Inspiration
Anyone who has been in a city surely knows that transportation can be a challenge. Even if you have your own car, traffic and parking can make driving yourself an unattractive choice. That caused us to look for an application that will compare the other transportation options that would make getting around the city easier and more convenient. We were unable to find anything like this currently on the market, so we decided to make our own!
What it does
When the user enters the app, they are prompted to enter their current location and their destination. These inputs are then used to get the cost and time data from various transportation companies. For this demo, the data is generated using a simulator we coded since we were unable to gain access to a real company's API in a short time frame. The user is then shown a comparison of the cost and time of each transportation method. In this way, the user is better informed of their options and can better weigh the trade-offs between cost and convenience.
How we built it
We used Xcode to develop our mobile app. We used the Swift programming language to code the back-end and Xcode's storyboards to design the front-end of CityWheels. We also integrated Apple's MapKit to show the user the path between their current location and their destination. Finally, the data is generated and the comparison algorithm is run to highlight the quickest and most cost-efficient transportation options.
Challenges we ran into
We initially wanted to use real data from Uber's API. However, we submitted our request for access to the API but our application was not accepted in time for us to use in this hackathon.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We are proud of finishing an app in just about a day. We are also proud of our idea and simple-to-use user interface since the goal of CityWheels is to make finding the best transportation option as easy as possible.
What we learned
We have learned a lot about ios app development. Specifically, we learned how to integrate a MapKit and how to generate and update data in real-time.
What's next for CityWheels
In the future, we plan to include real data obtained from various transportation companies through their APIs. We also plan to continue working on the map feature in order to be able to show users the route to their destination.
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