Commuter Connect is a web application built with React, Flask, Firebase, using data from Google Routes + Places API, designed to assist and connect commuter students at UIC (University of Illinois Chicago).
At UIC, a large percentage of students are commuters who face long, sometimes lonely journeys to and from campus. Many lack a reliable network to coordinate rides, share routes, or connect with other commuters. Commuter Connect solves this problem by offering a platform that helps commuters organize and optimize their daily routes, connects students with "commute buddies" for a more convenient and social travel experience, and builds community among students who might otherwise feel isolated due to commuting.
Our mission is to turn commuting into an opportunity for connection, convenience, and community.
Create Route System: Students can create and save their fastest commute routes using Google Maps' Routes and Places API, optimized with a priority queue for fastest paths.
Commute Buddy System: Add friends to your commute routes to make traveling easier and more enjoyable.
Friend Lookup: Easily find and add friends using a Trie-based friend search system for fast and efficient lookups.
Daily Commute Management: View, edit, and manage your saved commute routes anytime.
User Authentication: Secure login and registration system powered by Firebase Authentication to keep user data safe.
React, Flask, Firebase, Google Routes + Places APIs
We used React Router for navigation between pages.
We chose Flask over Django because Flask is lightweight and flexible, making it perfect for our project where we needed a simple REST API backend. Flask allowed us to easily connect with Firebase services and handle API requests without the additional complexity of Django’s full-stack structure. Since our app focuses more on frontend-user interactions and lightweight data transactions (routes, friends, authentication), Flask provided exactly the right balance of simplicity and power for our project scope. Finally, Flask provided a faster setup time and easier team collaboration for a mid-sized project.
- Click on Fork to create your own repo and then click Create Fork.
- For Windows Users, Download Python from the official website. Ensure to select "Add Python to PATH" during installation.
- For Mac Users, install using Homebrew :
brew install python - Confirm installation by typing
python --versionandpip --versionon Command Prompt
- For Windows users, install Node.js and npm LTS version
- For Mac users, using Homebrew
brew install node - Confirm installation by running
node -vandnpm -v
- Go to your Forked Repository on Github, Click on green Code button and copy the URL (using HTTPS or SSH)
- Open up VS Code and in the home page or under Source Control, click on Clone a Repository. Choose a directory to store your project on your local computer. You can also do the same from the command line using
git clone REPO_URL - You will now see a local version of all the files/source code from GitHub.
- Move into the backend directory -
cd backend - Create a new virtual environment -
python -m venv env - Activate the virtual environment
- For Windows :
.\env\Scripts\activate - For Mac :
source env/bin/activate
- For Windows :
- You will now see a (venv) infront of your command line
- To install all dependencies and packages, run
pip install -r requirements.txt - Note: To deactivate, run
env\Scripts\deactivate.batordeactivate - Run
cd app - Run
set FLASK_APP=server.pyto set the flask app - Run the flask backend in debug mode for automatic reloading :
flask --app server.py --debug run
- Open up a new terminal + button on top right of the terminal and run
cd frontend - Install all packages by running
npm install - To run the react frontend,
npm run dev
| About | Getting started | Demo | Project Roadmap | Documentation |
| Contributors | Acknowledgments | Feedback | Contact | License |
Eddie Murillo
Florianne Che
Zeel Patel
Eddie Murillo: emuri@uic.edu Florianne Che: fche2@uic.edu Zeel Patel: zpate6@uic.edu