Hustle and Bustle

Our bus scheduling system will help you get to your hustle with a little less bustle--and more buses.

Inspiration

We decided to pursue the HNTB challenge because the bus systems near our colleges frustrated us. The inconsistent schedules are impossible to track and need an overhaul.

What it does

We set out to create a bus-as-rideshare experience, where people could request spots to be picked up and the bus would help them arrive on time. People close to each other would be clustered by a threshold of how far they are willing to walk and Hustle and Bustle would efficiently route the driver between each person. This could eventually be used to create a regular schedule using the crowdsourced data.

Our functional proof of concept begins the technology that would make that dream possible. We developed an algorithm to route between locations determined by an administrator and create separate routes as demand thresholds are adjusted. Our app then displays this route to users, along with the current location of the bus driver.

Bus drivers are certified by a password set by the administrator. Day-to-day drivers check in with the bus that they drive with a QR code at the front of the bus.

The administrator account could be bought with the app, enabling the system for a particular area. A discounted cost of the service could be offered for systems that we would certify as making reasonable efforts to be green (a certain percentage of electric vehicles, maintenance of stops, etc).

How we built it

We made a mobile app, an administrator app, and an algorithm-testing app. We took turns building different components of the three projects according to our strengths.

The mobile app was made in React Native with Expo. Styling was done using TailwindCSS.

The algorithm-testing app used the Google Maps API to place locations and routes on a map and displayed the route as it was generated.

The administrator app was inspired by this testing app. With set thresholds to adjust the algorithm, an administrator can use the admin portal to create a custom route that exactly suits the system's needs as the administrator sees it.