Ecologue

Public transit is an easy way to reduce total emissions by reducing the amount of cars on the road. Corvallis offers free bus transit, and Oregon State Computer Science major, Rikki Gibson made an app that makes it even easier to skip the car, and ride the bus.

Starting the summer of 2014, Rikki Gibson wrote the Corvallis Bus mobile (iOS, and Android) and web application. It’s a simple app for your phone that tells when your bus is arriving to your stop. You can save arrival times for your favorite stops. Rikki wanted a personal project, and he says, “after seeing existing apps and the website for finding bus arrival times, I had some ideas on how it could be easier to use.”

Convenience is an important concept for more sustainable actions. If it’s easy, people are more likely to take action! Rikki also sees his app as “a way to save time waiting around at the bus stop or driving around campus or downtown looking for a place to park.” The app has been downloaded over 1500 times and Rikki personally knows several people who started riding the bus because the app made it more convenient to do so. Using the bus can also save money that would otherwise be spent on gas making it economically sustainable.

As technology keeps growing, we hope more people find sustainability related projects to get passionate about. Rikki hopes his app “helps people use fewer resources to get where they need to go.” All you need is your smart phone and a bus stop! Interested in creating an app that may reduce emissions, save electricity, or some other sustainability related service? Check out the OSU App Development Club!

Thank you Rikki, for proving a valuable service that encourages the Corvallis community to ride public transit!