HitchKa — Student Vehicle Pooling PlatformHitchKa — Student Vehicle Pooling PlatformHitchKa — Student Vehicle Pooling Platform

HitchKa is a closed, zero-anonymity peer vehicle pooling network connecting stranded student commuters with verified student drivers already travelling the same route along Cebu’s university belt. Winner of the Best UX Design Award at the IBPAP Hackathon (CIT-U) and selected as the Region VII flagship startup entry for the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Philippine Startup Challenge XI (PSC XI).

01. The Problem

Metro Cebu loses ₱1.1 billion daily to traffic gridlock. 76% of student commuters rely on overcrowded jeepneys, with over half waking up between 3:00–5:00 AM just to reach early morning classes, while 98.1% report commercial ride-hailing (₱75–₱200/trip) is unaffordable on a student allowance. Meanwhile, 41.2% of surveyed students drive cars and 30.4% drive motorcycles to campus alone with idle, empty seats.

02. Architecture & Solution

Engineered an auditable, zero-detour student vehicle-pooling platform: (1) Multimodal Vision AI for 1.5-second automated student ID and LTO driver’s license verification; (2) Hybrid Taglish NLP parser transforming unstructured curbside pickup chat ("nag yellow hoodie, atbang Shell") into a glanceable 3-word HUD badge for motorcycle drivers; (3) Dot-product trajectory matching preventing unwanted driver detours; and (4) Flat, non-commercial fuel cost-sharing contribution (~₱20/short lift).

03. Impact

Won Best UX Design Award at IBPAP "Can You HackIT?" 2026 against competing university teams; chosen as the DICT Philippine Startup Challenge XI (PSC XI) Region VII qualifier; verified across 300+ surveyed campus commuters documenting 96.1% driver willingness and 92.2% student adoption demand.