Local IT entrepreneur develops scholar transport-tracking solution
Tshidi Morabi has launched the LocTransie app, aimed at assisting schools and parents with locating students' whereabouts.
The brains behind LocTransie app Tshidi Morabi. Photo: Supplied
A mad dash to school when the driver transporting her child wasn’t answering his phone inspired Riversands entrepreneur Tshidi Morabi to create LocTransie.
The mobile app allows parents to track a scholar transport vehicle in real-time and provides SMS notifications at various points on the journey.
“Back in January this year, my child knocked off at 12 from school and I didn’t know if my child would be picked up on time and that had me worried,” she told Fourways Review.
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“With the driver not answering because they might have been driving, understandably so, that scenario is what drove me to develop this app.
“Every day, thousands of South African children travel by scholar transport. I struggled to find the right transport company, and then constantly worried when I was not kept in the loop. There had to be a better solution.”
The name LocTransie comes from Loc for ‘locate’ and Transie for ‘transport’ in township slang. Through a user-friendly interface, the app keeps parents informed of delays or route diversions while allowing the driver to privately notify parents of emergencies.
The app reduces the risk of moving children from one transport company to an unknown third party without parents’ knowledge. The platform also provides the parents with scholar transport price comparisons within the district.
For schools, the app allows for a signing-in and signing-out of children.
“The launch of the app was delayed by a number of weeks to allow the school component to be included. This was based on extensive discussions with schools who wanted to be involved and ‘tick off’ when learners arrive or exit their care,” Morabi added.
She is actively canvassing scholar transport companies to sign up. The app was developed in South Africa in line with Morabi’s belief in supporting local talent.
While this is the first commercial app that she has developed, Morabi is no stranger to software development and large IT projects.
With a BCom in informatics and a post-graduate diploma in risk management, she has been in the ICT arena for the past 19 years as a business analyst and trainer. She started Ginini Consulting in 2014.
LocTransie is currently available to parents and schools free of charge through Google Play store, with the Apple iStore application expected shortly.
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