New York State Department of Transportation 511 Mobility Application

Etch, a subconsultant to ICF, is the lead developer for a mobile application for the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), 511 Mobility Application. The goal of this app is to create an experience where users can plan a trip, save a trip, take a trip, and track the trip. Using the infrastructure-as-code and microservices developed for Smart Columbus, Etch was able to provide NYSDOT with a matching Elastic Kubernetes Service cluster. This cluster powers a multi-modal trip planning application (using train, subway, bus, car, carpool, park and ride, bike, walk) that also connects to the existing 511NY Ride Tracker data. The app shows user information such as saved trips, favorite places, and personal metrics within the trip planner environment. It utilizes existing 511NY Trip Tracker accounts that are registered outside the app and synchronizes the user’s profile across devices.

The app workflow has users search for places, add them to favorites if desired, swipe through available trip options based on mode preferences, and book the trip for now or the future. A trip can be reoccurring to reflect the user’s commute schedule. Recurring trips can be automatically matched with the commutes of others, so that users with similar trip origins/destinations and schedules can be paired up for carpool participation. It provide screens to view scheduled and upcoming trips, log trips to the 511 Trip Tracker website, and communicate with other users in car share groups to handle the day-to-day logistics for effective carpooling. A metrics screen shows basic statistics and progress indicators for the user, based on trip completions. Besides logging trips, managing a calendar of trips and receiving alerts and reminders for their status, and coordinating with carpool members, users can take advantage of full turn-by-turn directions once it is time for the trip to start.