Enterprising student aids bus travel

An enterprising computer science student is using his spare time to make Palmerston North’s buses easier and he’s garnered the support of Horizons Regional Council.

Third year Massey University student Taylor Hamling’s web application Late for the Bus pulls data from the Regional Council’s website, allowing students to enter a travel time and select a preferred route to see their next bus to or from university.

“Really I just like creating things that are useful for myself,” Mr Hambling says.

“I actually created Late for the Bus during my first week of university as I had so much spare time and was thinking of ideas that could help me.

“Last year I created the Massey University Timetabler which students can use on any device to generate an exam timetable based on their semester’s papers.”

Mr Hambling’s work has impressed Horizons transport officer Denise Webber who likes its simplicity for student users.

“A large proportion of Palmerston North bus users are Massey students and staff. This web application cuts out the noise for these users and allows them to filter the timetable based on their needs,” Mrs Webber says.

“It ties in with nicely with work we’re currently undertaking as part of the network review to create a bus network that meets the needs of our community going forward.”

Horizons will link through to Mr Hambling’s site from the passenger transport section of its website for the next three months. Traffic will be monitored during this trial period to see how popular the application is amongst users.

People can also visit Mr Hambling’s site directly at www.taylorhamling.com/lateforthebus/

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