U. of Waterloo team creates winning transit routing app

A team from the University of Waterloo won the Esri Canada GIS Centers of Excellence in Higher Education App Challenge. The week-long coding competition encouraged students within the network to build innovative Web apps that use open data and Esri’s geographic information system (GIS) technology to address a specific theme.

Working as a team, the three students developed PredictION, a transit modeling and routing application that helps citizens to visualize, analyze, and compare routes and service areas between existing and proposed transit systems.

“PredictION is an excellent example of how governments, such as transit authorities, can use spatial Web apps to engage citizens in new projects,” said Dr. Brent Hall, director of education and research, Esri Canada. “It’s a powerful and practical tool for informing citizens of possible changes in the transit system, allowing them to make better travel decisions and improve their quality of life.”

For the competition, the team used PredictION to demonstrate the impact on travel times and service areas of the coming ION Rapid Transit lines to the Region of Waterloo’s Grand River Transit network. They used Esri’s ArcGISplatform to integrate, process and display various open datasets, including road and bus networks, transit routes and schedules, regional boundaries and local points of interest. They also used Web AppBuilder for ArcGIS (Developer Edition) to create a highly visual and easy-to-use analysis tool for comparing current and proposed transit services.

PredictION was selected by a panel of GIS and industry experts out of 10 entries. As part of their prize, the team will go on an all-expenses paid trip to the Esri International User Conference in San Diego this July.

To view all App Challenge entries, click here.