Smart Transit

Smart Transit is a public transportation monitoring system that integrates IOT and both front and back end development. Designed centered on the user, it is meant to enhance user experience.

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Inspiration

The idea for SmartTransit emerged from the need to enhance the experience of public transportation for users. We are all students at the city of Guadalajara and many rely on public transportation for our daily commutes, so we noticed that overflow and delays are day to day issues in public transportation.

What it does

SmartTransit provides two essential services to users:

  1. Real-Time Bus Information: Displays the next buses arriving at the station, with estimated times and the number of available seats.
  2. Route Map with Live Bus Locations: Shows a map of the bus route with real-time locations of buses, allowing passengers to see the nearest bus to their stop.

Both screens are displayed on a rotation basis, switching every 10 seconds to ensure that users can get a comprehensive view of the bus situation at any given time.

How we built it

The project was divided into two parts:

  • Front-End: The user interface consists of two pages—a table for bus arrival times and seat occupancy, and a map for real-time bus tracking. We used HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for building these pages, along with Leaflet.js for the interactive map. I was also connected to a database that we populated.
  • Back-End: The back-end was built with Node.js and Express.js to serve API endpoints for bus adn bus stops locations and occupancy data. It is planned that the data is fetched from GPS devices installed on the buses and is updated in real-time using connections to the front-end.

Investigation of already existing infraestructre and technologies of Red Jalisco and Mi Macro Periférico for the implementation of the system.

Challenges we ran into

Working with a map API that was unknown for us. One of the biggest challenges was to select the real-time data acquisition for the buses. An accurate occupancy measuring system was also an issue.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

To build a web app from from the ground up in order to help the community and considering ODS (Objetivos de desarrollo sustentable) number 11 "Comunidades y ciudades sostenibles" The ideation of the implementation of the system by taking advantage of the existing Red Jalisco Network and the infraestructure of Mi Macro Periférico's route.

What we learned

We explored various options for implementing bus tracking systems using GPS modules, microwave antennas, and Wi-Fi technologies. We also discussed common programming languages and tools for configuring microwave antennas and maps, highlighting the use of APIs as the most practical.

What's next for SmartTransit

In the future, we aim to expand SmartTransit by analizyng more public transportation routes to potentially implement the system, in Guadalajara and more cities.

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