Metrolinks: Presto X-change initiative

Description

making TRANSIT affordable through social initiatives

A second-year project at OCAD U involved integrating social innovation, public transportation access, and charitable activity. Our project focused on enhancing the Presto App as a platform to enable riders to reduce their public transit fare through community engagement. By donating money or items or volunteering time, riders would be issued a one-time discount on their next ride. The goal would be to make rides more affordable for everyone and tackle some of the major social issues Toronto is facing as outlined in the Toronto Community Foundation’s Vital Signs Report: homelessness, extreme colds, the environment, and more. This innovative app-based service would also help increase the ridership of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) and at the same time reduce the carbon footprint of transit riders. Our team presented this design proposal to Presto staff recently and received positive reviews.

Group members included Noor Al-Assali, Farah Ahmed, Jinan Rachini, and Nour Abdulhussain.

 

process

Sketches

Sketch by Noor Al-Assali

Sketch by Noor Al-Assali

Identifying pain points in the current Toronto Transit Commission and Presto service prices.

Sketch figuring out how people could win free rides or presto cards.

skills used:

  • Research

  • Storyboarding

  • Sketching

  • Prototyping

Tools used:

  • Adobe Illustrator

Final Service Concept

The final concept was the Presto X-change Initiatives that focused on promoting different monthly initiatives, like January Sweater Weather, that were designed to get people involved with helping the community while making public transportation more affordable.

Informational Brochure

Storyboards

This storyboard shows how riders interact with monthly initiatives by either volunteering or donating items to receive TTC fare credits.

This storyboard shows how organizations like food banks could host monthly initiatives and generate Presto-approved QR codes that riders would use to get TTC fare credits.

Professional Presentation

I presented as part of a collaborative team at the Metrolink downtown office to a team of Presto executives and managers.

Disclaimer

This service has no official affiliation with the Presto despite the group presenting to Presto executives.