How tech could possibly solve commuter & traffic problems of Bangalore!

A city like Bangalore which has all the modes of transport still has a lot of problems for commuters & traffic. I know there are multiple ways out there of which this is another way.

Traffic deadlock situation in one of the famous signal in Bangalore near Forum Mall (Hosur road and tavarekere main road junction)

Before proceeding further I would like to say that this case study is based on assumptions & hypothesis I am clearly not saying that this solution could solve the Bangalore traffic problems or the commuter's problems completely. The moto behind this story is to reach 1 step closer towards solving the commuters & traffic problem.

This doc is open, anyone interested can write down their suggestions in the comment section or can contact me. I am working on research for the same problem.

Goal

The goal is to solve the commuter’s problem to reach from location A to B & most probably solve Bangalore’s or any other city’s traffic problem.

Problems

Ok, for this I am going to list down all the problems related to traffic & commuters based on assumptions and hypotheses. Before reaching the goal it is always important to know what problems you are going to solve. So, listing down all the problems related to traffic & commuters. This is going to be very lengthy as I am going to list down all the sectors of transportation Public Bus, Suburban Trains, Metro Trains, Driving, Cycling, Private Services, Integrated App for Cabs.

For Public BUS Service

By the fact that bus is the most popular public transport as almost everyone (I am assuming 95%-99%) know if he/she needs to reach from point A to point B he/she know there will be always bus which will help them to reach their destination, but even though they know about it there are good % of users who are unaware of the right bus. Let’s list out those.

Problems user might face while traveling by bus (Commuting Experience)

1. The main problem here is finding the right bus this question always there that which bus to board, which is the right bus?
2. The timing of the bus, like when exactly the next bus will be arriving? In the case of a newbie, it’s really very important.
3. Even though if the user knows the timing of the bus it’s hard to find out, if the bus is crowded or not. The peak time of the bus route having most people commuting.
4. How much time will it take to reach the desired destination?
5. Ticketing system of the bus.
6. Difficult to find out when to get down of the bus, so that the user could be well prepared for it, in case of a crowded bus it’s really important.
7. Knowing the genuine & actual cost of tickets.
8. Safety
9. Unexpected roadblock.
10. The expectation of next Traffic Signal & their status.

By the assumptions of commute awareness I give the awareness as 90%, rating down to 90% as not everyone knows the right bus for the route & by the problems faced while traveling in the bus I am assuming the experience rating as 5 out of 10

Awareness, Experience, Cost
Commute Mode Awareness (CMA) : 90%
Commute Experience (CE Out of 10): 5/10
Cost of traveling (COT): ₹₹

For Suburban Trains

The fact is that there are few routes where you can also commute via train in Bangalore. An interesting fact is that you can actually reach the Bangalore airport or Nandi Hills by train. But yes there are only a few routes.
Sharing the Bengaluru Suburban Train Routes. You can actually use to commute via train in Bangalore.

Why would someone not know (Awareness)

1. People always think of the train as a mode for a long-distance journey. Everyone prefers the train to travel for a long distance.
2. Campaigns might not be reaching the right users as very few amounts of users will search keywords like “Train from Hebbal to Whitefield”.
3. Even popular maps don’t show as an option to travel via train in their sources & destination route suggestion

If at all someone knows that there is a train option as well to commute, there are many problems which commuters might think of before traveling. Let’s list them.

Problems user might face while traveling by train (Commuting Experience)

The main problem here is that the user might think it’s better to take bus than getting into train hassle. Obviously, we cannot change the user’s thinking but we can gradually educate & facilitate users why this could be a better option. To do that we need to think and find out the problems. Let’s try to list a few of them.

1. Ticketing system, you have the old traditional system of getting the tickets through the tickets window.
2. Don’t really know which platform the train will arrive.
3. It will take longer to reach the station.
4. How much time will it take for the train to reach the destination.
5. Cost of ticket
6. The crowd in the coaches.
7. Women safety.
8. General Safety.

Let’s assume the commute awareness to be 5% & by personal experience I am assuming the commute experience as 7/10

Awareness, Experience, Cost
Commute Mode Awareness (CMA) : 5%
Commute Experience (CE Out of 10) : 7/10
Cost of traveling (COT) : ₹₹

For Metro Trains

Again here almost everyone is aware of the mode of the commute but the fact is not everyone is aware of the routes. So I am assuming that 80% of awareness. So the questions we should ask yourself are.

Why would someone not know (Awareness)

1. The metro train service in Bangalore has not yet started to connect each point.
2. As the service is not in all the places in Bangalore people thinks and prefer to choose their regular mode of commute.

Problems user might face while traveling by metro train (Commuting Experience)

1. Coin & Card System
2. Metro trains schedule
3. Realizing the other coaches had space to sit.
4. Estimated time to reach the destination
5. Women safety
6. General Safety
7. Direction to the platform

Let’s assume the commute awareness to be 10% & by personal experience I am assuming the commute experience as 7/10

Awareness, Experience, Cost
Commute Mode Awareness (CMA) : 80%
Commute Experience (CE Out of 10) : 8/10
Cost of traveling (COT) : ₹₹

For Driving

Almost everyone who commutes through there own car will have awareness of 100% but not everyone is aware of car rentals as another option, this is for the users who don’t own a car so let’s bring down that awareness % to 70% and obviously there might be challenges while commuting via Driving. Let’s try to think & list down the problems the driver might face.

Problems user might face while choosing the commute as driving (Commuting Experience)

1. The major problem here is traffic & sudden road blockers.
2. Estimated time to reach the destination.
3. Finding the best path
4. Upcoming signals & their status
5. A problem of finding preferred store on the way

So based on the listed problems let’s assume the overall experience could be 9/10 & awareness as 100%

Awareness, Experience, Cost
Commute Mode Awareness (CMA) : 70%
Commute Experience (CE Out of 10) : 9/10
Cost of traveling (COT) : ₹₹₹

For Cycling

The user who owns cycles are clearly aware of the commute but are they also aware of the bike pickup and drop anywhere service? The answer is No let’s assume only 40% of the population know about this. And to rate the experience let’s try to list down users might face

Problems user might face while choosing the commute as cycling (Commuting Experience)

So here the problems faced by the user might be almost the same

1. Traffic problem
2. Finding related shops on the way
3. Finding the best path
4. Unwanted cops
5. Signals & their status
6. Unwanted road blockers
7. The accident of cyclist (In Indian roads it could be common to face such problems)

So based on the listed problems let’s assume the overall experience could be 9/10 & awareness as 100%

Awareness, Experience, Cost
Commute Mode Awareness (CMA) : 40%
Commute Experience (CE Out of 10) : 7/10
Cost of traveling (COT) : ₹

For Private Transport

As we are working to make user’s journey a happy journey, we should also consider private transports as it plays a major role. The awareness is a bit less than the public transport bus because the public transport bus might have a desired time of arrival and departure but these busses doesn’t really have. So let’s assume awareness as 70%. Experience & problems can be the same as public buses but there might be a few problems which I think we should list them down.

Problems user might face while choosing the commute as private transport (Commuting Experience)

1. The major challenge here is safety
2. Ticketing system
3. Right stop to get down
4. All the other problems which you might face in the public bus transport.

So based on the listed problems let’s assume the overall experience could be 9/10 & awareness as 100%

Awareness, Experience, Cost
Commute Mode Awareness (CMA) : 70%
Commute Experience (CE Out of 10) : 6/10
Cost of traveling (COT) : ₹₹

For Integrated App of Cabs

This is the best thing which I think any city could have especially metro cities like Bangalore. Assuming the 80% as the awareness and for the experience lets list down the problems user might face.

Problems user might face while choosing to commute with integrated cab’s app (Commuting Experience)

1. The major challenge is user has to literally open 2–3 app to just book a cab which can reach him/her asap.
2. Choosing the various mode of payment through the respective app, each app has its own mode of payment.
3. Hassle of getting the right cab (Car, auto, sedan, etc)
4. The time it will take to reach the destination.
5. Both general & woman safety
6. Traffic
7. Signals & and their status

Now when we have the problems & assumption let’s rate each

Awareness, Experience, Cost
Commute Mode Awareness (CMA) : 80%
Commute Experience (CE Out of 10) : 9/10
Cost of traveling (COT) : ₹₹₹

For Integrated App of Motorbike Taxis

Not everyone knows about this as its new concept, so let’s consider awareness as 10%.

Why would someone not know (Awareness)
Marketing campaign not reaching to customers

User Interview

After listing down our hypothetical problems it’s time to validate with real users. So let’s write set of questionnaires which would help us define our personas.

Let’s start with the name

1. What is your name?
2. What do you do?
3. How many modes of commutes do you think Bangalore has? (in numbers)
4. Can you list them?
5. What mode of commute do you prefer out of these?
6. Do you always get your mode of commute on time? (Yes / No)
7. Do you always get your mode of commute in your budget? (Yes / No)
8. Questions for the users who choose Public bus or train or metro train or private bus
   Do you always get a place to sit? (Yes / No)
   Will you be aware of the bus from where it started and where it will end? (Yes / No)
   Do you like to communicate with your fellow passenger? (Yes / No)
   While traveling do you get to know when is your stop arriving? (Yes / No)
   Do you know from which route you are been taken? (Yes / No)
   Will you be able to estimate the crowd you will be facing? (Yes / No)
   If you want to change one thing what would you like to change? (Open list)
   Do you get to know the upcoming unexpected roadblocks?
9. For bike taxies
   Do you know that there is a bike rental company where you can pick & drop the bike anywhere you like? (Yes / No)
   (YES) If yes then have you used it?
   Have you used the service? (Yes / No)
   (NO) need to work on the awareness
   If the user doesn’t know about the service then ask if the user would like to use, if it’s as cheap as a bus?(Yes / No)
10. App integration
    How many apps require to book a ride?
    How many payment methods do you have on your phone to pay for the ride?

User Persona

To empathize on user’s needs & pain points User persona is one of best practice to follow

Features & Prioritizing

Now when we have good amount of data to start with, where we have data of what user needs or what & what are the pain points of the user along with that we also know what business need and the fact is we have a persona where users need to be aware of new and better commute available. Let’s get started with listing down the features we need to work on.

Features

1. Suggesting the right mode of commute, when every user plans the journey
2. This is to educate the user about other modes of commute available for them. When every user plans his/her journey by entering the source & destination, we need to suggest the best mode of commute based on his/her previous history & preference what user have chosen.
3. Ticketing system for public and private transports which follows the ticketing system.
4. A feature allows user to book tickets for the transport system in the app itself which includes Public & Private Bus Service, Train, Metro Train. This will be basically for all those transport systems who follows ticketing system.
5. Book & Pay in the app itself.
6. The hassle of opening multiple apps just to book a cab shall be fixed, users should be able to book cabs in the one App itself, along with that user should also be able to navigate or see the route in the app itself. Then after finishing the trip user should also be able to pay through the same app.
7. Bus arrival & departure estimation
8. As it is one of the pain points of one of the user personas we should definitely consider of this problem where the user will be able to see the real-time location of the commute he/she prefers. It can be the Bus, Train, Cabs or Bike Taxi
9. Estimating the upcoming blockers on the road.
10. An algorithm of suggesting unwanted & sudden roadblocks in the route.
11. Woman & General Safety.
12. One of the most important features is to add emergency contact numbers & in case of high-risk need to have the option of auto calling helpline numbers.

Prioritizing Features

It’s always important to prioritize the features we listed down, it helps us to create a better roadmap. So let’s get started on that. Using the Red route method to prioritize the features.

User Journey

Let’s create an overall user journey

1. User plan to commute by entering source & destination.
2. The user gets the list of commute based on.
3. User chooses the mode of commute based on this/her preference.
4. Book, Board & travel
5. Number of stops if any
6. The route to the destination
7. Traffic signals & it’s status
8. Roadblocks if any
9. Popular places nearby
10. Suggestion for the other commuters
11. Safety triggers
12. Pays for the ride based on the based on commute type
13. Get down with the next level of experience & well aware

User Flow

Now when we have a happy user journey let’s create the user flow.

Large Image

Final Wireframes

Let’s create wireframes based on the user flow. We will start the wireframe by assuming that the user has successfully on-boarded the app & chosen to allow the location permission.

LoFi — Wireframe

Large Image

1. The user enters the destination as hebbal and searches for the available commute.
2. He/She gets the list of the various mode of commute
3. The user selects a train as the option
4. The user gets to know that there is a next train coming up within 5 minutes.
5. The user reaches the location and books the ticket in the app itself
6. Makes the payment & happily tracks the train

Interaction Design

Check the interaction design to have a basic understanding of how the app will work.

Conclusion

As I said, in the beginning, this is just a step towards solving the transportation & traffic problems. If someone who can build this App can help hell lot of users. The idea of bringing all the city commute in just one app will be really great.

Problems getting solved
1. Ticketing System.
2. Notifications of Road Blocks & Traffic Signals.
3. Saftey
4. Real-time info of the public and private transportation service.
5. Public and Private transportation information.
6. Crowd Status in Buses, Train & Metro.
7. Mode of commute suggestion
8. Multiple App & Multiple Payment problems getting solved.
9. Whole route clear information.
10. And other problems listed above.

This doc is open, anyone interested can write down their inputs & ideas in the response section.