About This Project

How does Managua’s bus system perform and what happens when you reveal this information to users? This collaborative experiment combines two open-data tools to collect data on bus route frequency, digitalize the information in web-based format for users to explore, and assess implications of interactive visualization. We will test the implications in terms of users’ knowledge and perceptions of the bus system and possibilities for improvements.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

The OpenStreetMap community in Nicaragua has the mission of creating useful maps in a collaborative and open data format. In this context, three years ago the community began mapping the public transportation system in Nicaragua’s capital, Managua, and developed the first web-based application with detailed route information of Managua and surrounding cities.

MIT’s Mobility Futures Collaborative (MFC) has developed several tools to digitalize transportation data collection and visualization. Flocktracker is an Android-based data collection tool. CoAXs is an open-source, open-data-based tool designed to enable collaborative understanding and planning of public transportation networks. This project represents the first effort to deploy Flocktracker and CoAXs together.

What is the significance of this project?

In Managua, 75% of the population use buses. However, the service is unreliable, slow, unsafe and uncomfortable. This increases the attractiveness of private cars, which only worsens the situation. What if we could provide information to allow citizens to better plan their trips and make better use of their time? Furthermore, what if such data could also be used to generate an evidence-based discussion among main stakeholders to study and improve transit in the city? What impacts might such information have on users, planners, and operators of the system? Will users’ mobility improve? Can new system improvements be identified, collaboratively? Answering these questions has the potential to improve the quality of life of nearly 1 million people.

What are the goals of the project?

Our overall goal is to build technical capacity for and knowledge about public transportation services and planning in Managua. Our specific objectives are to improve the accuracy bus frequency data in Managua, convert the data into GTFS (a common format for digital public transport information), make the information publicly available, and assess the impacts of doing so. We plan to test two general hypotheses. First, we expect that making detailed route and frequency information widely available in digital format will improve users’ perception of the bus system and the city more generally. Second, we expect that deploying this information in an interactive planning tool will generate new ideas for, and some agreement on, areas for bus system improvements.