Smart Transit Bangladesh

Real-time, crowdsourced transit data platform connecting commuters and partners to make Bangladesh’s public transport safer, fairer, and smarter.

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Inspiration

Smart Transit Bangladesh was inspired by the critical need to make everyday travel safer, more affordable, and more transparent for millions of commuters across Bangladesh. Seeing how people struggle with unpredictable fares, unreliable routes, and a lack of actionable data, we wanted to build a unified platform that empowers citizens and partners alike to collaborate, report, and solve these problems together.

What it does

The platform crowdsources and shares real-time information on public transit—bus and rickshaw routes, fares, delays, safety incidents, and congestion. Users can access, save, and share optimal routes, report updates, view safety analytics, and see live traffic—all in one place. Stakeholders (authorities, NGOs, operators) can leverage this open data to improve planning, policy, and service quality.

How we built it

Smart Transit Bangladesh is powered by Next.js (App Router) for a fast, mobile-first frontend; Supabase for secure database, authentication, and real-time features; and Mapbox/Leaflet for interactive mapping. We designed a clean, accessible UI, implemented crowd reporting flows, and built analytics dashboards using charts.js and Recharts.

Challenges we ran into

  • Ensuring real-time accuracy and data moderation from near-constant public input.
  • Harmonizing different city/division transit data into one consistent, usable format.
  • Protecting user privacy while enabling impactful reporting.
  • Building scalable regional “hubs” that can adapt to local contexts and languages.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • Built a fully functional demo platform spanning Dhaka and additional divisions.
  • Created a robust, crowdsourced reporting system with privacy safeguards.
  • Facilitated successful partnerships between local authorities and civic groups.
  • Delivered a solution aligned with SDG 17, 11, and 10 for meaningful national impact.
  • Visit Pitch

What we learned

We learned that open, collaborative technology can dramatically improve public transit when paired with community engagement. Real partnership—between citizens, government, and tech—creates more adaptable and inclusive solutions. Continuous feedback and a focus on transparency build user trust and ownership.

What's next for Smart Transit Bangladesh

Our next steps: expand coverage to every major division, refine real-time reporting and moderation, launch in-app incentives and gamification, integrate more partner data sources, and work towards official government and NGO adoption to scale national impact and export the model internationally.

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