Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies recently developed an app for iPhones that allows users to see the locations of buses along the Connective Corridor route.

The app, USE, developed by a company called Clever Devices, uses a type of GPS technology called Bus Time to locate the buses and their estimated time of arrival at the bus stops, said Keisuke Inoue, a Ph.D candidate who helped develop the app.

“It will be especially handy when the buses are delayed because of the snow,” Inoue said.

Inoue said he jumped at the chance to work on the project with Jennifer Hamilton, an assistant professor of art, design and transmedia, because he has always had an interest in iPhone app programming.

“Having GPS systems on our campus bus system sounded like a very exciting and useful project,” Inoue said.

The app includes icons for each specific Connective Corridor bus running to various locations around the SU campus and downtown, such as the Center of Excellence, the Everson Art Museum, The Tech Garden, the Syracuse Stage and The Warehouse. Each Connective Corridor bus has a unique student design on its exterior allowing a user to know which exact bus is coming, Inoue said.

Functionality is something he and the other developers are working on to make the app more user-friendly, but for now, a simple PDF format of the schedule is shown, Inoue said. He said this format is temporary, but updating the app to follow every change to the Centro/SU bus system is not feasible under the current software.

The app had a successful “soft launch” last spring, Inoue said.

“I heard it had a much faster rate than the downloads for the main SU app,” he said.

This app is available to all SU students, but those taking classes at The Warehouse will reap the benefits most.

“This would be so useful,” said Marita Mura, a sophomore fashion design major. “Especially if you were a freshman or just getting used to travel on the bus system.”

The major problems the developers faced were delays in releasing the app, since SU has only released one app previously. The app had to meet all of the university’s policies and bylaws, and the process is not yet completely streamlined, Inoue said.

Lack of funding also hindered the software development, Inoue said. The project was successful, but he said he felt more could be accomplished with a larger budget.

“We don’t have any specific plan for changes or updates soon,” Inoue said. “But we would love to.”

Published on August 28, 2012 at 12:03 am

Contact Jen: jbundy@syr.edu