LakbayPoints from CSU wins top prize for AI-powered Metro Manila Traffic App
A team from Cagayan State University has come up with a smartphone application that could help commuters make better travel decisions, and their idea has earned them the top prize in a Metro Manila traffic management challenge.
LakbayPoints emerged as the winner of the “MMITS Bagong Gawi, Bagong Galaw Challenge,” a competition organized by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to find technology-based solutions for traffic and travel demand management.
The challenge drew hundreds of teams, with only eight making it to the final round. Each finalist presented a user-centered mobile application designed to encourage road users to make more informed choices about how, when and where they travel.
LakbayPoints took the top spot with an app that combines transportation data, software, social media and artificial intelligence (AI) to encourage changes in travel behavior.
The team received PHP 100,000 from the MMDA, along with an exclusive development contract with JICA worth JPY 5 million, or roughly PHP 1.95 million. Each team member also received a Globe Telecom 5G portable broadband hub.
The winning team came up with its concept as part of the challenge’s focus on using technology to address some of Metro Manila’s long-standing transportation problems, rather than relying solely on additional roads and other physical infrastructure.
Team Apaka’s Komyunek placed second and received PHP 75,000, while Abotdun finished third with PHP 50,000.
Five other finalists, Gulaneskorps, Smooth Operators, Vulppy, Inovva, and Ethian Triple T Juan Combo, each received PHP 20,000 for reaching the final round.
The competition is part of the Project for Capacity Enhancement on Traffic Management with Improvement of Intelligent Transport Systems in Metro Manila (MMITS), a technical cooperation project between the MMDA and JICA.
The project is looking at ways intelligent transport systems and digital tools can be used for traffic management and travel demand management in the National Capital Region (NCR).
MMDA Chairman Don Artes acknowledged that congestion remains a major problem and said technology needs to play a bigger role in addressing it.
“Traffic congestion costs us time, productivity, and quality of life. Solving this requires looking beyond traditional infrastructure,” Artes said through a message read by MMDA Deputy Chairman and MMITS Project Director, Frisco San Juan Jr.
For the students and innovators who joined the competition, however, the more interesting part is what happens next.
LakbayPoints will now have an opportunity to move beyond the competition stage through its JICA-backed development contract. If the concept can be developed into a practical tool, it could give commuters another way to make smarter travel decisions while helping authorities better understand travel patterns across Metro Manila.
The MMITS project also includes a separate Smart Pole for Traffic Management Innovation pilot project. Together, the two initiatives are intended to help the MMDA build its capabilities in intelligent transport systems.
