Tuesday, Mar 28, 2017

Dubai: How can Dubai persuade people to ditch their cars and use public transport?

One way, according to a winning university student project, is through a social networking app that lets them chat and play games with fellow transport users.

Waselni (Arabic for ‘connect me’), would allow public transport riders to take part in mobile games, as well as chat with others, all within the app.

The app would also allow users to view public transport routes, get discounts on tickets, and view transport times.

Right now, the app is still in prototype stage.

However, its team of five creators hope their Facebook-inspired project will one day be adopted by the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).

The winning project was selected out of eight concepts presented by eight rival teams of five to seven students each. Most of the students came from engineering, IT, or design backgrounds.

In keeping with the public transport theme, the two-day event - organized by the RTA - was held in an office block just steps away from the transport body’s tram depot.

Each student team at the event, called the RTA Transport Hackathon, was mentored by RTA workers and staff at US software giant IBM.

Each presentation was made to a ten-member judging panel made up of top-level RTA officials and the private sector.

“It is your choice to find your happiness not in a fancy car, but in a metro seat or a bus ride,” said Mariam Khalifeh, one of Waselni’s student co-founders, while making her pitch to the judges.

“My app is a social network app. [With Waselni,] you can meet other transport users, and you can chat with them,” said Bisher Zumot, one of Waselni’s co-founders. The 21-year-old computer engineer studies at the Dubai branch of the University of Wollongong.

As Waselni’s team leader, he has been selected by the judges to represent Dubai and the RTA at the Youth 4 Public Transport (Y4PT) Global Transport Hackathon in Montreal, Canada, in May.

One there, contestants will work to develop and then unveil their transport solutions at a public transport summit organised by the International Association of Public Transport (UITP).

The Brussel-based UITP has a member base of 1,400 transport companies from 96 countries.

Back in Dubai, the RTA’s Hackathon comes as transport officials look at ways to reduce traffic congestion on the city’s ever-busy roads.

“In Dubai, every year, there is a growth [in the number of people taking public transport],” said Mohammad Obaid Al Mulla, a member of the RTA’s board. He added that the transport body was committed to using winning ideas from the Hackathon.

“So we are focusing how to solve this problem, for the present and for the future.”

by Paul Crompton Staff Reporter

Gulf News 2017. All rights reserved.