Mexico City has more than 1,000 bus routes, and figuring out where they go is a mission. The subway and rapid-bus line have fixed routes and schedules. But the 1,000 buses, more commonly known as peseros, cover a larger portion of the city and other places not accessible through the government subsidized transportation system. They are privately owned and change their route as needed. Entirely new routes also pop up to accommodate people’s needs, so it’s no wonder that people don’t really know where they go.
But a new crowdsourcing app aims to give riders a clearer idea of where these bus lines go, according to Quartz. From January 29 to February 14, the Mapatón CDMX app will collect data from bus riders to track the cost of fare and geolocation to finally map out the routes. There will be incentives to get people to participate. The British Embassy in Mexico and the Hewlett Foundations have invested $19,000 in the project, and half of that money will go to riders.
By February, Mexico City residents and visitors will be able to access a database of results. The app can only be used on Android phones. Download it here.