Walking bus app Crocodile has won Bristol’s Green Capital Digital Challenge £50,000 prize.
The team has created an app to help kids walk or bike to school safely, offering regular routes, stops and pick up times, a booking system for parents and the ability to check when their child has made it. The app even enables adult volunteers to keep tabs on kids by uploading a picture of them.
The cash will ensure two of the team can work on the app full time and will see them launch a pilot in the Bristol and Bath area.
Kevin Ramm from Crocodile said: “We were shocked to discover that every school day in the UK, around 40% of primary school children are dropped off by car. We also learned that a high proportion of rush-hour traffic in towns and cities is due to school-runs by car. High traffic volumes cause continued poor air quality in UK cities, linked to asthma and other health problems. Walking buses and cycle trains offer a great alternative to commuting to school by car.”
Other finalists included Reloop, a marketplace for waste manufacturing materials, and retro rubbish game Super Trash Heroes.
Bristol is the EU’s Green Capital for 2015 and is hosting a year-long festival to promote and celebrate sustainability in the city.