Public Transit Hub (PTHub)

Public transportation is a cost effective means for reaching a destination while not exacerbating climate change by cutting down on CO2 emissions through displacing single or low occupancy vehicles. Unfortunately, public transportation is vastly underutilized in the United States and many efforts to reverse the bad precedence set by the automotive industry in the past decades have fallen short. The Public Transit Hub (PTHub) project under reserach and development at Santa Clara University’s Ethical, Pragmatic, and Intelligent Computing (EPIC) laboratory aims to aid the resurgence of public transportation usage by creating an event and navigation mobile/web software that prioritizes public transportation utilization through 1) auto calculating, tabulation, and tracking of the amount of money saved and CO2 spared by using public transportation for the trip over a single occupancy vehicle; 2) gamification of saving money and sparing CO2 by utilizing the application for navigating the public transportation option of travel through periodic badges and awards; 3) an engaging new reverse search functionality allowing the exploration and discovery of attractions accessible directly from public transit stops, stations, and hubs without a last mile/kilometer burden in an effort to encourage public transportation utilization as a mode of discovery; and 4) detailing the scenery, monuments, and other attractions visible while on a specific public transportation route as a way of transforming the act of riding public transportation from just a means to an end, to an end in of itself.