BUS BUSINESS: (From left to right) BioE junior Menzies Chen, EECS senior Eric Chung, and EECS junior Ben Liu are attempting to answer the frustrating question “Where’s the bus?” for Berkeley students. They are doing it to improve the quality of life on campus.

Berkeley Innovation team wins grant to pursue shuttle bus project

Imagine never having to wonder when the next shuttle bus will come as you wait in the rain or alone at night. Now imagine knowing exactly when the next bus will arrive so you can judge if it would be faster to walk. Sound too good to be true? Not if Berkeley Innovation has its way.

Since last semester a group of students from the multidisciplinary collaborative design consortium, Berkeley Innovation, have been working onbringing a shuttle tracking system to campus.

BioE junior Menzies Chen, EECS junior Ben Liu, EECS senior Eric Chung, and IEOR junior Calliea Pan want to use the AirBears wireless network and Global Positioning System technology to track and transmit real-time information on shuttle bus locations to a publicly accessible Web site.

Users of the Web service could elect to receive a text message on their cell phone notifying them that their bus is on the way.

Students standing at bus stops can use cell phone text messaging features to query the system about their bus stop schedule.

The idea sprang from a brainstorming session and was further elucidated by a student market study.

“We found that the two biggest problems on campus were safety and that shuttles don’t always come on time. Through our brainstorming sessions we figured out a way to solve both issues,” says team member Eric Chung.

Night shuttles come every half hour and, because they don’t always run on schedule, students are forced to wait outside. The system can increase safety by decreasing waiting time and coordinating with the night escort service so escorts could meet students at the bus stop and walk them home.

Best of all, the service would be offered for free. The team has had luck in finding the funding necessary to develop the project. The ASUC provided $500 in funding last semester, and they recently received nearly $20,000 from the NationalCollegiate Innovators and Inventors Alliance.

As their bus service grows in popularity, the team would eventually like to generate revenue for other Berkeley Innovation projects from banner advertisements on their Web site.

The group expects the prototype of the shuttle tracking system to be ready by the end of spring semester. Then they will develop the Web site and do field testing.

While only four engineering students are working on this technology-heavy project, they say they don’t feel alone or overwhelmed. They are supported by a dozen other students who can help them brainstorm solutions to project roadblocks.

“Before joining Berkeley Innovation, I would have thought that a project like this is something that only a corporation would have the resources to take on. But it has given me the confidence to tackle it with my fellow students,” says team member Ben Liu.

Read more about Berkeley Innovation at www.coe.berkeley.edu/engnews/Spring04/EN08S/innovation.html or go to innovation.berkeley.edu.

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