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Students who developed a technology driven solution to enhance the passenger experience on Cayman’s public bus network have impressed senior officials from the Ministry of Planning, Agriculture, Housing and Infrastructure, including the minister Hon. Johany “Jay” Ebanks, who has responsibility for public transportation.

A team of seven students from Grace Christian Academy presented their “Bus 345” app to the ministry team on 11 June, after winning the top prize in the SDG Inter-School Challenge organised by Dart’s Minds Inspired education programme earlier this year.

The Grace Christian Academy team conducted a survey of more than 300 passengers and 30 drivers which showed 70% of users consider the current bus service unreliable. The team researched past attempts at a bus app and spoke with local technology providers as they developed their carefully researched prototype for the app, which supports SDG Goal 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities.

After hearing about the students’ winning proposal, Ministry officials requested the opportunity to meet and hear further from them, along with another team from St Ignatius Catholic School who also identified the bus system as an area for improvement, having initially considered bike lanes for their project. Their primary focus was on the congestion near the multiple schools on Walkers Road and the lack of safe alternatives to cars at school pick-up time.

“The first thought that came to my mind was ‘wow’. The children have put in a lot of work into this,” said Minister Ebanks, adding that the students’ proposal aligned with what his ministry was considering. “Their mindset is exactly where we want to be. I’m glad to see they’re thinking exactly what the Ministry is thinking, where we have to integrate a new app system, a GPS and camera system in the buses, so that we can reduce the waiting times for people who want to catch the bus service down to 15 minutes.”

Ebanks lauded Dart for initiating the Minds Inspired Inter-School SDG challenge to get young people to think of sustainable solutions to Cayman’s most pressing issues. “I loved the activity. I loved the whole concept of what they put together. I’m a hundred percent sure the Ministry will be taking everything on board. We’re all on this bus together and we want to see this to the end and get this done.”

Minister of Sustainability and Climate Resiliency, Hon. Katherine Ebanks-Wilks also attended the presentation.

Glenda McTaggart, Dart’s senior manager for education programmes, said: “Getting the attention of government’s decision-makers will help them see the importance of what we’re doing with the SDG challenge. It also encourages the students, as they get further validation that they are able to come up with practical solutions to real life problems experienced in our community.”

The winning team from Grace Christian Academy team were Rozalyn Thompson-Ebanks, Isabell Akagac, Dylan Smith, Lacey Victoria Arch, Durk Tatum, Tashyla Thompson-Brown and Rhea Timothy with their teacher Ms Deepali Mutneja. They won their school $1,000 to help their school advance sustainability initiatives and each received reference letters from Dart’s CEO Mark VanDevelde.

The team from St Ignatius included Cosette Brendel, Bethany Mitchel, Khobika Rajeshkannan, Yuktha Sandeep Kumar, Isaac Conly, Jeffrey Rivas Jr., and Daniel Suico. 

The SDG Challenge asks Cayman’s future leaders to consider solutions to local issues and help create a more sustainable Cayman by focusing on the 17 sustainable development goals identified by the United Nations.

Information about how to apply for the SDG Challenge and dates for next year can be found at MindsInspired.ky.