Technical Proposal
OnTime NYC MetroCard Application
Haresh M, Juan A, Juan S, Saad A
14 May 2018
CUNY City College of New York
ENGL 21007-Writing for Engineers
2018 Spring
Professor Alikhani
Table of Contents
Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………………….2
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………….……..3
Problem Statement………………………………………………………………………………….4
Objectives………………………………………………………………………………………….6
Description of the OnTime MetroCard Application………………………………………..……..6
Plan of Action……………………………………………………………..………………………..7
Management Plan………………………………………………………………………………….9
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………….10
References…………………………………………………………………………………….….11
Executive Summary:
New Yorkers are always late. One of the reasons for this, is due to our outdated subways system. Fortunately, our group, Electrical Engineers, is developing a mobile app for our smartphones to combat this outdated system.
We are developing an app that will let us skip those pesky lines at the MetroCard machines in the subway stations all around NYC. These machines are usually always out of service, and if they are in service they will have conditions on them such as “cash only”, or “ATM card only” and sometimes they will be working just fine but getting to the front of the line will take about 10 minutes, and that’s 10 minutes that us New Yorkers just don’t have. The NYC OnTime app will allow us to never have to deal with these machines ever again.
Introduction:
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) provides bus, subway, and rail service in Greater New York, and operates toll bridges and tunnels in New York City since 1965 (Metropolitan Transportation Authority). According to MTA ridership figures in 2016, on an average weekday, there are 8,101,075 passengers (MTA, 2016). Therefore, New Yorkers heavily rely on MTA services as means of transportation. For example, New Yorkers ride with the MTA to travel to work, school, to catch exciting plays, musicals and revivals at Broadway shows, and several other events. In 1999, the MetroCard was introduced as a new payment method for MTA services. This was a huge technological advance from paying with tokens which ceased to be used in 2003 (Markowitz, 2003). MetroCards are vital to New Yorkers and we protect them like bank cards. However, it often occurs that we forget our balance, lose our cards, or have insufficient funds. These problems may cause us to miss the train or bus and be late for timely events. The OnTime NYC MetroCard application will help solve these issues and will be beneficial to our society. This application will have a variety of features that will make owning a MetroCard more convenient, save you money, and most importantly, save your time. This application will make the payment process easier, allow people to further enjoy the NYC experience, and will help New Yorkers be on time for important events.
Problem Statement:
New York City is well known for its public transportation system. It is one of the oldest and most extensive systems in the world. One component of this system is the subway. The subway trains span across four out of the five boroughs in New York City and operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It gets 55% of the 8.5 million people living in New York City get to where they need to go (NYCEDC, 2012). Additionally, New York City has a system of MTA buses spanning the boroughs which particularly serve and benefit residents living in areas that are underserved by subway routes.
Despite all of the New York public transportation system’s great qualities, it has many flaws, and in recent years residents have become more vocal about their complaints. More than half of New York City’s 8.5 million residents rely on public transportation. Out of this number, 2 million people rely on the MTA bus system (Wang, 2017). A major complaint from New Yorkers is the inconsistent time estimated for travel from point A to point B. While Mayor DeBlasio and Governor Cuomo fight over who is responsible for making sure that the MTA runs smoothly, many New Yorkers are left to navigate the MTA’s public transportation system alone and figure out how much time they need to allocate for their commute (Sisson, 2017). Many of the complaints are related to the trains not running on time due to delays or construction.
One of the biggest hassles of navigating this public transportation is the purchase of a MetroCard. In addition to train delays, New Yorkers are often subjected to long lines at Metro Card vending machines. The long waits are often exacerbated and frustrated by constantly broken vending machines and slow repair times. Just recently, the MTA tried to shut down all vending machines in the city for an entire weekend so that they could do repair work (Nir, 2018). However, due to the large amount of complaints from New Yorkers, the MTA cut back on the time for the repairs and fixed the machines over a 6-hour period on a Friday night (Nir, 2018). While the MTA was able to cut back on the amount of time for repairs, 6 hours is still a long time for some people.
Another problem with the current process of purchasing a MetroCard is the limited or no access to vending machines in many subway stations and on bus routes. For example, most subway stations do not have a MetroCard vending machine at every entrance. This means that when someone walks into a subway station entrance and realizes that they have an insufficient balance on their card, they need to walk back up the stairs, out of the station, and down a block or two to the other entrance to refill or purchase a new card. It can be very frustrating to be in this circumstance and miss a train, especially when trains are often running with delays. Furthermore, this problem is worsened for people who solely rely on the bus for transportation in New York City. The majority of bus stops in New York City do not have a vending machine for Metro Cards. Bus Riders only have two options: stock up on quarters to pay the bus fare, or travel to a subway station to use a MetroCard vending machine prior to boarding the bus.
New York residents often find themselves in these situations because they don’t realize their current Metro Card holds an insufficient balance. There is currently no way for someone to check the balance on their MetroCard outside of a subway station. The current modes of checking your balance consist of using the MetroCard reading machine that is located in every subway station or visiting an MTA employee at one of the booths in the subway. This can be a very difficult ordeal, especially for those residents who live in areas that are underserved by the subway trains and have to mostly rely on the bus.
Objectives:
Our team researched the problem and came up with two main objectives that can be implemented to address the greatest difficulties New York City residents face with public transportation:
- Offer New Yorkers online access to:
a.) Check MetroCard Balance: We want to offer New Yorkers a way to easily check their Metro Card balance from any location that has internet access.
b.) Refill existing MetroCards: We want New Yorkers to be able to add money and combine balances on existing Metro Cards without having to visit a subway station.
c.) Cancel lost or stolen MetroCards: We want to offer New Yorkers a way to easily receive a refund or cancel an existing Metro Card.
2.) Decrease the number of New Yorkers who report being late due to issues regarding
MetroCard purchase by 40%
Description of the OnTime MetroCard Application:
As aforementioned, the OnTime MetroCard application will have a variety of features that will make owning a MetroCard more convenient, save you money, and most importantly, save your time. In order for the app to pair with your MetroCard, a quick response code must be implemented on the card which can be scanned via a smartphone through the app. According to a technical term dictionary, “A QR code (short for “quick response” code) is a type of barcode that contains a matrix of dots. It can be scanned using a QR scanner or a smartphone with built-in camera” (QR Code). The code will be placed at the back of the MetroCard and will allow the user to access the card’s information. It is often that an individual may have more than one MetroCard. Therefore, every unique code scanned will create one account on the app. For safety precautions, the QR code can only be scanned once.
The app will allow the user to check the balance on the card. This brings awareness to the user of how much available funds is on the card. Also, money can be securely added to each MetroCard by linking a bank account to the app. This easily solves the problem of having insufficient funds on a MetroCard and running late. Furthermore, the user may freeze the card if it is lost or stolen. Therefore, people cannot use the funds on your MetroCard and the balance can be transferred to a new card account. Of course, expert programmers will be hired to ensure that the application is secure and allows the user to easily navigate transactions (Osakwe, 2017). Thus, these features of the OnTime NYC app will give New Yorkers the opportunity to ride with the MTA with confidence and arrive on time for their activities.
Plan of Action:
The development of this MetroCard application, OnTime NYC, will take place in three phases. These three phases will take place over the course of one year, and they will all have about 4 months each. The three phases are: Software Development, Integration, and Troubleshooting.
The development stage is the most important part of the application. Software engineers will work along with computer scientists and computer engineers on the code for the application. This will be broken up into writing code for the QR code that each MetroCard will have, making the user interface that will let the consumers log into the app, and probably the most delicate and important code- syncing the consumers bank application with the OnTime NYC app.
Once the app has been created, it will go into a beta version that will be provided to some of the developers themselves for them to use. In this phase, the bank will be in full coordination with the application, as well as the whole MTA and all the card machines from all of the subways. The banks will be integrated fully integrated into the system and will have a customer support line for all the people that will inevitable have questions and problems once the app is released.
This last phase is the second most important phase after the development phase. This is when the app that was released to a couple of people will be fully tested for any bugs. It is imperative that the banks will be fully synced with the card to be able to refill at any time of day. The turnstiles must be compatible with the new cards that have the QR code on them. Even though this shouldn’t change the metallic strip, anything can go wrong. Cards will be cancelled and swiped to see if they work, to check the functionality of the card cancellation feature that the app will bring. Once the app is tested and debugged, it will be good to share with consumers all around NYC, reducing lateness all around the city.
Management Plan:
Execution of OnTime New York MetroCard plan requires 30 engineers. The experts have sufficient knowledge and skills on how to develop software, integrate it and carry out troubleshooting. The software engineers will design and develop the application or software needed to execute this project. They will integrate and check for any bugs together with computer scientists and engineers. The IT experts will also be involved in carrying out data management for the project. This project will take one year to be completed. It takes place in four project cycles namely planning, designing, developing and testing and launching. Planning involves determining all things that need to be done in order to execute the project. It involves deciding what to be done, who to do when to do and what is required. This project will take about a year.
Budget
Full time employees work at 40 hours a week for 52 weeks that is 2080 hours a year.
| Total Employees | 30 |
| Total Hours | 2,080 |
| Hourly Rate ($) | $30 |
| Cost per Employee ($) | 62,400 |
| Total Cost ($) | 1,872,00 |
Customer service
Over the last few years everything has been digitized. It is necessary for us to maintain a strong online presence. Online content is essential to every marketing plan. So, we have to considered the immense importance of online customer service. To resolve problems experienced by customers while using this project, 2000 customer care agents will be put on board. The final activity in executing this project is conducting a survey to find out the relevance of the project. The project will make public transportation in New York City more efficient. For the sake of survey there will be frequently asked question (FAQ) page. Customers will be asked questions. For example, do you like this application? We will ask for customers reviews, what are the improvements do we need to make in this particular application? That is how we can bring some improvements and keeps this application up to date.
Conclusion:
Many of the New York City residents who rely on public transportation report significant delays and other difficulties with their daily commutes. OnTime NYC will drastically improve access to MTA public transportation system for many New Yorkers. Putting a QR code on MetroCards will solve some of the long-standing problems that New York City residents report. With the QR code system and app, MetroCard holders can access information about their MetroCards from any internet capable device. The system allows a MetroCard holder to check their balance, to easily refill their card from any location, combine multiple cards, and cancel lost or stolen cards. New Yorkers will no longer need to access a subway station entrance with a vending machine to refill their cards. They will no longer have to wait on long lines while missing trains. Nor will they have to battle regularly broken vending machines. Time is money, and New Yorkers will save on both.
References
Markowitz, Michael. “NYC Subway Token, 1953-2003.” 28 April 2003. Gotham Gazette.
www.gothamgazette.com/transportation/1799-nyc-subway-token-1953-2003.
Metropolitan Transit Authority, MTA, 1965. (2016). Retrieved from
http://web.mta.info/nyct/facts/ridership/.
“Metropolitan Transportation Authority.” Literary Merit, Retrieved from
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Metropolitan_Transportation_Authority.html
Nir, S. M. (Feb. 6, 2018). “MetroCard Machines Won’t Accept Credit Cards This Weekend”
(Briefly). The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/
2018/02/06/nyregion/metrocard-mta-nyc.html.
NYCEDC. (2012). The New York Commute. NYCEDC, Transportation. Retrieved from
https://www.nycedc.com/blog-entry/new-york-commute.
Osakwe, Michael. “Is It Safe to Link Your Bank Account to Third-Party Finance Apps?” What Is
Phishing and How Does It Affect You? – NextAdvisor Blog, 9 June 2017, www.nextadvisor.com/blog/link-your-bank-account-to-third-party-finance-apps/.
“QR Code.” Plagiarism Definition, techterms.com/definition/qr_code. Retrieved from
https://techterms.com/definition/qr_code.
Sisson, P. (Sep. 19, 2017). “What New York City’s Subway System Can Learn From Ones
Around The World”. Curbed New York. Retrieved from https://ny.curbed.com/2017/
9/19/16335068/nyc-subway-mta-state-of-emergency-solution.
Wang, V. (Nov. 27, 2017). “Bus Service Is in Crisis, City Comptroller’s Report Says”. The New
York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/27/nyregion/
Bus-service-new-york.html.
