Arrival: The 3rd Global Y4PT Hackathon Finale
“Live as if you were the key to solving the transportation issues. Because in a way, we all are.” Lucía Moreno González-Páramo, UK / Spain, Civil and Structural engineer, Team Compal

Another season shifts and settles. Here in Stockholm, the summer sun is drawing what has been sown into full growth and bloom. In the centre of the city, a trolley is pushed from one raised herb garden to another, watering the tidy boxes of aromatic green in the intense light and heat. Between the conference centre and the railway station, groundspeople are carefully tending and replanting perfect flowerbeds. And here, among patches of shade from steady trees, tiny midges are happily feeding on participants of the 3rd Global Y4PT Hackathon as they exercise and meditate in the warm air.
In the framework of the 63rd UITP Global Public Transport Summit Stockholm 2019 – the world’s oldest, largest and top leading sustainable transport event – the winners of local and global Y4PT Hackathons have gathered for the finale of a third year. These young researchers, students and professionals bring together expertise and knowledge from over 40 events worldwide.

In a soft curtained room in Stockholmsmässan, a record-breaking 45 initial ideas were pitched by the young participants. Addressing healthy and sustainable mobility, and universal accessibility through local experience and global scalability, some of these ideas were brand new, while others built directly on previous successes.
“The final in Stockholm is like a dream – to work with people with the same objective. I already feel like a winner because the technology we made is now used by the government of Colombia to save lives and improve mobility.” Walter Gavez, Columbia, Engineer, Team Evital
From these 45 ideas, 12 were voted by the group for development and teams were formed around them.

“Creating collaborative community connected by a digitally enabled peer to peer bike sharing scheme. Evolving the future of bike ownership, improving accessibility and security. Helping community re-discover the human to human connection.”
Karen Diaz Cortazar, Rodrigo Galvan Castillo, Emiliano Giufrida, and remote team member Carolina.

“A wearable safety vest providing navigation assistance through haptic feedback.”
Sebastián Gonzales, Dany Rubiano, Marco van Nieuwenhoven, Richard Yantas & Juan Acostupa.

“An AI platform optimizing employee transport routes to increase well-being and productivity, while repurposing shared data to improve local transport for all.”
Francisco Robles, Daniel Freitas, Ricardo Mertens, Fausto Junqueira, Willow Chung, Angelo Soares.

“Plan, pay and travel easily anywhere. The International universal public transport pass.”
Samay Gupta, Neelanshu Singh, Alejandra Ortiz Rengel, Alejandro & Leandro Rosembaum.

“Public Transport Optimsation software design to help city planners of developing countries, to tackling congestion during major planned events.”
Tomiwa Erinosho, with remote team-members Disun Vera-Cruz & Folake Fajemirokun

“Flip the confusion, frustration and cost of airport onward travel into a memorable, sustainable and cost effective social adventure, with a simple browser app.”
Lucia Moreno Gonzalez-Paramo, Mariam Khalifeh, Jennifer Guzmán, Alex Koster, Nick Van Apeldoorn, Ignacio O’Mullony.

“Preventing accidents on train/metro tracks in urban areas, leveraging artificial intelligence and computer vision technologies.”
Elhoussine Talab, Omar Alzarooni, Humaid Almarzooqi & Andres Gavilan.

“The app that nourishes your ride! Relocating micro-mobility solutions in a smarter, tastier way.”
Mathias Kuhn, Ludovico Gandolfi, Francesco Borri, Nicolas Iannicelli & Ignacio Abonizio.

“Encouraging active transport, saving lives and avoiding collisions, Evital app gamifies transport to reward positive behavior in drivers, cyclists and pedestrians in real time with real-world benefits.”
Walter Gálvez, Ferney Medina, Angel Tórtola & David Evans.

“Augmenting existing infrastructure with crowd-sourced and PT connected logistics, to recycle electronic waste in an efficient and ecofriendly way.”
Victoria Insua, Sofia Fonseca, Santiago Kent & Juan Pascual.

“A digital platform powered by blockchain 3.0 technology to combine reduction of plastic packaging, energy and food waste with incentivising public transport for a better lifestyle and a healthy planet.”
Phuong Hoang

“Demand-responsive service platform providing an urgently needed alternative to the unstable and unsafe public transport dominating mobility in urban Syria.”
Ahmad Houri, Anna Movsesjan, Kai Ting & René Korte, with remote team members Karim Almur & Mahmoud Shahhoud.

“A policy model integrating public transport services and the recycling industry, to enhance social inclusion and reduce food waste using shared assets.”
Hugh Fergusson, Ali Medina, Francisco Vicuna, Juan Diego Cordero & Nina Ebel.
During the 3 days of the hack, these diverse collaborative teams, with members hailing from over 30 countries, developed each idea into a prototype and pitch, which was tested and refined throughout with international industry mentors.
“I believe that working in interdisciplinary groups, where everyone can share different ideas and visions of things, added to the cultural value of our perspectives allowed us to achieve much more interesting projects.” Alejandro Sanchez Gutirrrez, Mexico, Biomedical Engineer, Team Check
These projects were presented to a panel of international judges representing the 5 Y4PT Ring Cities – Dubai, Manchester, Menden, Milan and Moscow – UITP and Y4PT.

Mr. Abdulaziz Malik; Chairman of MENA CTE Steering Committee, Center for Transport Excellence, Middle East & North Africa
Mr. Marco Barra-Caracciolo; Director of Special Projects, Ferrovie Nord Milano (FNM) S.p.A.
Mr. Roman Latypov; First Deputy Head for Strategic Development and Customer Management, Moscow Metro
Mr. Rafael Cuesta; Head of Innovation, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM)
Mr. Roger Dirksmeier; CEO, ProReSus GmbH
Mr. Jan Dobbs; President, UITP
Mrs Alessandra Gorini; Co-Founder & Executive Director, Y4PT
“I would tell those living in the future to work across geographic, gender and racial barriers to overcome their future challenges. I will tell those living in the world today that our challenges are only surmountable through collaboration and idea sharing.” Disun Vera-Cruz, Nigeria, Remote Operations, Team Clearway
During the opening ceremony of the UITP Global Public Transport Summit Stockholm 2019, the winners of the 3rd Global Y4PT Hackathon Finale were announced and prizes presented:

“Flipping the confusion, frustration and cost of airport onward travel into a memorable, sustainable and cost effective social adventure, with a simple browser app.”
Lucia Moreno Gonzalez-Paramo, Mariam Khalifeh, Jennifer Guzmán, Alex Koster, Nick Van Apeldoorn, Ignacio O’Mullony.

“A wearable safety vest providing navigation assistance through haptic feedback.”
Sebastián Gonzales, Dany Rubiano, Marco van Nieuwenhoven, Richard Yantas & Juan Acostupa.

“A policy model integrating public transport services and the recycling industry, to enhance social inclusion and reduce food waste using shared assets.”
Hugh Fergusson, Ali Medina, Francisco Vicuna, Juan Diego Cordero & Nina Ebel.
The winners, and all our hackathon pioneers then joined the congress, welcoming visitors and dignitaries to the room where these ideas were created, and taking to the show floor.
The theme of the summit is “The Art of Public Transport”, and throughout we experience transport professionals wrestling with what it is to be an artist, what it is to truly create. Aesthetic inspiration quickly travels to the immediacy and power of making things happen. To the awareness of detail, and to lasting human impact.
This is the core of Y4PT Hackathon.

As we return to a breath in the green space, we are as aware of the midges as we are of the trees. I am reminded of a saying I read on a whiteboard at Tower Hill Tube station, London: “If you think you are too small to make a difference, you have never been in the dark with a mosquito”. I look it up – it is an African proverb. Told, but not credited, like so much of our shared knowledge.
Look again at the names and faces here – follow them as they recur. They are creating the future of our mobility, of the ways we navigate our world. Now they are hackers, here to challenge and create. Here to buzz in your ear and make you notice what you previously had not. Tomorrow they will be beside you, and you will follow where they lead. Don’t wait, invite this now.
“Humanity and community will always remain. Working together as one knowing that together you get farther. Don’t forget that you are not the only one.” Alejandra Ortiz Rengel, Ecuador. Designer Team Check

It is not perfection and completion that keeps us going, but other lives and ways of being – and these may not sit comfortably with what we currently choose to recognise as our own. A tiny itch of a bite in the summer sun spurs me to move, and I realise I had sat too long on one position. My body is glad of the change.
Being part of something greater than ourselves is not always easy, smooth or convenient, but it is in these times that we learn truly what our actions are capable of transforming.
– Laura Trevail; Stockholm & Southend On Sea, June 2019


Tristan Helmstaedt; Process Engineer, Presenter and sports enthusiast.
Rafael Cuesta; Head of Innovation, TfGM.
Daniel Perez; Civil Engineer, Advisor at Columbia Ministry of Transport.
Sam Li; Innovation Officer, TfGM.
Boris Galvis; Environmental Scientist, Air Pollution specialist.
Alfredo Barba; Graphic Designer, Professional Hiker.
Alessandra Gorini; Y4PT Co-Founder & Executive Director, Biologist.
Nabeel Faraz; Y4PT – Marketing Professional
Geert de Leeuw; Consultant mobility transition XTNexperts in traffic, Transport Co-ordinator Breda University.
Dario Gorini; Movie Director, Creative Storywriter.
Laura Trevail; Artist & Context Strategist.
Alvaro Gomez; Photographer & Filmmaker.
Yasmina Ravyse; Instructor Wellbeing, Pilates, Yoga, Bodybalance
Raluca Ciungu; Guest Mentor, Ferrovial.
Seb Corby; Guest Mentor, Amey.
Pia Lund Rössler, Bert Marcelis, & Håan östlund; Guest Mentors, Trafiklab.