TransAr

Innovative Transit Planning Application

Executive Summary

An innovative way of improving the user transit mobility experience, TransAR – a transit application utilizes TransLink’s Open API to create a new mobility experience using AR technology and Google Maps.

Users can open the app to view nearby bus stops, see the live location of approaching buses, and get route information in 2D maps. However, switching to the AR view shows bus stops and live locations of buses through the lens of the mobile phone, providing a real-time visualization of their transit trip in an intuitive and innovative manner.

Technologies utilized in this application include TransLink API, Google Maps, and AR technology and support is offered for both the iOS and Android operating systems.

Challenge

Vancouver transit users suffer from a lack of support for trip planning and scheduling. Translink’s open API offers the challenge of taking this opportunity and turning into a viable solution for their thousands of users.

Leveraging this technology can simplify the process of planning a trip and reduce confusion for travellers. There is an opportunity for developers to create tremendous value in a mobile application seeing as Translink has no official mobile solution for their customers.

Solution

The App-Scoop team is inspired by the latest technologies and approached this challenge in an innovative way by incorporating Augmented Reality. We created a modern and intuitive UX that made trip planning easier than ever by showing users exactly where busses and their respective stops are through the screen of their phones.

Features

The TransAR mobile application allows its users to leverage their smartphone camera to display bus statuses, locations of bus stops, and planning of trips in a revolutionary manner. These aforementioned items are visible in real-time on a user’s screen as viewed through their camera, creating the illusion of these transit objects being augmented in real life.

This innovation makes it easier for users to understand where and when to go when commuting through the city, especially in unfamiliar areas or during peak commute hours. Rather than viewing a topographical map, the transit system comes to life through the lens of the phone, reducing confusion and simplifying commutes.

TEch Stack

• Programming language – SWIFT, ARKIT

• SDK – iOS SDK

• IDE/ Toolset – Xcode