Instead of waiting for the next crowded bus, just click on the app. The user receives instructions to go to a meeting point and a minibus or van takes the person to the nearest subway station or even a bus stop that is less crowded. The idea of using app-based transport to improve mobility in peripheral areas of São Paulo, winner of the Inovathon 2018 innovation marathon, by the company Scania, came from a team of students. Among them were Unicamp students Bruna Pazzanese, from the Civil Engineering course at Unicamp, and Igor Moraes, from the Mechanical Engineering course. The prize was a trip to Sweden that will be taken in 2019.
There were 700 registrants for Inovathon 2018 and only 25 students were selected after three stages of testing. Those chosen were divided into teams and, by affinity, the Unicamp students, who already knew each other, ended up on the same team. The challenge launched by Scania was to find a solution for mobility in a city with more than 10 million inhabitants. The group's reference was the city of São Paulo, which Igor and Bruna already know well. As the event would last 72 hours, the last 24 of which would be a marathon, the students took to the streets to experience the population's difficulties in relation to transport.
“São Paulo grew from the center and today the majority of the population lives on the outskirts where the high capacity transport network does not reach” says Igor. The students divided the city into three regions: central, intermediate and peripheral. When interviewing public transport users, residents of the central and intermediate regions only heard praise, while residents of the peripheral zone reported many problems. “A resident told me that every day she could only board the third full bus that passed by the stop closest to her”, says Bruna.
In the project designed by the students, called MobiBus, the travel time for the population living in the peripheral area would be greatly reduced. The issue of sustainability was also prioritized. The application would guarantee mobipoints for those who traveled by bicycle, for example. Another idea would be to use biomethane fuel to replace CNG in vehicles. The students also imagined integrating the application with other means or modalities, whether private or public.
“The population that would be served by the app spends up to four hours daily on transport. For this reason, many are unable to study or enjoy the city. By reducing the time spent in transit, these people would also be reintegrated into the center, they would be able to better enjoy the city and feel like they belong”, highlighted Igor.
