ETAi | Devpost

XCode App Development
Firebase Location Request Collection
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Inspiration

As students, one of the major struggles we faced when adjusting to high school life was figuring out how to get to school. Our parents had no way to transport us and it took us a long time to figure out how to use the bus, and even then, many times the bus forgot to pick us up. We noticed that access to reliable transportation is a major challenge for many fellow high school students, especially in communities like ours where public transit is limited or unsafe to use. Many students depend on school buses or family transportation, but they often lack real-time information about arrival times, delays, or exact bus locations. This uncertainty can lead to missed buses, long waiting times, and unnecessary stress for students and parents. Because of this problem, we created ETAi to solve this problem by improving communication between students and school transportation systems. Our goal is to make getting to and from school safer, more predictable, and more efficient. By combining live tracking with smart predictions, ETAi helps students better manage their time while reducing confusion and delays in daily school transportation.

What it does

ETAi is a real-time school bus tracking and smart routing app designed specifically for high school students. The app allows students to view live bus locations on a map, see nearby routes, and get accurate estimated arrival times powered by AI. Students can also share their location with school bus drivers, enabling more efficient pickups and reducing missed stops. All this results in a better experience using the public transport system and more students having access to better transportation.

How we built it

We used Latitude and Longitude coordinates from google maps and input it into our app which was used to create a bus route for it to follow. We built our app off of Xcode such as format, background, and coding.

Challenges we ran into

One of the biggest challenges we faced was managing real-time location data while keeping the app stable and responsive. As we added more latitude and longitude coordinates, we ran into issues with data persistence and routes failing to load correctly, which required us to rethink how we structured and processed data. We also struggled with implementing accurate real-time tracking and ETA predictions, since converting raw GPS data into reliable arrival times required careful coordination of timing and route logic. In addition, integrating dynamic maps in Xcode and syncing backend data with frontend visuals was challenging, as we had to ensure live updates, route displays, and user location sharing all worked seamlessly together.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

The main thing we’re proud of is that we were able to make an effective app from scratch that accomplished everything that we set out to do. This project required a lot of effort from our entire team and we are proud of being able to do everything just from scratch. This project has demonstrated our ability to work together, especially since we only had one coder. The Idea we came up with is an easy way for buses to navigate and bring students to school easier. As students, we feel accomplished as students to find a way so that others can commute to school easier by lessening the amount of traffic.

What we learned

While working on this project, we gained valuable insights and developed a wide range of important skills. One of the key lessons we learned was the significance of accessible transportation for students and how it can directly impact their ability to participate fully in academic and extracurricular activities. In addition, we discovered what it truly takes to design and build a fully functioning application, from the early planning stages to development, testing, and final implementation. This process required us to learn how to use new programs and tools that were unfamiliar to us at the start, pushing us to adapt quickly and think creatively.

Throughout the project, we also had to develop innovative problem-solving strategies in order to overcome various challenges and obstacles. Perhaps most importantly, we learned how essential effective teamwork is to achieving success. By communicating clearly, dividing responsibilities, and supporting one another, we were able to stay organized and maintain steady progress. Our ability to collaborate efficiently played a major role in ensuring that we completed the project on time and delivered a polished, complete product.

What's next for ETAi

Our plan for the future of ETAi is to increase the scale of ETAi larger than ever, and release it to others globally to have access to this app that other students will be able to use. Not only that, but we also plan to make ETAi useable for adults, making it a great option to get around for those who don't have the money to pay for a car.