Francis Laura Palacio

A way-finding app that tackles Westwood’s sidewalk congestion for pedestrians through community and city participation.

Westwood Village, known to be the shopping and dining community directly south of UCLA, is a heavily congested hub for all sorts of travel; cars, buses, bikes, scooters, and even pedestrians. Not only is it a bustling area because of heavy traffic, but it’s also due to the many hazards that slow down travel, such as street closures, construction, or even accidents.

Our team discovered that, specifically for college students, walking around Westwood Village was a hassle. Westwood’s main population is college students, and for many, foot travel is their only option to get around Westwood. The common hazards that occur in the community often leave these students struggling to get to their destinations on time or leave them in dangerous situations where they must put their safety at risk to travel (such as jaywalking). We wanted to create an app that would help students navigate the safest and most efficient routes possible to get to their destinations through Westwood Village despite the many hazards and blockages in the city. We also wanted to help promote Westwood to develop more unity within its student population, since many students feel like Westwood is not as popular as it was in previous years.

Introducing: Get 2 Steppin’. Get 2 Steppin’ is a mobile app that users can use when traveling around Westwood. Users can view current hazards in Westwood that may affect their traveling, as well as report hazards that haven’t been added into the system yet or clear hazards that aren’t there anymore in real time. These hazards allow Get 2 Steppin’ to calculate the best routes possible for pedestrians to get to their destination safely and on time. Not only is Get 2 Steppin’ a useful way-finding app, but it’s also helpful with bringing the Westwood community together. The app includes several Neighborhood and Street profile pages that display important information about each street, such as popular times, upcoming events, and the restaurants and shops located on that specific street. Users can use these profile pages to discover new locations and hotspots in the neighborhood, fostering better unity in Westwood.