PeerLift

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Inspiration

I was inspired by the example given to us by Waymo and the need for a more sustainable, affordable, and convenient way for students to commute to college. Carpooling with nearby students seemed like a perfect solution to reduce the cost and environmental impact of commuting.

What it does

The app helps students find other students who live close by and are interested in car-sharing their commute to the same college. It connects users, allowing them to plan shared rides, making daily travel easier and more efficient.

How I built it

I built the app using Expo and React Native for the frontend, Firebase Realtime Database to manage real-time user data and locations, and Clerk for secure user authentication. The backend leverages a proximity-based matching algorithm to find users near each other based on their location (latitude and longitude).

Challenges I ran into

One of the biggest challenges was implementing the geolocation algorithm to calculate the distance between users and display the closest matches in real time. Ensuring accurate and efficient user matching while managing real-time data flow in Firebase took considerable effort.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

I successfully built a functional, intuitive app that enables students to connect and organize carpooling options. The implementation of the proximity-based matching feature, which helps users find nearby students, is something I'm particularly proud of.

What I learned

Working with React Native, Firebase, and Clerk deepened my understanding of mobile app development, real-time databases, and secure user management. I also learned the importance of optimizing geolocation calculations to maintain performance in a real-time environment.

What's next for PeerLift

In the future, I plan to add more features to improve the user experience, such as route optimization, carpool scheduling, and an integrated messaging system. I also aim to expand the app beyond college campuses to include more general commuting options for city workers.

Built With

• clerk
• expo.io
• firebase
• javascript
• react-native
• typescript