Project overview
Texas Tech provides free bus transportation for students, but the existing maps and mobile apps make it extremely difficult to find accurate stop locations. Official maps are outdated, missing stops, hard to read, and sometimes geographically incorrect. Third-party apps are also inconsistent, showing different routes, different numbers, or stops that no longer exist.
For GIST-4312, I developed a new web mapping system using ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Online, QuickCapture, and Instant Apps. The goal was to build a reliable, student-friendly tool that accurately displays off-campus bus stops, allows users to upload new stop photos, and provides directions from their current location.
You can explore the full ArcGIS implementation below:
The problem
Students who rely on bus transportation face a simple but serious issue: no one—neither TTU nor third-party apps—provides an accurate, up-to-date map of bus stops. Official TTU maps are visually poor and geographically wrong, showing routes that cross ponds and stops that do not exist. Recommended apps like GoPass display outdated, blurry static images that don’t match modern routes.
After moving three times and missing multiple classes because I waited at incorrect stops, I realized how much this impacts students’ ability to reliably attend class. This project was my attempt to solve the problem for myself—and for other students struggling with the same issue.
Process
1. Initial data creation in ArcGIS Pro
I manually mapped every bus stop I personally knew, then cross-referenced stops across all available apps (TTU’s image map, GoPass, Transit, Citibus Access). Many apps contradicted each other, so I used Google Maps Street View to verify stop locations whenever possible.
The cleaned and corrected dataset was uploaded to ArcGIS Online as the foundation for the rest of the project.
2. Field data collection with QuickCapture
Inspired by Lab 4, I created a QuickCapture app allowing users to take photos of bus stops and instantly add them to the dataset. Each route number was given its own button, color-matched to the map symbology.
A key challenge: QuickCapture stores photos as attachments, not URLs. I had to modify my original schema—removing URL fields and enabling attachments—to support this workflow.
3. Final app using the Instant Apps “Nearby” template
For the public-facing tool, I used the Instant App “Nearby” template (from Lab 1). This let students:
- see all nearby bus stops
- filter by route number
- view submitted photos through popups
- get walking directions to the selected stop
By combining accurate data with user-contributed photos, the app becomes self-updating and far more reliable than TTU’s official resources.
Outcomes
The final system offers the most accurate map of TTU’s off-campus bus stops currently available. Several classmates expressed interest in using it, and I plan to rely on the tool myself next semester.
Although the app solves current issues, future iterations could include:
- moderation for user-submitted bus stops
- automatic route planning (origin → transfer → destination)
- better integration with TTU’s transportation department
What I learned
This project reinforced how important accurate geospatial data is to real-world decision making. I learned how to handle attachments in ArcGIS layers, how to build user-driven data collection systems, and how to design a public-facing Instant App with directions and filtering.
More importantly, it taught me that even small geospatial projects can have a real impact when they solve a problem students face every day.
Explore the ArcGIS apps and datasets: