Selected Track

TRACK 01 TIJUANA SIN BARRERAS Accesibilidad multimodal para servicios públicos

Expected Social Impact

ViaLibre aims to make public transportation more accessible, reliable, and transparent for the residents of Baja California. By providing route planning, real-time bus tracking, and occupancy information, users can make better travel decisions, reduce uncertainty, and spend less time waiting for transportation.

The platform also benefits transit operators by providing data-driven insights into route performance and passenger demand, enabling more efficient resource allocation and service improvements.

In the long term, ViaLibre can contribute to increased public transportation adoption, reduced traffic congestion, improved mobility for students and workers, and a better overall transportation experience for the community.

Inspiration

Moving around Tijuana can be challenging, especially when public transportation information is fragmented, routes are difficult to understand, and passengers have no visibility into bus occupancy or arrival times. We wanted to create a solution that makes public transit more accessible, predictable, and efficient for everyone.

What it does

ViaLibre is a multimodal transportation platform that helps users travel from point A to point B using one or more bus routes. The mobile application generates route recommendations while providing real-time bus location and occupancy information.

To collect this information, we designed a low-cost hardware device that can be installed inside buses. The device tracks vehicle location and estimates passenger occupancy, allowing users to know where a bus is and how crowded it is before boarding.

For transit operators, the platform provides a web dashboard with analytics, route monitoring, occupancy trends, and operational insights.

How we built it

The solution consists of three main components:

• A mobile application for trip planning and route discovery.
• A web dashboard for monitoring transportation data.
• An IoT device installed in buses for location tracking and passenger counting.

The hardware sends telemetry data to the cloud, where it is processed and displayed through our applications. We also integrated analytics and visualization tools to help operators better understand system performance.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

• Building a complete end-to-end prototype in less than 26 hours.
• Integrating hardware and software into a unified transportation solution.
• Creating both passenger-facing and operator-facing experiences.
• Demonstrating real-time location and occupancy monitoring.

What we learned

We learned how transportation systems can benefit from combining IoT, cloud infrastructure, analytics, and user-centered design. We also gained valuable experience integrating multiple technologies under tight deadlines.

What's next for ViaLibre

Future improvements include deploying the hardware on real buses, improving occupancy estimation accuracy, and using machine learning to predict demand and optimize routes.

Built With

• expo.io
• firebase
• iot
• nextjs
• react
• react-native