Problem Space:

Cornell is not an easy campus to navigate with its steep hills and sprawling student residential area. An accessibility solution does exist in the form of CULift, a paratransit pre-arranged shuttle program that serves approximately 300 students with documented disabilities via 1100+ monthly rides. However, the technical platform supporting CULift is grossly outdated, resulting in a poor user experience on both sides and overly stringent constraints on CULift policies. Carriage aims to build mobile and web platforms to improve the user experience of scheduling, completing, and monitoring CULift rides for all parties, thus improving Cornell’s accessibility for students with disabilities.

Problem Statement:

How can we develop an integrated mobile and web platforms that streamline the CULift ride experience (from scheduling to completion and monitoring) to enhance Cornell's transportation accessibility for students with disabilities while improving efficiency for all stakeholders?

Description of User Groups and Use Cases:

Support from every one of these organizations is imperative to the success of this product.

  1. CULift - Free prearranged shuttle service for SDS-approved students. CULift falls under the RedRunner umbrella, and the drivers for these two services are the same. However, CULift rides always have priority over RedRunner rides or packages. Supporting the CULift service is our primary focus. [https://sds.cornell.edu/accommodations-services/transportation/culift-guidelines]
  2. RedRunner - Paid Cornell courier service that offers transportation for people and packages. We may need to build out basic, internal support for RR ride and package handling in our scheduling solution given RR and CULift’s close relationship. [https://fcs.cornell.edu/departments/transportation-delivery-services/delivery-services/courier-service]
  3. SDS Student Disability Services works in partnership with Cornell faculty, staff, and students to ensure that all aspects of Cornell student life are accessible, equitable, and inclusive of individuals with disabilities. SDS manages the CULift program and approves students for CULift rides. [https://sds.cornell.edu/]
  4. CIT Cornell IT needs to sign off on all technical aspects of this project as they are the ones who will ultimately have ownership and potentially maintenance responsibilities.
  5. SSIT Student Services IT (similar to CIT) will be in charge with the web and mobile handoff from Carriage to Cornell. They will be in charge of assisting with different accounts like AWS databases, helping with blockers, etc.

User Profiles:

  1. CULift Riders Cornell students with mobility disabilities certified by SDS that use CULift transportation to get to and from campus
  2. Drivers Cornell employees that drive CULift students, RedRunner faculty, and RedRunner packages across campus and Ithaca
  3. Schedulers Cornell employees that assign riders and packages to drivers a day in advance; often is also a Driver.
  4. Dispatchers Cornell employees that manage issues with and changes to live rides and deliveries
  5. SDS Administrators Cornell employees that manage student access to CULift services and monitor CULift’s overall performance