University of Havana student wants to create a Cuban style Uber app

University of Havana student wants to create a Cuban style Uber app

A University of Havana undergrad wants to launch a Cuba style Uber app.
The initiative — METRO, or The Cuban Urban Transport App — would connect
passengers with transportation services using a smartphone and the Nauta
email service platform.
BY IVÁN DEL TORO HERNÁNDEZ

Eduardo Sánchez is convinced that he can organize the seemily unorderly:
Cuba's transportation system.

Sánchez, a Computer Science student at the University of Havana who is
about to graduate, has decided to launch an unusual initiative: a Cuban
style Uber featuring various applications for smartphones that would
provide alternate transportation options.

The name of his project: METRO, or The Cuban Urban Transport App.

So far, two applications are under development. One is a database with
all the Havana routes used by public buses, old cars known as
almendrones and taxis known as ruteros. The function of this application
would be to inform users the best option for getting from point A to
point B. This would include information on the busiest routes at
particular times as well as the less busiest times, among other metrics.

Another application would essentially compare taxi service.

"It's a platform that connects taxi drivers and travelers in pursuit of
achieving the optimal prices," Sánchez said. "Something like a Cuban Uber.

"If I want to make a particular trip, I would publish it in the
application and all those who provide the service for that route will be
notified," Sánchez said. "From there, the various drivers can propose
their prices and the type of car they have; in other words, make their
offer public.

"This project could only be done by Cubans," he said. "Google Maps could
not come here and do it quickly."

The METRO proposal would be unique in its entirety. Not only for being
the first application on transportation in Cuba, but for being the first
to the use Nauta email service platform to keep all its users connected.

"An @nauta mail domain would be the only requirement, besides a
smartphone, for users to communicate, which is quite feasible because
the rates established for this service are accessible to the average
Cuban," Sánchez said. "Given the possibilities offered by the app, the
cost is irrelevant."

The app still has to prove feasible, and that users appreciate the
service. But the concept does not seem far-fetched.

METRO also plans to create a rating system of transportation services,
which would evaluate the services and encourage competitiveness in the
depressed transportation sector, Sánchez said.

Finally, the application includes a personalized locations function:
"METRO allows its users to share their location, and to tell another
user how to get there from their current location," he said.

During the initial launch, The Cuban Urban Transport App will be
distributed at the offices of the tourist information agency, Infotur,
so that it can be used by the thousands of tourists visiting the
country. For Cubans, the mode of distribution will be via the
underground weekly package known as El Paquete.

"METRO is understood as a business, however, private businesses are not
yet legal in Cuba," Sánchez said.

So he has adopted the self-employment term, cuentapropista, as a legal
alternative, explaining that, "This way I can hire the other three
people who are an integral part of the 'company'."

"We are growing, and eventually we will include specialists in tourism,
accounting and finance, and marketing. Our goal is for METRO to become
the preferred transportation application in Cuba."

Source: University of Havana student wants to create a Cuban style Uber
app | In Cuba Today - http://www.incubatoday.com/news/article82300782.html