BESTimation-Origins

Considering the real time traffic scenarios and the ever-soaring rate of a seemingly endless number of issues faced by commuters daily, there is a dire need for a common platform to address this issue as of right now. We thus propose an idea of implementing an android application wherein the user is supposed to enter the BEST bus number, the name of the bus stop and the destination stop after which our application is going to leverage the user with the following information:

• Estimated time by which the bus will arrive at the aforementioned stop.
• Estimation of the crowd in the bus.

The user, waiting at a bus stop and expectantly waiting for the arrival of a bus, will now thus be in a position to make an informed choice to decide whether he/she should keep waiting or choose another bus. The user can also choose to opt for an entirely alternative mode of transport or change his/her travel plan accordingly.

Objectives:

Our mobile application will let users provide all the relevant details to display the estimated arrival time of their preferred bus as they wait at their stop. This will effectively eliminate the dilemma of whether it is worth the commuter’s time to keep waiting for the bus or not. We also hope to eventually provide an estimate of the crowd that the user can expect to be in the bus.

Idea:

Use the Google APIs (Application Programmer Interface) and publicly available data about best buses like departure time from the bus depot, arrival time at the bus depot, etc, to calculate the estimated time of arrival (ETA) of a particular bus at the given bus stop. This ETA will be calculated considering facts such as traffic, unavoidable delays etc.

Software Required

For Development

• Android Studio
• Google APIs
• Android Java
• XML
• SQLite
• Server Applications
• Hosting Environment
• Emulators or AVD

For Users

• Android OS
• Internet

Hardware Required

For Development

• Computers
• Smart Phones

Accurate estimation of arrival times coupled with reliable crowd prediction can address the woes of commuters and will hopefully become an indispensable tool that will enhance the experience of commuting via BEST buses in Mumbai for everyone.