and at least 31 lives were lost. As the state mobilized to respond, the California Department of Technology (CDT) moved quickly to ensure residents could still access vital digital services during the crisis.

One of the state’s priorities was delivering clear, timely, and accurate information to residents who had lost homes, belongings, and critical documents. The Los Angeles Fires website (ca.gov/LAfires) was launched as a Digital Disaster Recovery Center (DDRC), a central hub where Californians could find assistance. Among the most requested resources were vital records such as birth, marriage, and death certificates, essential for rebuilding daily life after the fires.

To meet this urgent need, CDT engaged Compiler to support its Digital Identity (D-ID) team. The goal: build a secure, scalable application that would leverage the California Identity Framework to allow disaster-affected residents to request replacement vital records entirely online.

Having recently partnered with CDT on the Cal-ITP Benefits project, Compiler was already familiar with the agency’s infrastructure and workflows, allowing us to mobilize within days. Our team provided both technical implementation and strategic support, ensuring that CDT’s digital recovery systems could operate reliably during an emergency while laying the groundwork for a more resilient statewide digital ecosystem in the face of future disasters.

The Challenge

CDT needed to quickly expand its digital infrastructure to support a new use case for identity verification and automate eligibility for recipients of the vital records fee waivers. With thousands displaced and essential services under pressure, the challenge was to stand up a secure online process, without overburdening existing systems or slowing down emergency response.

Our goal was to leverage the CA Digital Identity Framework to facilitate safe and secure online service delivery. More specifically, we were to develop an application that would allow a disaster-affected Californian to complete their application for a free replacement birth certificate, marriage certificate, or death certificate issued by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) completely online. Prior to this project, CDPH only accepted notarized paper applications from disaster-impacted residents.

Working alongside CDT, the CDPH, and the Office of Data and Innovation (ODI), Compiler helped design a solution that would integrate with existing infrastructure while providing a smoother, faster experience for residents seeking free replacement vital records.

Our Approach

Compiler and CDT adopted a phased, collaborative approach focused on rapid deployment and human-centered design.

Stakeholder Alignment: We brought together CDT, CDPH, and ODI to align on shared goals and workflows across infrastructure, service delivery, and user experience.
Rapid Prototyping: Within days, we developed a prototype using the California Identity Gateway (IdG) to validate technical assumptions and demonstrate feasibility.
Discovery & Research: We mapped the existing request process, identifying pain points such as inconsistent eligibility checks and offline requirements. Highlighted friction points around access to printers and the delays associated with the required notarization of paper forms.
Agile Development: Working in two-week sprints, Compiler and CDT launched the Birth Records Request Flow in June 2025, followed by Marriage Records in September and Death Records in October.
Operations & Roadmap: After launch, we helped establish monitoring and analytics, and authored a report highlighting learnings and opportunities for readiness for future disaster deployments.

Beyond technical delivery, Compiler served as a strategic partner, advising CDT on architecture, user experience, workflow design, and long-term planning to ensure this emergency response could evolve into a sustainable, scalable service model.

The Results

Together with CDT, Compiler delivered a secure, user-friendly application that enables disaster-affected Californians to request vital records online, reducing barriers to recovery and strengthening the state's capacity for digital emergency response.

Key outcomes included:

Reduced time to apply from weeks to days: Residents impacted by the fire can now use the new online application to submit in minutes. The previous process required mailing completed paper forms and a notary’s signature, which could take weeks for residents who are already struggling to get back on their feet. Additionally, applicants no longer need to take on the costs for printing, mailing, and notary services.
Reduced time to process applications: Auditing process and interviewing front-line staff informed the design of form fields to guide applicants to successfully submit compliant forms – staff no longer need to return to applicants to get clarifying information, which previously slowed down the review process. Time savings were also realized by moving from handwritten forms to clearly legible typed answers.
Reduced time to deploy: Building on top of the California Identity Gateway (IdG), this is the second-ever production app to leverage the California Digital Identity Framework. Built as an open source application, designed with reusable, scalable architecture, creating a foundation for both future disaster recovery applications and everyday modern digital services. This use case added address verification as a new eligibility verification type, expanding the capabilities of the CA IdG. Actionable learnings were deliverable as a report to strengthen readiness for future disaster deployments.

This work demonstrated how agile, mission-driven technology partnerships can make government digital services more resilient, especially when residents need them most.

Learn More:

Sprint Board: github.com/orgs/compilerla/projects/6/views/12
Code Repository: github.com/Office-of-Digital-Services/cdt-ods-disaster-recovery

Employee Spotlight: Adam

2025-08-08T00:00:00Z

Meet Adam! Adam joined the Compiler team in April of 2024 as our Customer Success Vendor Account Manager and has been a valued member of the team ever since. Working primarily on our Cal-ITP project, Adam is passionate about public transportation and has played a crucial role in standing up our vendor program. Managing Partner, Scott Frazier, works closely with Adam. “The energy, enthusiasm and curiosity that Adam brings to Compiler are impossible to miss,” says Scott, “he excels at intuiting where there is an unmet need on the team, and then he’s the first person ready to jump in and help out.” And help out he does! From being our unofficial photographer at company gatherings, to going above and beyond every month at Data and Donuts, to jumping in when a project needs more hands–you can always count on Adam!

How would you describe your role at Compiler?

I would say that my job is to make long-term connections with the businesses that provide things we need to make riding the bus or train easier for people! My hope is that by becoming friends with these people we can work together for fun new projects that help people out!

Who or what inspired you to pursue the career you have today?

I used to work in reality television, and then scripted television production after that. My idea was that I could bring positive change to people where they're at, sharing stories that truly meant something, seeing people on TV that look and act like they do. But the wealth inequality was too strong. And that struggle almost broke me. It did break me a few times - just ask about my head injury when I died in New Jersey! And so when I left my ABC sitcom in 2020 I knew there was a new path ahead of me, something more directly associated with my goals and interests. My 2016 viral map of the LA Metro expansion got me more and more interested in public transportation and how the quality of the service can change people's day-to-day lives!

What is your most-used emoji?

🤪 - I like that it's happy, whimsical, and an appropriate response to most things in this world.

Photograph by Lex Ryan.

What Compiler philosophy do you resonate with the most? Why?

First and always inclusive - too often I hear non-riders say that they would take public transit if it were closer to their homes or went where they wanted to go. But they always neglect the bus system, the bus stops right outside of their homes. First and always inclusive reminds me that this is a PUBLIC service, meant to help EVERYONE, even those with no other option. It's why I also believe in fareless transit, and resist the calls to ban the Unhoused from the system... These services are the lifeblood of our economy and if we forget that, we are leaving those most in need behind in favor of... a Disneyland style monorail funicular... I truly believe that public service for all is the goal here.

How have you grown professionally while on our team?

Since starting at Compiler I have learned so much! My mind has exploded with transit! From all the acronyms, to even just behind the scenes work of what makes the wheels go 'round, I have appreciated everything I've learned. Transit was an interest and a hobby of mine, specifically the politics behind transit expansion, but now seeing the nuts and bolts of the technology that goes into everything once it's implemented has been eye opening.

Which accomplishments are you most proud of?

An image of the Los Angeles Metro Rail, as a blinking gif, provided by Adam Linder.

In 2016, I created a map of the Los Angeles Metro Rail and “expanded” the map to show the dreams of what our system could look like if the sales tax measure slated to be on the ballot would pass that Fall. I placed my image in tandem with the current network and created a “blinking gif.” That gif went viral! It was written up in local newspapers and I was even interviewed by NPR in regards to the traction it was seeing. Once that sales tax measure passed, I was contacted by the then Mayor's office and asked if I'd be interested in a potential job with them. Having just started on a hit television show, I turned them down... Over the next four years I learned many lessons about life and the world around me, and after all that I still ended up working in transit! Some things truly are just meant to be.

An image of the Los Angeles Metro Rail 'Dream Map' provided by Adam Linder.

How do you like to spend your free time?

If I have any free time, you can catch me on the Los Angeles Metro Rail. When I first moved to LA I was so desperate to discover big city life, an escape from my Texan suburban roots. I discovered the Metro Red Line was my ticket from the San Fernando Valley all the way into Hollywood and beyond, into Downtown LA. I've hit the pavement walking all across Los Angeles just discovering new corners, small businesses, new cultures and cuisines. Anyone is welcome to join me any day!

What’s a cause that you are passionate about?

EXPANDING TRANSIT! It is my number one passion, let's be honest. I truly believe there are so many social causes that are remedied by social programs, and the ability to expand those programs begins and ends with transit. I believe wealth inequality is the greatest plague to mankind, and providing access to jobs and culture to all can physically bridge the gap between the rich and the poor.

The photo that started it all! This photo of Adam in his 'Cars Ruin Cities' shirt was taken by Compiler Founder, Vyki Englert, right before the two of them met for the first time. She liked his shirt, told him so, and the rest is history! Photograph by Vyki Englert.

Employee Spotlight: Angela

2024-12-20T00:00:00Z

Before we dive into our interview with Angela, we want to officially kick off our new Employee Spotlight series. We here at Compiler are immensely proud of our team and we want to publicly celebrate that by giving our readers a peek behind the curtain. This will be the first of many interviews we will share about the unique contributions, skills, and interests of each of our team members.

So, first up–meet Angela! Angela has been with Compiler since the early days. As Compiler’s second hire, she has helped build the Compiler engineering practices. Managing Partner, Kegan Maher, has worked with Angela from day one. “Angela combines sharp intellect with unyielding reliability, always ready to take on new and often difficult responsibilities,” says Kegan, “her genuine compassion and care for the team exemplify her outstanding contribution to our collective success.” Kegan is not alone in these thoughts, Angela is a deeply valued member of our team. Read on to get to know more about Angela.

What is your role at Compiler?

I’m a Senior Software Engineer, working mainly on the Cal-ITP Benefits project.

How long have you been with Compiler?

I’ve been with Compiler since October 2021, so we're at over 3 years now!

What is your favorite mode of transportation and why?

I really enjoy taking the train if I need to go somewhere far. This might sound odd, but I find it rather calming to just sit and ride through the scenery even if it might take longer.

Angela's bike on a DART train going along DART's Blue Line. Photograph by Angela Tran.

Who or what inspired you to pursue the career you have today?

I had a really hard time figuring out what career path to follow as a young adult because I felt pulled in many directions. It's obvious now looking back that even from an early age, what I really enjoyed was finding patterns and helping people by making things work. In my last year of college, I realized there could be a lot of opportunities to do both of those in software engineering, and it was the first time I felt really confident about a career choice.

What is your first public transit memory?

My first memory of choosing to take public transit is when I was in college. The city I grew up in is a small suburb and doesn't have any public transit, so I was excited to have access to the bus and to see where it could take me. During one of my first days on campus, I got on one of the buses and rode the whole route with a friend. It was a really fun way to explore a new place.

How do you like to spend your free time? What are some (or one) of your hobbies?

In my free time, I like exploring new bike paths, tracking my spending, and of course, playing music. I've really gotten into learning drums these past few years, which I've always wanted to do, and it's been so much fun.

How have you grown professionally while on our team?

I think I've grown in a lot of ways here at Compiler. One that especially comes to mind is my growth in working more openly and incrementally, which I think helps us all work together better. I've also seen really great examples of giving and receiving feedback and then have been able to practice them myself.

What do you love about living where you live? What are some of your favorite local spots to visit?

Where I currently live, I love that I can easily walk to a lot of things that I enjoy: there are lots of local restaurants and shops as well as the public library and a DART train station (the light-rail system in Dallas). One of my favorite spots to visit in Dallas is the Angelika Film Center right off SMU/Mockingbird Station.

What’s the best trip you’ve ever been on and why?

The best trip in recent memory was when I went to Broken Bow, OK with my family. It was really nice to be out in nature and take in our surroundings together. Some highlights from it are when we hiked on a trail with lots of shade from the trees, explored different views around the lake, and had a picnic before catching the sunset.

Book you recommend?

This past year, I read "Four Thousand Weeks" by Oliver Burkeman, and it helped a lot with my perspective on time. There are lots of books about methods and systems for using your time well, but this book instead challenges the assumption that time is even a resource to be used at all. I like that it explores an idea that can shift your entire perspective.

Podcast you recommend?

"Don't Ask Tig" is a comedy, advice podcast that I would listen to during a difficult time when I wasn't feeling very well, and it just made me laugh a lot. They don't make new episodes anymore, but I still go back and listen when I'm needing something lighthearted.

I also love a particular episode of the Think podcast / radio show (hosted here in Dallas!) -- Why so many people love the suburbs.

What’s your favorite memory from working with Compiler?

One of my favorite memories from working with Compiler is when we took an Amtrak train to Monterey, CA. Although there were quite a few unexpected events, and we arrived much later than we had planned, I really did enjoy taking the scenic route and having that unique experience with the team.

How Compiler Approaches Static Sites

2024-12-02T22:00:00Z

In my last post, I talked about how Compiler uses VS Code Dev Containers for our Engineering team, allowing all of us (even product managers!) across various platforms - Mac, Linux and Windows - to work from the same environment. Even if you did not read it, no worries, I’ll summarize it for you: Our team sets up all of our projects in VS Code Dev Containers so that we all access every project in the same way, across platforms. Whether it’s a full-stack web app, a command-line utility or a simple static site, the tools necessary and steps to get started are always the same - allowing us both consistency in process and flexibility in the actual code.

In this post, I want to take it a step further and talk about how we apply these similar philosophies to the way we build static sites.

There are a lot of options these days when it comes to building a website, from the heavy-hitter, now 21-year old WordPress web content management system (CMS), still used in over 40% of the top websites in the world, to newer JavaScript frameworks like Gatsby or Astro. In the hosted CMS world, there are also no-code tools like Webflow. And I’m not even talking about all the new ways to write the CSS or the web elements themselves. The options always seem to be increasing (alongside the blog posts and memes about front-end fatigue), and the urge to rewrite your company blog or team landing page into the newest, shiniest JavaScript front-end framework or new approach (JAMStack or headless?) lingers.

And yet, what would be an open source, platform-agnostic and flexible, configurable approach to static site development? One that also ensures we can develop accessible sites that are performant, easy to maintain for developers and allows non-developer team members to also be involved in the content and data?

While I’m not going to be comparing and contrasting all of the different static site approaches I mentioned above, I’d like to instead give a tour of Compiler’s static site stack: a lean, open source approach that can be configured and customized to do a lot more than just present static content. And don’t worry, these are probably all tools you’ve heard of before!

Introducing Compiler’s static site stack: It’s actually just Jekyll.

The stack:

Jekyll with Markdown content or JSON data
Netlify for Deploy Previews and hosting
GitHub for custom Issue templates, GitHub Actions
Bootstrap with CSS variables
VS Code Dev Containers for all the reasons mentioned here

Yes, we are still using the now 16-year old static site framework, Jekyll, written in Ruby, and the 14-year old CSS and JavaScript library, Bootstrap. I use the word still because I’ve been using these tools since I first started coding professionally 11 years ago. We deliberately made the decision to stick with Jekyll and Bootstrap because we want these sites to be easy for other teams or developers to work on.

Vast improvements in CSS over the past few years like CSS variables, which are now being implemented in Bootstrap, have allowed us to even stick with CSS over pre-processors like Sass that might encourage you to write more code to maintain.

Getting the whole team involved with GitHub and Netlify

Writing a static site with Jekyll means that developers ultimately have to initiate and deploy the site, unlike a tool like WordPress or Webflow where the people writing the actual content can be in charge of publishing. With our stack, however, we use GitHub and Netlify to get designers, copy writers and stakeholders involved in more parts of the site creating process:

Anyone can create a GitHub ticket to request new content to be added or edited.
GitHub issues can be customized to ensure developers are getting all the data, metadata they need from stakeholders to make the needed updates. Here’s an example of a issue template for a recent Cal-ITP project.
Netlify Deploy Previews, which are links to a preview URL that get posted to GitHub pull requests as changes get pushed, allow designers and anyone else to test out the site on their browser. Designers can then request changes to the pull request and be part of the GitHub pull request review process without having to run the app themselves or be able to read the code.
For text content written in Markdown, non-developers can edit the content from GitHub.com without having to run the whole developer environment locally.

Although not a full-blown content management system solution, which comes with its own benefits and risks, the combination of an open source GitHub repository and Netlify deploy previews puts us in a happy medium where non-developers can get involved as much or as little as they want.

Because Compiler builds out our apps, including static sites, in the open on GitHub, it allows anyone in the teams we are working with to be a part of the publishing process and makes the whole process a bit more transparent.

This site itself is coded and developed in the public on GitHub. Several months ago, a reader created an issue on this repository to suggest we add an RSS feed. And I’m happy to announce that we have done just that! Thanks, @rdela for the nudge.

A quick case study: Map edition.

The Cal-ITP Mobility Marketplace Provider Map is powered by weekly pull requests from a GitHub bot, configured by a custom GitHub Actions job.

One of the strengths of this stack is that it allows you to set up a simple site quickly, but you can also configure it to do a lot more if you put more coding time into it. I wanted to end this post with our most complex example on another Cal-ITP site, Mobility Marketplace, and its map of over 230+ transportation providers in California that automatically gets updated weekly with the latest data from a Google Cloud data warehouse.

Every Monday, a pull request created by a GitHub workflow appears in my notifications, updating a single CSV file like this. Sometimes the CSV has a few URLs updated, and other times, important IDs are changed. I click on the Netlify Preview link of the map to confirm the changes, and click Approve.

A data team within Cal-ITP updates the data in the Google Cloud data warehouse, and thanks to a custom GitHub Action written by a teammate and Netlify Previews, I’m able to review and merge a pull request to ensure that the Provider Map’s data has the most up-to-date information.

As you can see, even with the humble Jekyll stack, with a bit of automation, you can add a lot of dynamic elements to otherwise simple content sites.

Tales from Transportation Camp

2024-06-13T17:03:13Z

Recently, four members of the Compiler team had the opportunity to attend the latest edition of UCLA’s Transportation Camp LA. Shout out to Juan Matute and the wonderful team at UCLA Institute for Transportation Studies for bringing together folks from advocacy, academia, and both the public and private sectors on a Saturday to explore what transit means to us and our broader community. Each of our team members got to participate in a variety of breakouts and we wanted to share our experiences.

Nina

My favorite session, led by Nina Kin and Eric Dasmalchi, was titled "What does your ideal Trip Planner look like?"

I was enticed by the title alone because I have always sensed there was a need for improvement with trip planners, but I had a tough time identifying tangible ideas. I hoped to hear ideas from others and I certainly did!

Two that really aligned with me:

Data on the walkability of the area. I like seeing how long the walk will take me from point A to B, but the experience of that walk varies greatly depending on how maintained the sidewalk is, if cars are going at high speeds next to me, or if the lighting is poor.
Better detouring capability; apps like Google and Transit have a hard time accounting for detours. If I hop off the rail, it tends to assume I want to walk the rest of the way even though that may not be the most efficient route.

I enjoyed hearing about Metro’s goal to consolidate their apps, and this session was a way to brainstorm. It was cool meeting the folks creating Catenary maps as well!

Marie

I attended several interesting sessions, but the one that stood out to me the most was Phoebe Chiu’s presentation on “Public Art and Artists in Residency on Transit/Street Furniture.” I found this session particularly compelling because it focused on using art as a catalyst for positive change in public transportation. Phoebe showcased various examples of how art has influenced public transportation infrastructure, such as a TAP card design contest at UCLA, slow street initiatives in Oakland and Los Angeles, and art installations at transportation facilities.

This session highlighted the idea that art not only enhances the aesthetic appeal of public transit but also has the potential to engage and involve the communities it serves. This concept resonated with me as it reminded me of a zine titled “This Book is a Bridge,” which showcased the work of two artists, Kelly Gregory, and Mary Welcome, who participated in Washington State DOT’s artist-in-residence program. The program at Washington State DOT was the first of its kind in the nation, and it aimed to encourage collaborative efforts between transportation and the arts.

During the session with Phoebe, attendees shared their experiences with creative collaborations in the public transit sector. I was introduced to the work of Marcela Armas, a Mexican artist whose performance art installations provoke discussions on the environmental and mental effects of cars. I also learned about Outfront/JC Decaux’s #commutersofla transit series, in which they utilize bus shelters for community art installations. Witnessing how art could be seamlessly integrated into transportation initiatives in impactful ways has left me feeling inspired to seek out further opportunities for merging art and public transit.

Vyki

This was definitely not my first unconference, but it was the first in many years. I was able to lead a session on Transportation Demand Management (TDM) in the City of Los Angeles: What is it? Why does it matter? How do we unstick it? With about 20 folks in the room, we dove into the available materials on the City of LA Planning: Mobility Initiatives website and reviewed their published timeline. City staff presented a report with a draft ordinance and program guidelines, which was recommended for approval by the Planning Commission in September 2022. Maybe you remember what happened in October 2022? Since then we’ve seen a lot of turnover, both in city staff working on the project and our elected officials – and no one seems to be sure who owns this initiative now. Officially the city website says it’s with the city attorney and expected to be voted on by council in spring 2023; it’s now summer 2024.

For the uninitiated, TDM is a policy tool cities use to help ensure builders and employers are part of the solution when it comes to shifting commutes to more climate-resilient modes.

We started with the assumption that TDM is good and that one of the best examples of a well-executed program is from our neighbor, the City of Santa Monica. Santa Monica’s program gives employers and developers an outcome-based goal for reducing single-occupancy vehicles.

Together we workshopped:

Challenges: this is really wonky, how do you get folks excited about it?
Strategy + Tactics: tie TDM to a successful car-free Olympics, find new champions for TDM on the City Council who can get it agendized
Potential allies: Move LA, Parking Reform Network, Investing in Place, LA28

We agreed that a key need is developing shared messaging around why this is important and can help us have conversations with colleagues, advocates, allies, and champions. While we didn’t walk out of the room with any specific homework, I’m excited to continue these conversations with the folks I met last week. TDM is an important tool on our path to becoming a climate-resilient city.

Scott

I have so much to say about this event, but I will try to keep it brief. Unlike Vyki, this was my first unconference. The first thing that was impressed upon me when I entered the main room was that there are lots of folks who are so passionate about transportation issues that they will spend an entire Saturday talking about them. But more than that, the number and range of topics that attendees came up with was amazing (and a bit overwhelming). Once the schedule was finalized, I realized I was going to have a lot of tough choices to make regarding the discussions in which I would participate.

Of the sessions I attended, I think I most enjoyed diving into Metro’s TAP card payment system and Cubic, the vendor that it uses to support that system. It was an open-ended conversation, and what I found I liked best about it was being able to variously join in the discussion or to listen as it changed shapes and touched on unexpected topics. The core premise of the session was that LA Metro has been trying to figure out how to improve its fare payments system for decades, but the horizon of its imagination has been giving one vendor chance after chance to solve problems it has proven itself to be either incapable of solving or unwilling to solve.

In the realm of transit technology, there are too few standards and true interoperability remains a work-in-progress. Large vendors, perhaps especially those like Cubic that are owned by private equity firms, understand that they have the ability to reap extraordinary profits from their transit agency customers because the agencies find it so difficult to change course. The discussion flowed in many different directions but remained rooted in questions of how to restore power to the agency as a buyer of technology and to encourage agencies like Metro to seek out better solutions for their riders.

Creating Compiler's Parental Leave Policy

2024-05-17T17:03:13Z

In early May 2021, I excitedly looked forward to joining the Compiler team as its third Managing Partner (and only parent) later that month. Vyki Englert, Compiler’s co-founder, and I have known each other since our early 20s and worked together previously at a data-sharing startup. During that time, I told myself “When Vyki inevitably starts her own company, I want to work with her there.” We talked many times before I officially committed to joining Compiler. I shared that my husband and I planned to add to our family, “hopefully soon-ish, but you never know how that’s going to go, and in my case, it may take a while for a pregnancy to stick.”

The week before I started the job, I bewilderedly looked down at two lines on a home pregnancy test; I was pregnant. Frankly, I didn’t believe it. Yes, my husband and I had started trying for a second baby. We were open to getting pregnant, but given prior experience, I was surprised that it happened so quickly. My thoughts went to the job I hadn’t even started yet at Compiler: this isn’t how I planned to start; Compiler doesn’t have parental leave. How are they going to take the news?!

Photograph by CM Creative.

Unsure if the pregnancy would last, I started the job and kept my pregnancy quiet. Weeks later, more confident that “yep, we’re having another baby,” I nervously told Vyki on a video call. Her response? “Whoa! You said you wanted another baby! Okay, your next major assignment is to write Compiler’s parental leave policy!” And thus began a two-year, eye-opening, mind-boggling, rewarding endeavor.

Compiler is a California-based LLC. By the end of 2021, it was only 5 employees large, thus not making it a “covered employer” under FMLA, the federal Family Medical Leave Act that is commonly, and incorrectly, thought to be how parental leave is provided to Americans. First, FMLA provides job-protected, unpaid wages. Not receiving wages is unacceptable for most people, so FMLA isn’t a solution. Second, “employees are eligible for leave if they have worked for their employer for at least 12 months” – oops, not me! And third, employees “work at a location where the company employs 50 or more employees within 75 miles.” Again, Compiler had 5 employees in three states, so FMLA would not extend to our employees for multiple reasons.

California is an employee-friendly state, perhaps the friendliest in the United States. It offers multiple benefits supporting new and growing families (more on these below), but as a Florida resident, California’s benefits do not extend to me. Understandably, they only extend to California residents.

Was short-term disability insurance (STDI) an option? For some birthing parents, yes, STDI is an option, though imperfect. STDI provides a percentage of wage replacement benefits. The claim process is cumbersome, especially when juggling responsibilities associated with a newborn. And only the birthing parent is eligible for the benefit. And, and! I was already pregnant, and thus, had a “pre-existing condition” that would not be covered under a new plan. COOL.

None of the above, established and “typical” benefits, worked for the situation Compiler faced. The company needed to create its own parental leave program from scratch and wanted to do so in a way that treated all of its employees, regardless of their residence, excellently and with dignity.

Like most folks starting a project they are novices in, I Googled. I read articles from Kaiser Family Foundation, the Center for American Progress, Think Babies, and even watched an episode of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee on the topic of paid parental leave. SHRM, the Society for Human Resources Management was a great resource for sample policies and language. I also read articles from California’s Employment Development Department because Compiler is a California-based LLC. I researched information to inform both the company’s future parental leave policy and the policy I’d be the first recipient of. The sheer volume of information, however, was overwhelming, especially for a small, young company with employees in multiple states.

Fortunately, Compiler is a member of a PEO (professional employer organization). I reached out to them, and they provided sample leave policies, guidance, and support, but frequently emphasized the importance of seeking legal counsel.

After reading multiple sample policies and language from SHRM, the PEO, and elsewhere, I took my favorite parts from each and patched them together to create Compiler’s first draft of a parental leave policy. Of highest importance was, and is:

There be no tenure requirement; leave and wage replacement be available immediately to all full-time employees

Offer the same parental leave benefits to everyone, regardless of where they live. Identify the state with the requirements friendliest to the employee, and apply them to all employees
Leave be at least 12 weeks long, the amount of time as the “fourth trimester”
Provide at least 50% of the employee’s regular wages during the course of the leave

There was a lot happening at Compiler leading up to my due date. Many spreadsheets and forecasts and models were created to estimate how much Compiler could afford to pay someone to be away from work for X, Y, or Z number of weeks. I felt tense. Compiler was a young company, and I feared Vyki was not yet totally bought into paid parental leave. She was understandably cautious about the financial impacts. I loosely dreamed of a lofty 3-6 month leave at 100% of my pay. I quietly presented that as one of several options the company could adopt, but ultimately, and understandably, we started more modestly.

A common decision-making criterion used at Compiler is “let’s not provide something that we eventually need to take back. It’s better to start small and grow outward.” So that’s what we did. In my case, I enjoyed a 12-week parental leave at 50% pay. Because I live in Florida, a state with no parental leave whatsoever, there were no state funds in addition to my 50% pay from Compiler, and as explained above, no STDI benefits to supplement, either. I was grateful for the 12 weeks and 50% pay, and motivated to increase that amount of time and percentage in the future.

Compiler and I verbally agreed to the above parental leave scenario, and I went on leave without an official parental leave policy being adopted. It wasn’t until April 2023, when Compiler had grown from five employees in three states to ten employees in five states, that we were reinvigorated to formally adopt a parental leave plan because a newer employee announced her pregnancy.

Photograph provided by Shelby Miller.

At this time, Compiler provided non-contributory (i.e. the company pays the premium) STDI to all employees. A reason for doing so was “this can help the birthing parent (and anyone else experiencing a short-term disability) with wage replacement in addition to what Compiler will pay as part of the parental leave because we know we can’t yet pay 100% of the employee’s wages.” All full-time employees receive non-contributory STDI and LTDI as soon as they’re hired – no tenure requirement. Do you see that’s a common theme for us? Waiting for benefits stinks.

The patched-together first draft of the parental leave policy was dusted off, and Compiler’s fourth Managing Partner, Scott Frazier (also a parent!), joined the effort to finalize the policy. In March 2023, we accomplished two major milestones: 1) the draft was shared with Compiler’s employees, along with an invitation to review and provide input, and 2) the draft was sent to Compiler’s California-based attorneys for their feedback.

Through the Spring and Summer, Scott and I traded emails and calls with the attorneys. They needed to know how many employees Compiler had in each state so they could determine which state requirements Compiler must legally abide by. It was determined that California’s policies were the most family- and employee-friendly and, therefore, all employees would receive those benefits. The way to do this was to create three separate policies, rather than one, so that Compiler’s policies mimicked the setup of California’s three policies (Pregnancy Disability Leave, California Family Rights Act, and Disability Insurance and/or Paid Family Leave).

Compiler’s three policies are:

Pregnancy Disability Leave and Accommodation

Parental Leave (AKA Baby Bonding Leave)

Wage Replacement During Pregnancy Disability Leave and/or Parental Bonding Leave (AKA Wage Replacement)

The three-policy approach was unexpected and unlike the sample policies I read and the drafts proposed. But in speaking with our attorneys, I began to understand the reasoning. The three policies complement one another, and when either of Compiler’s Leave policies are utilized by an employee, the Wage Replacement automatically kicks in.

After months of collaboration and revisions, guidance from Compiler’s attorneys, resources from our PEO, and a steady commitment to create a meaningful parental leave plan, Compiler’s first parental leave policies were officially adopted in September 2023.

Compiler’s work seeks to enable joyful and dignified lives. Through human-centered policy, we design services and solutions that are equitable and accessible. It is paramount to Compiler’s culture that these beliefs and actions be extended to employees in addition to our clients. We very much want to be a great place to work. We want people to feel cared for. We celebrate the “life” in “work-life balance,” whatever that might look like for our employees. For these reasons, it was clear the company needed to support its employees during enormous times of personal change – such as, welcoming a new baby or child into their family.

Driving Progress: The Crucial Role of Open Source in Public Transportation Technology

2024-04-11T22:00:00Z

An illustration of smart transit.

In the era of rapid urbanization and the climate crisis, public transportation systems have become vital for ensuring sustainable mobility and reducing the impact of congestion and pollution. One unsung hero behind the scenes of modern public transit is open-source technology. When a technology is open source, it simply means that software has been produced in such a way that anyone can inspect, modify, and enhance it. This is important because it represents open collaboration, which many advocates believe helps facilitate greater public trust in the software while improving functionality and sustainability. Both federal and state agencies, such as the CA Department of Technology have adopted strong open source first mandates for software solutions developed or acquired using public funds.

Our goal at Compiler is simple - to help government agencies meet their strategic goals and better serve communities. We do that by providing customized solutions and impactful consulting services to improve IT workflows within organizations. One key component of this is working on code that is open source. We feel strongly that software and code developed using tax dollars should be produced as open source wherever possible, as this increases transparency, reduces opportunities for vendor lock-in, and delivers better and more cost-effective results to the public.

Metro K line in Los Angeles

Some of the benefits of open-source software development include:

Cost Efficiency: Governments have long used models of collective purchasing and procurement; open source is another take on this proven model. One of the most significant advantages of open source in public transportation technology is cost efficiency. By making software and hardware solutions freely available to developers and transit agencies, the financial burden associated with proprietary systems is substantially reduced. This enables more agencies, especially those with limited budgets, to implement cutting-edge transportation technology.
Collaboration and Innovation: Open source fosters collaboration among a diverse group of developers, transit authorities, and communities. This collaborative ecosystem encourages innovation and rapid development. It allows for a constant stream of improvements and new features that can be tailored to meet the unique and ever-evolving needs of different cities and regions. Investments in a new feature by one agency are available to all other users of the software.
Transparency and Security: Open-source technology is built on transparency, which is crucial for public transportation systems. It ensures that the code and data used in transportation systems are visible, allowing for better security, easier debugging, and protection against potential vulnerabilities or malicious attacks.
Accessibility: Open-source technology promotes accessibility for all. It empowers transit agencies to create user-friendly interfaces, improve passenger experience, and provide valuable information about routes, schedules, and services. This accessibility is particularly beneficial for individuals with disabilities.
Scalability: Public transportation systems often need to scale their operations to accommodate population growth and changing demands. Open-source technology provides a flexible framework that can be adapted to meet the evolving needs of existing transit infrastructure that typically has more constraints around how and how quickly it can change.

We feel that open-source technology is a driving force behind the next evolution of public transportation systems. It is cost-effective, fosters innovation, ensures transparency, promotes accessibility and allows for scalability. With open source, cities can build smarter, more efficient, and more sustainable transportation networks that benefit everyone. Embracing open source in public transportation technology is not just an option; it's necessary for bettering our cities and the planet. For example, Compiler’s work on the Cal-ITP Benefits App has been entirely open source, and we’re proud to say that this approach has made the project stronger, more sustainable, and more effective at serving communities throughout California.

An image showing the home screen of a website called Cal-ITP Benefits, where a hand is holding a credit card using a contactless payment reader.

Additionally, a wide variety of Metropolitan Area Planning Council’s projects are open source. Check out this list for more examples of great, innovative, open-source projects.

For further information on Open Source development, check out The Intergovernmental Software Collective.

Civic Tech Career Resources

2024-03-29T00:00:00Z

We first put together a list like this in the summer of 2021, when we received 242 applicants for our first-ever hire, a senior software engineer. Every time we hire, we receive an incredible batch of applications from a wide variety of individuals with an outpouring of interest from folks who, for the most part, have not had exposure to the ideas of “civic technology” or “public interest technology” or “government technology” as fields.

We can’t tell you how excited we are that there are so many people out there who are curious about working for or with the government. The gov tech / civic tech / public interest tech space is a big one and helping others traverse this big space is important to us. So, we’ve decided to not only continue sharing this list with our applicants but to move it out of a Google Doc and into a publicly accessible blog post. We hope to publish an updated version as part of each round of hiring.

Below we’ve outlined some of our favorite agencies, companies, and resources to help you navigate a career in this nascent industry.

Job Boards that lean toward civic tech

LA2050.org/jobs: This job board is fantastic. It focuses on jobs in the greater Los Angeles region.

Tech Jobs for Good: We’ve hired more than one candidate from this niche job board, it’s one of the only ones we currently pay to post on. You can also follow their account on LinkedIn.

Technically: A tech news publication and jobs board that is community-focused. Technically’s communities are Baltimore, Washington DC, Delaware, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh.

Bill Hunt’s Civic Tech Jobs Board: Personally curated by Bill Hunt; worth keeping an eye on.

TechCA: Mostly leadership-level technology jobs at state agencies or vendor companies.

#PublicSectorJobBoard: A weekly LinkedIn Newsletter curated by Rebecca Heywood.

Beta.NYC Newsletter: Each month’s issue includes links to jobs.

WTS International Jobs Board: Non-profit organization dedicated to advancing women in transportation.

Apprenticeships

If you’re new to your career –especially if you’re a recent college or boot camp graduate– apprenticeship programs might be an excellent fit for you. Here are a few that we know of...

8th Light Apprenticeships

Code2040

LA County’s Internship and Apprenticeship Program Delete the Divide

Federal Transit Administration Diversity in Federal Transit Internship Program (DFT)

Fellowships

We keep a running list of fellowships that are offered within the civic tech space. Please note we only track the name and URL and some of these programs may not be active.

For-profit Civic Tech Companies / Consultancies

DataMade: Chicago-based, lots of experience in working with criminal justice data and journalists.

Jemurai: A security firm with a delightful bunch of humans, in our experience.

California Data Collaborative: (non-profit) Los Angeles-based water data collaborative.

Ministry of Velocity: San Francisco-based software agency (which is now a cooperative!)

OpenTechStrategies: A consulting firm dedicated to helping open source thrive through not just code but strategy, policy, and community management.

Jarvus: Philadelphia-based software consulting company.

Water UX: Los Angeles-based and as you might have guessed from the name a consultancy that uses “design and technology to change what is possible for water innovation.”

Truss: Headquartered in San Francisco; this team has probably built services you’ve used!

The So Company: Los Angeles-based, veteran-owned, with expertise in websites and content.

Moore Boeck: Los Angeles-based space nerds.

Torchbox: Focuses on serving the non-profit sector.

Nava: Some of the folks behind the famous healthcare.gov rescue.

Green River: A small consultancy based in Vermont they are behind the open source OpenPath product which helps the obscure government bodies called Continuums of Care better serve individuals experiencing homelessness while meeting complex congressionally defined reporting requirements in HMIS.

Zeal: A consultancy based in Medford Oregon, these are some of the kindest humans we’ve met.

Non-profit Organizations

CA Policy Lab: Data-heavy policy research team.

Mobility Data: Developing and supporting data standards for transit and more.

Open Mobility Foundation: Steward of the Mobility Data Specification and Curb Data Specification.

Smart Growth America: Focused on developing more walkable and diverse transit options.

Product Companies

mRelief: Builds apps and services to help individuals sign up for food stamps.

Transit App: A real-time transit arrivals board in your pocket.

Government Agencies with Digital Services Teams

“Digital Services” is loosely defined as agile teams that work similarly to a software consultancy shop. They are deployed to work directly with subject matter experts in other parts of the agency to assist in solving problems while using agile methodologies and human-centered design. The most famous of these is probably the federal team, 18F, but states, counties, and cities are starting to launch their own. Below is a list of some of our favorites.

Note: federal jobs you often have to put together a federal resume which can easily run 20 pages and take you a few weeks to assemble; there are really great instructions on 18F’s website. If you’re interested, start working on that resume now -- when jobs get posted they are usually only open for a few days and that’s not enough time for you to put your resume in the necessary format.

18F

United States Digital Service (USDS)

California Office of Digital Innovation (ODI)

Connecticut Digital Services

Office Of Innovation State of New Jersey

City of Boston Digital Team

MAPC Data Services Team (Boston area)

New York State Office of Technology & Innovation

City of San Rafael California - Digital Service & Open Government

NYC Planning Labs

San Francisco Digital Services

Colorado Digital Service

Canada

Don’t forget to check out our friends up north! Ontario Digital Services

Government Jobs Boards

Some of the great programming positions aren’t tied to big, new, splashy, digital services teams; they often get syndicated on government career websites. Some of these agencies are getting better at having their open positions posted more broadly on sites like LinkedIn. As these jobs aren’t distributed widely, sometimes they don’t get many applicants. These positions can also have less obvious titles. For example, in the County of Los Angeles, programmers often have the title Business Analyst. We suggest you broadly browse these job boards and notice what kinds of titles are used to describe the skills you have.

Some of these jobs require you to pass an “exam” or “test” -- don’t stress too much; do a bit of research. Sometimes these are standardized, multiple choice exams you take with a pencil in a proctored room, while others are just a long-form written version of your resume submitted via an online form. Do note that if the position requires you to have passed an exam, you will need to do so before you submit your application or they will auto-reject your application.

State of CA: CalCareers: This site has so many jobs! You can create an account and get really specific email notifications sent to you when a position opens that you might be qualified for or within an agency you might be excited about working with.

CalCareers is confusing to learn how to navigate – ODI has a really good guide to the state application process.

Government Jobs: Private syndicate of gov jobs.

USA Jobs: Syndicate of most federal jobs.

Public Transit Agencies

US Department of Transportation: This USAjobs.gov link filters for jobs at DOT

Federal Transit Administration (“FTA is one of 10 modal agencies of the US Department of Transportation”)

Find jobs by searching USA Jobs
Sign up for email notifications via the Transportation Diversity Council’s (TDC) website.
Check out the FTA’s job website for more information on applying for jobs and links to early career programs
FTA has several early career programs

And, of course, sign up for notifications to hear when Compiler is hiring again.

The Compiler Team's Transportation Round-up

2024-03-14T00:00:00Z

I won’t speak for all of my Compiler colleagues, but I will say that 100% of us think that public transportation is important. Shoot, did I just speak for all of my colleagues? Oh well. Public transportation is a vital community service; it’s good for our communities and our earth. It’s one of the most convenient, affordable, and efficient ways of shuffling people through their lives. So, like I said, we think public transportation is important; but we also know it to be occasionally frustrating, sometimes surprising, often exciting, and at times, an all-around adventure. So, we took some time to reflect on our most notable transit adventures from the past year. Read on for a few of the Compiler team's recent travel stories.

Jess

I took my two COVID babies on public transit for the first time! We took a round-trip journey on the San Diego trolley to Old Town and enjoyed a really amazing sunset over Mission Bay on the way home. They thought it was the coolest "choo choo" in the world.

Machiko

I love taking the Hollywood Bowl Park & Ride bus - I took it exactly four times last year during the summer Bowl season. The ticket buying process is seamless -- you buy a ticket online as you are buying your Bowl tickets. There are 14 Park & Ride bus stops all over L.A. County, from Torrance, Chatsworth, Pasadena and more. On your concert date at the shuttle time, you show your e-ticket to the friendly attendants at the bus stop and get in the bus. The staff at the Bowl always provide services for those with disabilities, and they make sure you find your bus on the way home. I would definitely go to more concerts and venues if they had the same kind of Park & Ride shuttle service like the Bowl's.

Olivia

BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) officially had all service running on new train cars, retiring all old train cars. The new train cars are so clean and much quieter than the old cars, making for a much more enjoyable rider experience. They started phasing in new cars in 2018, and the primary line I ride has had a mix of old/new cars in service over the last few years, so I never quite knew if I would be riding an old or new car until it showed up. I was very excited when the last new car was put into service. And it looks like BART managed to complete this project well under budget! Kudos to them!

Shelby

Remember when we said public transportation can occasionally be frustrating–yeah. Transit fails are also worth reminiscing on.

In July, I got on the wrong bus multiple times in LA, and once ended up in maybe Chinatown? I gave up and called a Lyft. I also, at one point, was on the phone with our colleague Kegan while literally running to catch the (wrong) DASH bus at the big train station.

Another transit fail, though not our fault: after a Jimmy Eat World concert at the Greek Theater, Kegan, his wife Sevil, and I waited at a bus stop for 20+ minutes before deciding that the bus was NOT coming despite saying it was, and we walked however long, like 25 minutes, to Sevil's car. That isn't a great story on its own, but it's meaningful in my collection of 2023 transit fails.

A favorite transit non-fail is waking up with my kids at 3am PT (6am ET) while in Sacramento, and at 4am, deciding that we needed to leave our apartment as to not wake everyone else in the building, so I put them in the stroller and we walked around Sac in the dark, and got to watch the Sac RT trains, which the kids loved. They got really good at spotting them and shouting "TRAINNNNN!" when they saw them.

Kegan

I rode the local T1 train line in the greater Sydney, Australia region so much in December 2023 (really only 3 weeks out of the month) that I reached the #1 position in Transit App for that line for the month!

Sarah

Over the winter holiday, my side of the family all decided to meet in Tampa, Florida. To get there from Ft. Lauderdale, I took a train with my then four-month old, Stetson. We had a coach seat on the way there, but on the way back we upgraded to a roomette that ended up being an amazing way to travel with a baby. Stetson spent a lot of time immersed in the honored tradition of watching the world go by. He took a nap in my arms during lunch in the dining car and played with some toys after we converted the roomette from seats to a bed. His stroller just fit on the top bunk. We rolled back into Ft. Lauderdale ready for bedtime.

Vyki

Last but not least, welcome to Vyki’s Taiwan Corner

Vyki spent some time last year traveling through Taiwan by bike, train, and bus. She collected a list of her favorite aspects of Taiwan transportation so that we can all be inspired.

The local and local express trains show which stops they will make on an LED signboard
Automatic Books Stop! Like a mini fully automated library vending machine in the transit station
Highspeed train: not only does the train go fast but painted numbered lines on the station floor allow passengers to line up so that the total time in station for disembarking and boarding is 90 SECONDS
Cute transit swag vending machines
The local subway in Taipei, shows a blinking LED on a map above the door as the subway moves from stop to stop
Real-time signage at bus stops
VERY fast internet on the local train
YouBike bike share
Toilets for everybody
Real-time GTFS? How about Real-time train station bathroom occupancy

BTS train driving over a bridge in Taiwan with the city in the background. Photograph by Vyki Englert.

How to support a platform-agnostic engineering team with VS Code Dev Containers

2024-01-23T22:00:00Z

The Compiler Engineering team - although quite small in teammates - has engineers working on the three main operating systems in use today: Windows, Linux and Mac. That's a very different team set-up than I've personally ever worked on over the last decade in the private sector tech world - which, for me, exclusively used Apple machines.

How do we make that work? The secret (or rather, the very open source method) lies in our team’s use of Docker and VS Code Dev Containers. At first, I was nervous about joining a team where I’d be the only engineer on an Apple machine, but over the past two years here at Compiler, thanks to Dev Containers, I’ve been able to code, debug and run tests more efficiently alongside my Windows and Linux colleagues – and I’ve started to see the benefits of a more platform-diverse engineering team across the stack.

By using Dev Containers, we’re able to all be in the same and replicable developer and debugging environment – down to the code editor and all of its myriad of extensions. The benefits go beyond just developer environment, though: we’re able to better test front-end web app user experiences to find platform-specific bugs, better serve our client tech teams - who often use Windows, and also recruit engineers from a greater range of professional backgrounds. In this post, I aim to share how the Compiler Engineering team uses Docker with VS Code Dev Containers to maintain our development environment, along with its benefits and some of the challenges.

The technical nuts and bolts: How to get it all set up

A meta look at my code editor with Devcontainers running this website locally: VS Code on the left and the browser on the right. Within the VS Code app, the file editor is on top, while the bottom is a multi-tab pane with a Terminal - for reading logs, running command line tools like Git - along with a pane showing currently running ports, the debug console and test runner.

On the previous engineering teams I was a part of, my first few days of work consisted of installing a lot of coding libraries, languages and tools to manage all of that onto my personal machine. For Node, Ruby or Python engineers on Mac, like I was, that might mean installing a slew of dependencies from Homebrew, Node, npm, Ruby Version Manager, Bundler, Postgres, Git and getting all the versions of each, to then be able to get the app’s various dependencies up and running for development. Then, you’d install your favorite coding editor and maybe even a custom Terminal emulator app.

On my first day at Compiler, though, I only had to install three applications: Git, the Visual Studio Code editor, Microsoft’s free and open source code editor, with its Dev Containers extension, and Docker. The Dev Container extension essentially allows developers to install the app they are working on, and all of its dependencies into a container, rather than the local machine. All of the code editor’s extensions and customizations are also run from inside the container. The engineering team uses the same container, so we end up with the same development environment.

What does that look like as a daily work routine? I’ll be using one of the team’s main client apps, the Cal-ITP Benefits application’s set of containers - which includes a Django application that connects to a separate Flask app server and a MKDocs documentation app - as an example for this post. If you’d like to follow along and try running this all locally, kudos to you - here’s the Benefits GitHub repository and documentation.

To get the app running on my first day of work, I:

Cloned the GitHub repository
Created an environment file
Ran a script that builds the Docker images
Opened the repository with VS Code, and launched Dev Containers: Reopen in Container from the command palette.
Opened the application in the browser with the address listed on the PORTS tab.

And that’s it!

After the environment is set up for the first time, you can skip the first three steps. In the example of the Benefits application, going through these steps launches the Benefits Django app and the Eligibility Server Flask app. Running another command will start up the Documentation site, too.

In the past, I’d worked in Dockerized developer environments that made it very difficult to debug the app easily. But with this setup, interactive line-by-line debugging in a REPL environment comes first-class with the code editor. By clicking on the Run and Debug panel icon on the left-hand side, selecting Django: Benefits Client, selecting some breakpoints in the code editor and clicking Play, the editor will switch to a Debug mode and allow you to step through each line of code, and use the command line to inspect or manipulate any variables.

Running all of the Pytests is also just a two-click endeavor: Click the Testing icon on the right-hand side, and the Play button to run all the specs.

Although I was nervous about joining a team without other Mac engineers and using Visual Studio Code for the first time, being in this containerized developer environment and having both debugging and testing built in to the editor has been a time-saving and stress-relieving work environment. The Engineering team uses this Dev Container set up for all of our projects, including internal Compiler projects like this website itself as well, which, by the way, is open source on GitHub.

For a more basic step-by-step tutorial, refer to the official VS Code Dev Containers tutorial and the official development container spec. For more technical detail on Compiler’s specific implementation of Dev Containers for the Benefits application, refer to the application documentation on Docker dynamic ports and working with Dev Containers.

Benefits of a platform-agnostic team

The benefits of having all engineers running and writing code from the same containerized environment and using the same code editor are quite clear: Less configuration headache when one engineer’s local environment has a seemingly un-replicable bug. But as I learned as I kept working on the Compiler team, I could see even more benefits of having this kind of environment supporting a team that has engineers using all major operating platforms.

From the perspective of a team and company, especially one that works on open source government software, being able to support engineers who use Windows, Linux and Mac allows the company to recruit people from a wider variety of industries and experiences. I didn’t have to, for example, retrain and learn the Windows environment to work on government apps, which often are built by Windows-only teams.

As an engineer who focuses primarily on the front-end user experience, I feel that our team is stronger because we are testing the app daily on Windows, Linux and Mac, across various browsers. I no longer have to click through an emulator tool like BrowserStack to check how the app looks and feels on Windows. Windows users aren’t second-class, and vice versa. A common criticism of all-Apple engineering and design teams is that they are not working on the hardware that most Americans can afford and use, and that’s not a problem here at Compiler.

Often times, our team supports front-line government IT teams over Zoom, and having a team that understands all the major computing platforms is also essential for us to help debug issues on clients’ machines.

Technical challenges and looking forward

So what are the technical challenges? I’ll be the first to admit that setting up and configuring a Dockerized container may be very challenging for a junior engineer - depending on how complex the application is, that might require a more senior engineer for the initial set up.

If you’re the kind of developer who has a very specific code editor - Neovim, Emacs or what have you - and a very custom suite of extensions and plugins, this way of working may not be for you. Having the command line and code editor integrated together might also not be everyone’s cup of tea.

One of the greatest challenges our team has faced is running Cypress tests. The Benefits application has a suite of end-to-end Cypress tests that run a browser and click through the app on every GitHub pull request – but we have yet to figure out how to get that all running in the container. We have to run Cypress outside of the container, which means downloading Node, npm, Cypress and its dependencies on our local machines. We’re continuing to investigate how to best achieve a fully-containerized end-to-end front-end browser testing suite. If you have any experience or thoughts on this, feel free to chime in on our corresponding GitHub issue. Hopefully, my next engineering blog post will detail how we’re tackling this issue.

Compiler’s 2023 Holiday Gift Guide

2023-12-15T17:03:13Z

1. Light Rail Snow Globe Ornament

Whoever says “I have enough ornaments, I don’t need any more” is lying! They’re lying. They want more. And they absolutely want one with an adorable little train chugging her way through a winter wonderland. (If they weren’t lying, and they don’t want this, please send it to us).

An image of a christmas tree ornament with a cartoon train surrounded by snowflakes. Photograph courtesy of Metro.

2. NYC MTA Token T-shirt

For 3 years I lived down the block from the shop that sells these shirts, and I somehow never bought one. At the time I called it willpower but now I call it regret. _ places order _

An image of a t-shirt with the an image of two trains, the MTA logo, and the slogan “We move New York”. Photograph courtesy of OnlyNY.

3. Go Metro Map Mug

For the person in your life who can never seem to remember when to make their transfer. As for when new lines are added? Put it on eBay and call it “retro”. Then suggest your friend get a boring ol’ non-mug map.

An image of a white mug with an illustration of a Los Angeles Metro light rail map. Photograph courtesy of Metro.

4. The People’s Transit Poster

Growing up my grandma had a poster like this but instead of railcars, it was dogs. My cousins and I would play a game where we’d all pick out our favorite one (and then pretend we were those dogs - but let’s pretend I didn’t just tell you that). That game is so much harder with this poster. Which one is my favorite, you ask? 1887! No, 1939! No, 1969. It’s too hard!! Pop this baby in a frame and you’re guaranteed to win “best gift” at the SF white elephant party this year.

An image of a poster with 16 railcars with the date they were made underneath and the text “The People's Transit”. Photograph courtesy of Transit Supply.

5. Public Transit is Bussin’ T-Shirt

For that teenager in your life who thinks taking the train is “high-key cheugy”. Maybe this will change their mind. They might not get the pun right away, but baby steps, amirite??

An image of a t-shirt that says “Public Transit is Bussin'”. Photograph courtesy of Raygun.

6. NYC Parks T-shirt

Not exactly transit-related but let’s face it, this shirt is just plain cute and that’s that. We love parks and that’s that.

An image of a t-shirt with a maple leaf and the text “City of New York Parks & Recreation”. Photograph courtesy of OnlyNY.

7. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Ring

I suggest you wear one of these token rings and every time you fist bump someone make a loud beeping noise to let them know they can now board the train. No? Ok fine, but this is still an awesome ring that from a distance looks like a beautiful, vintage band but up close you realize is an absolute relic.

An image of an MA transit token that has been made into a ring. Photograph courtesy of CoinRingandForgeCo via Etsy.

8. NYC Real-Time Subway Clock

Idea: hang this in your living room and set it to all your friends' preferred lines to make sure your holiday party lasts until the last possible minute. Idea: hang this in your bedroom to ensure you get as many possible zzz’s before rolling out your door and down the subway stairs. Idea: hang this in your kitchen to give you peace of mind that you can enjoy your coffee without missing your train, or more realistically, so you can throw back your burning hot espresso when you look up and realize the L is 1 minute away. Idea: buy this.

An image of a mahogany RealTime Subway Clock with LED screen displaying status of 2 subway lines. Photograph courtesy of NookWoodworking via Etsy.

Welcome to the Compiler blog!

2023-12-14T00:00:00Z

Hello world, we are starting a blog.

In the near future, you’ll be seeing long- and short-form blog posts from us so you can get to know us better and read about things we’ve learned, the type of work we do, transit adventures we’ve had, and more! We hope this gives you a useful glimpse into us as a company. See you at our next post.

"The Compiler team on the 6th Street Bridge in Downtown Los Angeles during their May 2023 Retreat. Photograph by Lex Ryan