MARTA Hackathon: Rider Experience & Design Thinking

Do you love Atlanta? Want to help make MARTA better?

You can be part of this exciting 24-hour challenge to create solutions to real world problems that will help make the rider experience better and increase ridership.

Focus: Rider Experience & Design Thinking 

We’re inviting Atlanta's interaction design and user experience community to help bring human-centered design solutions to MARTA through three challenges:

1. Improve the rider experience between two stations - You can choose any element of the rider experience between Midtown-Five Points or Midtown-Airport. We'll provide you with plans, photos, and other resources related to those stations. 
2. Inform the MARTA mobile app roadmap - MARTA is reformulating its mobile apps based on concepts created in the previous two sprints. You can help shape and inform the roadmap for future versions. 
3. Help riders view all aspects of MARTA as a viable alternative - How can you help encourage infrequent riders become more frequent? How can you help railriders utilize bus options? 

Open to the entire community - regardless of your technology orientation. 

Coders, cat video enthusiasts, and wood carvers are equally embraced. Whether you love to code, have a passion for design, can herd cats, or just want to help out somehow, you can make a difference!

Join us for just for a few hours or come along for the entire ride!

Participants will gather the first night to form teams and then work like busy bees to present their prototype solutions to a panel of esteemed judges from the community at the end of the 24-hour sprint. 

Want to see what the MARTA Hackathon is like? 

Check out this video recap from the first 24-hour sprint held in October. 

More details coming your way. 

Register today to make sure you receive all of our updates.  Here's the Sept 8-9 briefing packet. 

Media and partner inquiries can be directed to MARTAHackathon@sandboxatl.com.  

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8

5:00 PM                     Registration and Dinner service begins

5:00 PM - 5:30 PM    Pre-Briefing: Patron Exprience (Architecture & Design)

5:30 PM - 6:00 PM     Pre-Briefing: MARTA Mobile App Road Map Deep Dive

6:00 PM - 6:05 PM      Kickoff: Scott Henderson, Sandbox ATL

6:05 PM - 6:10 PM      Welcome: MARTA Leadership

6:10 PM - 6:15 PM      Schedule Overview: Luigi Montanez, Code for Atlanta

6:15 PM - 6:30 PM      Resource Briefing

6:30 PM - 8:00 PM      Idea Pitches + Team Formation

8:00 PM - 11:30 PM    Evening Work Block

8:00 PM - 10:00 PM    MARTA Station Site Visits (optional - observation only, no interviews)

11:30 PM - Midnight   Late Night Snack

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 9

Midnight - 8:00 AM     Quiet Hours (teams can work through night)

8:00 AM - 8:30 AM      Breakfast Service Begins

8:30 AM - 12:30 PM    Morning Work Block

10:00 AM - 12 NOON  Escorted MARTA Station Visits and Rider Interviews (optional)

12:30 PM - 1:00 PM    Quick Pitch Team Progress Reports

1:00 PM - 1:30 PM      Lunch Service Begins

1:30 PM - 4:00 PM      Final Work Block

4:00 PM - 4:15 PM      Show & Tell Setup + Afternoon Snack

4:15 PM - 6:00 PM      Show & Tell Presentations + Judging

6:00 PM - 6:30 PM      Judge Deliberation + Batch #2 Project Updates/Demos

6:30 PM - 7:00 PM      Award Ceremony + What's Next

7:00 PM - 7:30 PM      Clean-up and Go Home

Thank you to our sponsors!