Knowline app collaborates with SFUO to allow students to share wait times
Four students have collaborated with the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) to help University of Ottawa students spend less time in line.
The U of O students created Knowline, an app to help share wait times so that students can avoid spending hours in long lines.
“The SFUO seemed like the logical first step to take,” said Noah Hayes, one fo the co-creators of the application. “What better place to start than at the university?”
The user-based app can help students avoid U-Pass and financial services lines. Users can post on the app how long certain lines are so that other users know which lines are free and which to avoid.
The Knowline team has expanded beyond the university in order to gain users and incorporate more businesses. The group is currently in talks with bar owners around the city.
“It’s definitely been going well,” Hayes said. “But you’re always reaching for more. We are at a stage right now where we’re trying to find different groups and industries to collaborate with to bring us to the next level, because it’s a great tool but it’s only as valuable as the amount of users it has and the amount of content being brought to it.”
He said business owners need to take the first step in using the app in order to demonstrate that it is actually being used and that it is effective.
Knowline’s user base has doubled since the fall. Hayes said Knowline receives numerous emails every day, and many of the users are happy with the app, but the biggest complaint is that there are not enough people posting yet.
“The fun possibilities are always going to be there once you get people using the app,” he said. “Right now it’s totally a promotion game.”
He said Knowline would like to reach out to government services in the new year, making a push to services such as health card and driver’s licence distribution.
“You can start getting excited about the possibility of the idea,” he said. “But at the end of the day you always have to be thinking about the next step in order to make it a reality.”
