BU Bus

Built to reduce the daily uncertainty of waiting for the BU shuttle, BU Smart Bus helps students and staff plan confidently with real-time tracking, smart service alerts, and personalized favorites.

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🚍 BU Smart Bus

Smarter, Friendlier Transit for Terriers

💡 Inspiration

Getting around BU shouldn’t feel like guesswork.
Every student knows the pain — standing in the cold, refreshing the existing BU Bus app, wondering "Is the bus even coming?"

We asked: what if navigating the BU bus felt as seamless as Google Maps or Uber?
That’s how BU Smart Bus was born — a modern, data-driven, empathetic, and real-time transit companion made by students, for students.

🚀 What It Does

BU Smart Bus is a real-time web app that helps the BU community move confidently across campus.

Key features:

  • 🗺️ Interactive Google-Maps-powered live map centered on your location

  • 🚌 Real-time BU Bus tracking with dynamic updates

  • 🔔 Smart calculated alerts for delays, crowding, and low service coverage

  • ⭐ Favorites tab for saving frequent stops

  • 🔍 Search any destination to plan walking + bus routes

  • 🎨 Clean, responsive BU-themed interface

It’s not just a transit app — it’s a clarity tool for daily BU life.

📊 Data Science Application

Our app uses data-driven logic to make sense of real-time vehicle data:

  • Detects bus delays, crowded occupancy, and reduced route coverage automatically.

  • Integrates Google Directions & Geocoding APIs for trip planning.

  • Refreshes data every 30 seconds for live accuracy.

  • Every insight is derived responsibly — we process data, never store it.

💻 Technical Implementation

Frontend: React + TypeScript + Tailwind CSS Backend: Bun Hono (aggregates BU Bus API + Google Maps API) Deployment: Render (frontend + backend hosting)

🔧 Core features implemented:

  • Real-time data fetch and map rendering.

  • Smart alert generation logic (no external triggers).

  • Browser push notifications for critical events.

  • Local storage for favorite stops.

  • Modular React architecture for maintainability.

We focused on performance, clarity, and trust.

🎨 Design

Design principle: “Students first — Clarity through simplicity”

  • High-contrast BU Red (#CC0000) + white theme.

  • Intuitive bottom navigation bar.

  • Accessible typography with strong hierarchy.

  • Clear visual hierarchy with smooth animations.

  • Accessibility-ready text and color choices.

We focused on making the experience friendly, reliable, and true to BU’s identity.

🧭 Responsibility & Ethics

We followed a privacy-first and student-first approach:

  • ✅ Only temporary live data — no storage or tracking.

  • ✅ Permission-based location usage.

  • ✅ Transparent data sources (BU Bus API + Google Maps).

  • ✅ Designed for accessibility and inclusivity.

Our guiding question: Would we feel safe if every BU student used this daily?

If not, we fixed it.

🎤 Presentation & Impact

Our live demo walks through a real BU commute — showing live tracking, route suggestions, and service alerts in action.

That’s not just code — that’s data and empathy in motion.*

It’s a smoother, safer, kinder way for Terriers to move.

👥 Team

Team Members: Kunal Vishwa Sivakumar, Akshay Kumaran Venkatesan, Leo Deng, Harini Saravanan, Tanisha Jauhari.

Mentorship: BU Spark!

❤️ Why It Matters

BU Smart Bus proves that technology built with empathy can make campus life simpler, calmer, and more connected.

It’s how we turn frustration into function — and function into confidence.

🔗 Built With

react typescript bun (hono) google maps api bu bus api tailwind css render figma

🔮 Future Enhancements

We envision BU Smart Bus growing into a complete, campus-integrated mobility platform.

Next steps:

  • 🔐 Login with BU credentials for personalized commutes and saved preferences

  • 🚉 MBTA integration to include Green Line and nearby bus routes in trip plans

  • 📅 Smart scheduling — sync class times with bus arrival predictions

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