RTS App
Won 1st place at the MSI Global Hackathon 2022 with my team of 3, the RTS App is a mobile app concept designed in Adobe XD to streamline cross-border travel on the JB-Singapore Rapid Transit System for the 10,000+ daily commuters travelling per hour.
Features span Singpass sign-in, multi-payment digital ticketing, real-time crowd alerts, OCR-powered onboarding, e-passport integration, and an AI customer service chatbot.
Tools: Adobe XD
Challenge
Propose and develop a mobile application concept and design for the Johor Bahru - Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) to boost cross-border connectivity and improve the commuter experience for the 10,000+ per hour people who cross the Malaysia-Singapore border daily for work.
The Problem
Cross-border commuting between JB and Singapore is a daily reality for hundreds of thousands of people, but the existing process is challenged by pain points: long immigration queues, congested train cabins, fragmented ticketing, and limited real-time information.
With the post-pandemic surge in cross-border travel (travel agencies reported a 50% spike in enquiries within just 2 days of border reopening), the inefficiencies were only set to worsen.
"How might we design a mobile application that helps the general public travel across borders more efficiently?"
The Solution
A full mobile app concept in Adobe XD, anchored around 6 key value-added features that addressed both commuter pain points and operational needs (for LTA).
Before the RTS app
After the RTS app
Core Features:
AI Chatbot for Customer Service
An intelligent chatbot integrated into the app to handle frequently asked questions, guide users through the ticket refund process, and provide instant support without needing human intervention.
This drastically reduces operational manpower requirements and eliminates the long waiting times commuters typically experience with traditional customer service channels. The chatbot is designed to be the first line of support, escalating only complex issues to live agents.
Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
A built-in scanning feature that uses OCR technology to capture and auto-fill user information from physical documents like credit cards and passports. Instead of manually typing in details, which is often slow and is exposed to risks such as human error, users can simply point their phone camera at the document and have the fields populated instantly. This speeds up onboarding, simplifies adding new payment cards, and prevents bottlenecks at immigration checkpoints where time is critical.
Crowd Alert System
A real-time, cabin-by-cabin crowd indicator inspired by Singapore's existing MRT crowd alert system. Each cabin is color-coded (red, orange, green) based on passenger density, allowing commuters to make informed decisions about which cabin to board.
This improves the overall travel experience by distributing passengers more evenly across the train, reducing overcrowding in specific cabins, and giving commuters more control over their comfort.
Multi-Payment Digital Ticketing
A flexible ticketing system supporting a wide range of payment methods including credit/debit cards, PayNow, DuitNow, RTSPay (e-wallet), and digital banking apps, catering to both Singaporean and Malaysian commuters who use different payment ecosystems.
Tickets are delivered as digital QR codes (combined or individual), with downloadable PDF receipts and invoices for record-keeping. This eliminates the need for physical tickets, reduces paper waste, and gives commuters seamless cross-border payment options without needing to swap currencies or apps.
E-Passport Integration
A digital passport feature that allows users to store their passport details directly in the app, accessible via a scannable barcode. At immigration, officers can scan the barcode for instant verification instead of manually flipping through a physical passport. New passports can be added through OCR scanning or gallery upload, making setup quick and frictionless. This not only speeds up immigration processing but also gives LTA pre-verification capability for travelling commuters.
Concession & Smart Notification System
A tailored ticketing structure offering different rates for adults, children, and students, complete with a digital concession card that displays remaining duration in color-coded form (red/orange/green) for easy at-a-glance status checks. Paired with this is a smart notification system that proactively alerts users to concession expiry, upcoming departure or return times, real-time crowded cabin warnings, and relevant RTS news updates. This helps to keep commuters informed without needing to constantly check the app.
Designed with both parties in mind
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✔️ Convenient & efficient cross-border travel
✔️ Relief from frustration and pain points
✔️ Environmentally friendly (digital tickets)
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✔️ Awareness of travelling commuters
✔️ Pre-verification capability
✔️ Operational efficiency
Outcome
Won 1st place at the MSI Global Hackathon 2022!🏆
The solution stood out for going beyond the brief and being innovative in our solution, solving not just the ticketing problem, but addressing the full commuter journey (immigration, crowding, customer service, environmental impact) and balancing user value with operational benefit for LTA.
Lesson Learnt
Designing for two stakeholders at once: what helps the commuter (digital tickets) often also helps the operator (pre-verification, reduced manpower). The strongest features served both.
Adobe XD wireframing: building interactive prototypes from scratch, including functional QR codes that could actually be scanned during the pitch was effective in bringing the concept and idea to live.
Storytelling matters in hackathons: the before/after flowcharts we built made the impact tangible to judges, making it easier to visualise that the solution wasn't just "an app" but a measurably better commute.
Teamwork under time pressure: working with 2 other people across feature design, wireframing, and pitch prep within a tight timeline of 2 weeks taught me how to scope and divide work effectively.