Replica exists to solve one of the most persistent problems in urban planning and development: the lack of comprehensive, current data about how people interact with the built environment. Every day, cities, transit agencies, and private companies make billion-dollar decisions about infrastructure, transportation networks, and real estate based on outdated surveys and incomplete information. These choices shape communities for generations, yet they're often made with data that's years old and unable to capture the complexity of modern mobility patterns. Replica was founded to change this fundamental inequity in how we plan and build our communities.
Replica's platform combines hundreds of data sources - including mobile location data, vehicle telematics, census information, transit feeds, and ground truth observations - to create the world's first nationwide, high-fidelity travel demand model delivered as a SaaS product. The platform generates a complete, synthetic picture of how populations move through cities and regions throughout the day, broken down by mode, purpose, demographics, and destination. This enables DOTs, MPOs, cities, transit agencies, and private sector partners to move beyond static counts and simplistic assumptions. Instead, they can analyze scenarios, measure trade-offs, and make decisions with confidence about everything from transit equity and road safety to economic development and infrastructure investment. Having spun out of Alphabet in 2017 and served hundreds of customers including Caltrans, Texas DOT, Illinois DOT, the MTA, and Waymo, Replica is transforming how communities understand and shape their future.