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Choosing bus ticket dates, fare types
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Viewing the ticket
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Persistent notification that lets you contact the authorities quickly and discretely
Inspiration
Wanting to do a worthwhile project while at MHacks, Varun and Cheenar looked into the opportunities that Ford and other sponsors offered on improving Detroit. While looking at some of Ford's starting tips, they were inspired by the idea of having a streamlined ticket service along with simple yet effective safety aspirations.
After that, Cheenar personally wanted to do some type of web-based application and Varun wanted to further explore Android. In the end, the two merged their specialties to create Met.ro
What it does
Right now, the projects lets registered users "purchase" fares, view tickets, and send safety alerts to the police or family members. The tickets themselves have built in timers and associated QR codes that can be scanned and relevant and useful information can be pulled and manipulated.
How we built it
The back-end is a Node instance that supplies REST end-points to manipulate a MySQL database. The front-end is written in Java as a native Android application. The node instance is hosted on a Linode server (thank you! local hosting was not working, this project wouldn't have been possible without that free credit).
Challenges we ran into
Of the many challenges, the two biggest were getting a product together and merging the code. Varun and Cheenar went off on their own and wrote separate modules that, while disconnected, were a pain to compile into the final application. Some issues with the Android layout system took a while to debug but were very rewarding to overcome.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We were able to create something that has some potential use in a rather short amount of time. It was also our first time working together in a team to create a project, rather than individually. This presented it's own challenges, but it was very rewarding to see our work come together and DO something. This was our first time at a hackathon, and our first time working with much of the software that we used, so to be able to develop a full-stack application was very rewarding and something we are very proud of.
What we learned
We learned NodeJS, MySQL, NPM Modules, and Android development. We also learned about focus, intents, and services. Initially, we tried to do everything and ended up with a jumbled, disconnected mess. But, thanks to advice from mentors and others, we were able to focus and get our core functionality working, which was the most important part.
What's next for Met.ro
We will definitely include smart bus data that would give you contextualized alerts for when to purchase tickets or when you're nearby a bus station. From there, we will continue to integrate DDOT data and expand the app's functionality by including other modes of transportation around Detroit.
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