El Tránsito is a seaside village on the Pacific Ocean in Nicaragua. It is home to talented female artisans, some of the best surfing waves in the world, and rich fishing banks. However, reaching El Tránsito is difficult without intricate knowledge of the national bus system or a personal vehicle. The female artisans, many of whom care for families, do not travel for business out of concern for missing the last bus back into town. Tourists seldom enjoy the perfect El Tránsito surf and instead patronize foreign-owned establishments in other seaside towns, and fishermen lose the lion’s share of their profits to aggregators that buy the catch at pennies on the dollar and transport it out of town on private vehicles.
ChickenBus is a socially minded company dedicated to improving access to transportation in low and middle-income countries. I founded ChickenBus in July 2017 and have been working on it with a team of dedicated college students at UNC and Duke. We will be launching the service next month, and we want to get the word out. We strongly feel that ChickenBus will improve the fortunes of El Tránsito and countless other communities around the world by making it easier for citizens and tourists alike to reach these locations.
Here’s what we’ve been up to since July:
- Developing a website where you can search for intercity transportation options in low and middle-income countries
- Developing a mobile application for iPhones and Android
- Collecting accurate and detailed bus and ferry schedules in Nicaragua, which will serve as our launch country
Here’s what the webpage looks like:
How can you help?
- Follow our Facebook page
- Follow us on Twitter
- Visit our website and sign-up for updates
If you follow us through these channels we will be able to provide you with updates on our progress and alert you when it will be ready to use. Exciting stuff!
Buena suerte! Great idea!