karmaME

karmaME is a real time mass transit visualization app for smart phones. When the users launch the app, they can see the exact locations of their trains/buses in real time, on a live map.

What we solve: One of the biggest complaints of the NYC subway/LIRR and Metro North riders is that the trains are late or early compared to their scheduled arrival times. In 2011, only 71 % of the subway trains were on time. “On time” is defined as reaching destination within five minutes of the scheduled time, so many trains that are technically on time are also late.

karmaME takes the guess work out of the commuting process and tells the user where their rides are at the exact moment they launch the app.

As a bonus added future, karmaME also shows daily deals around THE users at a particular location, so if the users’ trains/buses are late, they can enjoy discounted coffee/meal deals while they wait inside the eatery rather than waiting in the cold at the platform. Or rather than waiting outside at an extremely hot day at a LIRR/Metro North platform, the riders can chill out in their air-conditioned cars at the parking lot, and walk over to the station when their train is one stop away.

How it works: All the information provided to the system is contributed by the actual riders in these trains. However the riders do to need to anything other than turning on their smart phones for any reason while they are in those trains. When the phone detects that the user is in a vehicle, the app sends pings to karmaME servers and our servers determine the location of the trains and feeds it back to the other users waiting for the same train at later stops.

This is KARMA in its purest form. “Give and you shall receive”, however in this case, it is more like “Receive first and then give back to your community”. This is almost “Instant Karma”, in its quickest form.

SINCE KARMAME IS A CROWDSOURCED APP, THE HIGHER THE NUMBER OF USERS, THE MORE ACCURATE THE LIVE MAP WILL BE. SO SPREAD THE WORD TO EVERYONE, KNOWING WHERE YOUR TRAINS IS GOOD FOR YOU AND IT IS ALSO GOOD FOR YOUR COMMUNITY."