Ironhack’s Prework: Challenge 01
“CityPay” for citymapper
How to optimize the use of public transportation for the new Covid-times in the city of Barcelona.
It clearly seems that life is finally going back to normal in Spain after many months of prohibitions and partial lockdowns. It is safe to say that many things will not go back to normal for a very long time.
The use of public transport is urgently asking for changes and measures to make sure its users can enjoy a safe and efficient trip to move from point A to point B in the city. Measures have been implemented to try to ensure one’s safety, however, the whole system in this city is currently outdated and has been for the past 5 years in comparison to other European cities such as London, Paris or Berlin.
Citymapper, the company we are focusing on, started in London, “the world’s most historic and iconic public transport city” in 2011. It is a very complete app which has amazing features such as choosing what type of route you want to use, the fastest one or for instance a “main roads” route, which avoid dimly-lit areas. Being very easy to use and user friendly, it now helps people all around the world to find their way around the city without having to ask or take the long way.
After carrying out research with users of public transportation aged 20 to 26, it has been proven that the main and best way to move around is through the use of apps and digital maps that guide you to find the best route around the city. Citymapper or Google Maps have been common names on the list of apps that this age group is currently using for this purpose.
When interviewing these users, most of them surprisingly answered they currently only use public transportation 3–4 times per week. Most of them because of the partially work-from-home-regime everyone has now, but a very common answer was also “because i’d rather walk as it takes the same time as waiting for the metro and actually getting to where I need to go” or “I do use Citymapper, it’s just that I use it to for walking around.” After this feedback the main question is “How can you make it better for those users of Citymapper who don’t use public transport that much due to all it’s inconveniences?”.
The challenge was to come up with a solution to optimize (in terms of time and efficiency) Citymappers journey from point A to point B in Barcelona. Long ques, machines that fail and crowds that move at the same time are all problems that public transportation users encounter.
While brainstorming for a solution, ideas such as the following came up:
A “traffic analyzer feature”, which lets you know how many people just entered the station you are going to as well as how many people just used their ticket to enter the platform.
Physical “Mapper Card” that you pay as you go or you pay a fixed cost. Whatever amount you do not use, it will be returned at the end of the month to your account.
The idea that seemed to work the best was “CityPay”, Citymappers own Apple Pay style virtual card. The use of this payment method would allow the user to enter the platform just by double clicking a button on their phone. No more waiting to use the machines, no more paper waste and no more cash.
To be able to use CityPay the user would have to just sing up on CityMapper, create an account and link their credit card (or credit cards) to the app. Needless to say, it would work by recharging one’s in-app-credit, which can be done from anywhere for example in the elevator leaving your apartment.
The immediate benefits of this feature would save those extra minutes one needs to get early to work or even miss the train. It clearly is the best solution to today’s public transportation problems.
Clean, Fast and Efficient. CityPay.
PS: When asking users if they would like to have this service all of them answered: DEFINITELY YES and Yes! Screw paper tickets.
