NU #1: An Apt App by T. N. Gaudi

NU #1

15 December  2012

MBAH 10-B / Entrepreneurship

An Apt App: The ≡appRapt

By T. N. Gaudi

Urban living has its awesome rewards as well as some annoying quirks. The most tired remarks I hear a lot from fellow urban dwellers all point out to the fact that travelling or commuting in this city is painfully hard - everyone living in metro manila should know. Not only is it so inconvenient but it also costs us a lot of our most precious resources - money, time, effort, and every cost related to the risks we take when commuting in heavily polluted and often chaotic and unsafe environments.

However, relatively recent developments have made a lot of difference in our commuting. One such development that is much cherished and welcomed by urban dwellers is the augmentation of our metro rail system. Commuting folks here in metro manila appreciate how much faster intra/intercity commutes have been because of our city rail lines. Be that as it may, our metro rail transit system is far from being perfectly convenient - talk about very long queues and overcrowded platforms especially during peak or rush hours.

The government, I believe, is very aware of and is familiar with these day-to-day inconveniences. It does not take a genius however to see that upgrading our train systems, so as to have more cars to accommodate more commuters especially during peak hours, is not that easy - it costs and it costs a huge lot.

Since most of the commuters who patronize our rail system, in my opinion, have access to web services, I suggest that an app be created specifically to make inter/intracity train commutes more bearable. This app will be called ≡appRapt - a play on the word 'abrupt' which is how we wish our commutes will be, and which is actually derived from the combination of the words 'application', 'rail' and 'rapt', showing a bit of pinoy humor.

The ≡appRapt app is somewhat the counterpart to MMDA-TV5's Metro Manila Traffic Navigator. However, this app will be focused on monitoring the status of passenger volume and traffic, and the quality of service in the MRT and LRT lines. Not only will it function as a monitoring tool but more importantly as a tool for continous improvement through crowdsourcing and feedback sourcing among others.

The concept is fairly simple but the implications of this app are extensive. The ≡appRapt will bring about the following benefits:

1. Better informed commuters;

2. More efficient train system;

3. Less congested train stations;

4. More satisfied and productive patrons;

5. Faster and safer commutes;

6. Happier citizens;

and much much more.

So to make our train commutes more 'appRapt ', let's exactly do just that – ≡appRapt it! 4