HubHopper.app

Ride Together, Save Together: Sustainable carpooling for companies, reducing traffic congestion, and cutting costs.

Comment

☀️ Inspiration

Our inspiration for HubHopper stemmed from a desire to make a positive impact on the environment and society as a whole. We recognized the negative effects of traffic congestion, carbon emissions and limited office space. Many employees drive to work alone in their car, thus parking spaces are also becoming scarce. By creating a web application that incentivizes car sharing and encourages travel outside of rush hours, we aim to reduce traffic and lower carbon emissions. Additionally, by optimizing the use of available office space, we hope to reduce the need for new construction and lower energy consumption. We believe that this approach not only benefits employees, but also helps companies reduce costs and contribute to a more sustainable future.

🌿 What it does

HubHopper is a web application that allows users to share rides with one another, therefore reducing the potential carbon emissions. and traffic congestion. However, our application is not solely focused on environmental benefits. We also aim to optimize the usage of available office space and limited parking spaces, which can lead to significant cost savings for companies - less required office space leads to less energy consumption as well as less construction materials needed to build them. The concrete industry makes up 8% of global CO2 emissions Princeton University. Working in a calmer and less cramped office will also be a more enjoyable experience for employees and may help reduce stress or discomfort.

At the core of HubHopper lies the innovative concept of collecting leaves through corporate rides. Our platform provides users with the opportunity to join existing rides or create new ones for carpooling, complete with engaging visualizations that showcase their positive impact and general statistics on peak days for their chosen company. The more environmentally sustainable the ride, the more leaves users can earn. By taking on more passengers, utilizing electric cars, avoiding peak days or hours, and utilizing hubs, users can maximize their leaves and unlock a range of exciting rewards.

Our application not only benefits the environment and companies, but also offers a range of perks for users. By making new connections and trading in leaves for great benefits, users can enjoy a more enjoyable and sustainable commuting experience. Join HubHopper today and start making a positive impact on the world around you!

📱What we build

Our development process began with the creation of a clickable prototype that allowed us to visualize the core features of our application and refine our approach.

As we continued to develop the application, we recognized the importance of a user-friendly frontend that would allow for a seamless experience. Although we were unable to incorporate all of the API's features into the frontend within our desired timeframe, our application enables users to create and search for possible rides. We are aware that the focus on travel with colleagues (within a company) and business use cases could be further optimized. Concrete: We noticed that it wouldn't be possible to make use of all the API's features in the frontend in such a short amount of time, if we would continue trying to create a good user experience.

The API itself boasts a wealth of features, including various endpoints, a powerful SQLite database, and sophisticated data preparation to insert the given datasets into the SQL-Database. We have implemented a Scikit-Learn clustering algorithm (specifically a density-based clustering algorithm) that enables us to efficiently place hubs in highly requested areas.

🛠️ How we built it

The prototype was build with the prototyping software Figma.

We used Django Backend with SQLite3 Database providing a REST API for the React Frontend.

The User and Company Tables of the Database contain the given Datasets GitHub.

For the Workload data of the offices we generated pseudodata, based on a bell-curve with randomized parameters, that the workload distribution is not the same for every office and every hub.

🙇🏼 Challenges we ran into

Our journey has been full of challenges, but we have remained steadfast in our commitment to delivering a truly exceptional product. One of the most significant hurdles we encountered was the existence of similar applications in the market. However, we were determined to develop a concept that was not only better but also more profitable.

Another significant challenge we faced was creating a dynamic, smooth, and well-designed frontend that would provide users with a seamless experience.

Motivating people to become passengers rather than drivers was another challenge that we had to overcome. We recognized the importance of nudging users towards more sustainable transportation options and incorporated various features into our platform to incentivize carpooling. Through the use of leaves, hubs, and other rewards, we aim to encourage users to adopt more sustainable commuting habits and reduce traffic congestion and carbon emissions.

🎊 Accomplishments that we're proud of

The method to find relevant rides for a passenger

Relevant rides for a searching user are all rides with the same destination, which comes from the same direction. The directions are measured in the angle of the vectors of the driver to the destination and the vector of the passenger to the destination, and it only sees rides as eligible, if the angle is below a certain threshold. The threshold depends from the distance between the passenger and the destination, so when its nearer to the destination the angle may be greater, and if the distance is greater, the angle will approach roundabout 45°. The equation is threshold = (180° - 45°)*e^(-dist(passenger; destination)) + 45°.

Also, when the driver receives a join request, he will be informed how many minutes the pick up will cost him. This data is based on real-time traffic information powered by the Google Maps Platform API.

💡 What we learned

Our journey in developing HubHopper has been an incredible learning experience for our team. Throughout the process, we have gained valuable insights and knowledge that will help us continue to improve and grow as we move forward.

One of the most crucial lessons we learned was the importance of collaboration and teamwork. Our team members come from diverse backgrounds and possess a range of skills and expertise. By working together, we were able to leverage each other's strengths and overcome challenges more effectively.

Finally, we learned the importance of sustainability and the role that technology can play in promoting a more sustainable future. By incentivizing carpooling and optimizing the use of available office space, we aim to reduce traffic congestion, lower carbon emissions, and improve the overall commuting experience for users. We believe that our platform has the potential to make a significant impact on the environment and society as a whole, and we remain committed to this goal as we move forward.

🔜 What's next for HubHopper.app

As we move forward, our team is focused on several key objectives for HubHopper.app. Our immediate priority is to finalize the frontend to unleash the full potential of the backend. By optimizing the design through user-centered design processes such as interviews and guerrilla tests, we aim to create an even better user experience.

We also plan to test our platform in real-life scenarios and collect data to make further improvements. This will allow us to refine our approach, identify areas for improvement, and ensure that our platform is meeting the needs of our users.

Ultimately, our goal is to continue to innovate and improve our platform to promote sustainable transportation and a more sustainable future. With a focus on collaboration, user-centered design, and sustainability, we are confident that HubHopper.app will continue to make a positive impact on the environment and society as a whole.

📄 Repositories

Python Django Backend on Github: https://github.com/raspitim/hackaburg_backend

React Frontend on Github: https://github.com/witcher-development/hubhopper

🧑🏼‍💻 Team

🍊 Toha - the orange spot of this Hackaburg

🐈 Pia - approved the food served at the hackathon for good

🐍 Tim - "as long i don't have to do anything frontend-related, I'm happy"

🪲 Lukas - "at least this time I didn't stay up til 5 in the morning to center a div"

🐺 Roman - control-freak. And Frontend is fine, stop bullying it!

Built With

Share this project:

Updates