A few months ago Technology in Asia some of the real-time traffic apps in the Philippines. After that, we may see more apps that can help Filipinos (and tourists) easily navigate the different cities and provinces of the Philippines.
How? The Philippine Department of Transportation and Communications, together with the Metro Manila Development Authority and the City Government of Cebu, held a national transportation app development competition, the Philippine Transit App Challenge. Among the 17 submissions, five promising transportation apps stood out:
It is basically a web app that provides directions to commuters who want to explore Metro Manila by train. There are four train lines in the Philippines, and the stations on these lines are not as fully connected as the trains in Singapore and Hong Kong, so the app can now easily show passengers the nearest station from their current location to their destination.
In addition to the graphical instructions, a sidebar displays additional information, such as how long the trip takes, how long it takes to walk from one stop to another, and how much a particular trip costs.
Sakay.ph provides web and SMS-based directions for commuters who want to use jeepneys, buses and trains in Metro Manila. It is similar to the Manila Train Guide, but it does not only cover train routes. It also shows the estimated fare for each trip and the time it will take to reach the destination.
Commuters can receive route instructions via SMS by texting “route” followed by the start and destination locations. However, the team says that users of this feature will need to be more precise when entering locations as it lacks the auto-fill feature like the web app. However, users who want to use the web app can print the directions as they appear on the website.
The Rklamo team is taking advantage of the high number of jeepneys by allowing passengers to reward well-behaved jeepney drivers. The app allows passengers to tip drivers via SMS. The team hopes that this app will encourage jeepney drivers to change their driving behavior to earn more.
Like the apps mentioned above, Transit aims to provide commuters with directions to plan their trips using public transportation in the Philippines. The web app and mobile app currently have routes in some areas of Cebu City. And to improve the app, commuters themselves can contribute a route they are familiar with.
A crowdsourced travel provider for Filipino commuters. In addition to route planning, Trip Barker users can check and report information such as weather, traffic, and events in real time with other users on the web app. There is also a low-bandwidth web app version for feature phone users. It can show users places of interest such as restaurants and shopping malls. There is also an events tab where users can follow concerts and bazaars.
In addition to the government, the Philippine Transit App Challenge is also supported by local and international institutions such as Philippine telecommunications company Smart Communications and its subsidiaries Sun Cellular, app maker Voyager Innovations and incubator IdeaSpace Foundation. The World Bank and Mozilla are also participating. These apps, which were not much more than ideas until recently, could become the tools of every commuter on their daily commute to work or school.
(Edited by Paul Bischoff)
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