Hult Alumni Magazine NEW Edition Hult Alumni Magazine 2017 | Page 41

Welcome onboard the Magic Bus . Next stop : doubling your income .

A ride on the Magic Bus does indeed sound magical . And that ’ s why the idea has won USD 1 million in seed capital . The brainchild of four students — Iman Cooper , Sonia Kabra , Wyclife Omondi , and Leslie Ossete from Indiana ’ s Earlham College — Magic Bus beat 25,000 startup entries to win the 2016 Hult Prize , which asked students to find a way to double the income of ten million people living in crowded urban spaces by 2022 .
Magic Bus piloted their idea in Nairobi , Kenya , a city where 2.5 million people live in slums , and where 70 % of them rely on the bus system to commute . Unfortunately , the bus system is far from reliable . Commuters sometimes wait up to two hours to catch a bus , and even then , they are not guaranteed a seat if it is overcrowded . The fares vary widely from $ 0.50 to $ 1.50 per trip , so commuters never know what they ’ ll be charged until they get on the bus .
The unreliable bus system is not only frustrating , it ’ s costly . “ The loss of productivity is staggering and a daily wage worker can lose half of their daily income ,” Iman Cooper says .
Magic Bus aims to fix this problem using technology . With Magic Bus , riders can pre-book tickets on a bus by sending a text message from their phone . They can also check how far away a bus is and the exact fare , all through SMS . Magic Bus uses existing bus networks and allows mobile payments through the country ’ s popular M-PESA system , allowing passengers to get on even if they don ’ t have cash on hand .
A nine-week pilot test in June showed promising results . More than 2,000 people used Magic Bus and more than 5,000 tickets were sold on the platform . The team conducted a survey of 1,000 passengers and found that 25 % saved an hour per trip . “ For some workers , this led to increasing their income by $ 1 a day ,” Cooper said .
After winning the Hult Prize , Magic Bus has its sights set on expanding across Kenya . In two years , they expect to be fully operating in 11 cities . “ For millions of people , reliable transportation is often the first test toward accessing goods , services , jobs , and education ,” Cooper says . “ We shouldn ’ t overlook improving transportation because it can have meaningful impact on society .”
Watch event trailer here : http :// bit . ly / 2fnyZYu
Watch the Magic Bus presentation here : http :// bit . ly / 2efpuVm
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