Inspiration
I've been in many situations where I'm in an unfamiliar part of town and need to use the restroom or get water. Searching "water fountain" on Google Maps gives me an exhaustive list, but many results are incorrect. Some places are closed, not open to the public, or the business has shut down. I don't want to spend extra time calling or visiting places that won't work. This is where GottaGo comes in. It reduces the mundane task of finding essential facilities by understanding your current needs and delivering accurate, AI-curated results.
What it does
GottaGo is an accessibility-focused app that helps users find:
- Public restrooms (w/ wheelchair accessible & gender-neutral tags)
- Water fountains and refill stations
- Free food and community resources
- Free air for tires
- Accessible facilities
Using Yelp's conversational AI, ask natural questions like "Which are open 24/7?" or "What's closest?" and get specific, neeed based answers.
How we built it
Frontend: React, Leaflet maps, WCAG AA accessible UI, smart per-category caching
Backend: Express.js proxy server, Yelp AI API with chat_id for conversational context, OpenStreetMap geocoding
Key Features:
- Conversational AI maintains context across questions
- Urgency modes (Emergency/Soon/Chill) adapt AI behavior
- Smart caching prevents redundant API calls
- Keyboard navigation, screen reader support, accessibility badges
Challenges we ran into
Category filtering - Results weren't updating when switching tabs. Fixed with appropriate use of React hooks.
Poor UI contrast - Dark theme had readability issues. I improved that by drasticaly changing my background color and revising the rest of the text colors as needed.
Generic AI responses - Chat gave useless "I found results" messages. Built context-aware parser that understands intent and filters results intelligently.
Redundant API calls - Implemented per-category caching that fetches data once per location.
Accessibility irony - Building an accessibility app that wasn't accessible. I spent majority of my time adding full WCAG AA compliance throughout (inluding screen reader support!).
Accomplishments that we're proud of
This is near production ready app and could launch tomorrow (with some finishing touches of course).
Social Impact:
- Serves 28.7% of Americans (≈ 87 million people) living with disabilities.
Source: CDC — Disability Impacts All of Us - Helps people experiencing homelessness find free food
- Provides gender-neutral restroom info for LGBTQ+ community
- Emergency mode for urgent needs
Technical Excellence:
- Implements agentic pipeline using Yelp's AI API
- Context-aware responses ("top choice", "24/7", "closest")
- Smart caching improves user experience and reduces computational costs
Beyond privileged users: Most apps ignore basic human needs. GottaGo addresses dignity—free food for unhoused individuals, actual accessibility info, gender-neutral facilities. We're not just building for accessibility, we're making accessible tech.
What we learned
- Empathy in design - Look beyond your own problems to who else struggles
- Yelp AI API - Conversational chat_id context is powerful for refinement
- Accessibility is intentional - Requires effort at every level, not an afterthought
- Smart caching - Dramatically improves UX with instant tab switches
- AI needs specificity - Generic responses are useless; context-aware answers help
What's next for GottaGo
Short-term: Voice control, user reports, community validation
Long-term: Partner with disability orgs, expand globally, integrate with city planning, and add more categories (EV charging, lactation rooms, cooling centers)
When you gotta go, you have GottaGo!
Log in or sign up for Devpost to join the conversation.