Chirath Soithong GitHub Résumé PDF

Project 04Rutgers Road to Silicon ValleyTeam of three2025

Cheaper rides between campuses: a campus ride-pooling pitch.

Pitch · clickable prototype

BeforeWhat we saw: crowded, slow buses between campuses.AfterA ride-pooling idea, shown as a clickable prototype.

Rutgers Business School on the Livingston campus at dusk: a tall glass-walled building joined to a second wing by a raised covered walkway, with bare trees and an empty campus road in front
Rutgers Business School on the Livingston campus, Rutgers–New Brunswick. Photo: ajay_suresh, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped)

The 60-second version

Project 04 · Pitch
Situation
What we saw: buses between the Rutgers–New Brunswick campuses were crowded, slow and hard to track.
What I did
Proposed switching our idea to campus ride-pooling, designed how it works and co-presented the pitch, backed by our team’s student survey.
Result
Top 20 finalist at Rutgers Road to Silicon Valley. We showed the judges a clickable prototype.
So what
The idea: seats in cars already heading to class become the supply, which keeps the price low.
Illustrative The idea: riders take the empty seats in a car already going to class.

What we saw

Buses between campuses were crowded, slow and hard to track.

Rutgers–New Brunswick students travel between campuses to get to class.

On those trips we saw crowded buses, traffic, and buses that were hard to track. Long trips between campuses got in the way of class schedules.

That became the problem our pitch set out to solve.

Exhibit 1A trip between campuses, as we saw it

Point at a number

Illustrative picture of a trip between campuses. Students wait at a bus stop, unsure when the next bus will come. A full bus is stuck in traffic behind a line of cars. At the campus, a clock shows a long trip eating into class time.

Next bus?
Traffic
Class
  1. Hard to track. It was hard to tell when the next bus would come.
  2. Crowded. The buses between campuses were full of students.
  3. Traffic. Buses got stuck in traffic on the way.
  4. Long trips. Long trips between campuses got in the way of class schedules.
Illustrative Drawn from what we saw on our own trips.Source: our pitch, Rutgers Road to Silicon Valley, 2025.

The pivot

I questioned our first idea and proposed campus ride-pooling instead.

A friend invited me to Rutgers Road to Silicon Valley, a pitching competition. Our team of three first looked at a swipe app for summer sublets, for students leaving their apartments.

I doubted that summer supply and demand would match, and proposed a different idea: campus ride-pooling.

It matches students who need a ride between campuses with students already driving to class.

Exhibit 2From summer sublets to campus rides

Scroll or click to switch

First idea

A swipe app for summer sublets

My questionWould summer supply and demand match?

The idea we pitched

Campus ride-pooling

The supplySeats in cars already heading to class.

Illustrative The two ideas, as cards.Source: our pitch, 2025.

How a ride works

Students already driving to class post their trip. Riders join and pay the driver.

The drivers are making the trip anyway. Their empty seats become rides between the campuses: College Avenue, Busch, Livingston and Cook/Douglass.

Exhibit 3Empty seats become rides between campuses

Scroll to fill the seats; point at a car

Illustrative schematic map of the four Rutgers–New Brunswick campuses: Busch and Livingston across the river from College Avenue and Cook/Douglass. A dashed campus bus loop links them. Three demo cars, each driven by a student already going to class, post a trip: 9:40 from Busch to College Avenue, 10:05 from Livingston to Cook/Douglass, and 11:15 from College Avenue to Livingston. Two riders join each car and take empty seats, and the cars drive on towards their campus.

  1. 1 · Post

    A student already driving to class posts the route, departure time and price.

  2. 2 · Join

    A rider finds a trip that fits, on the map or in the list, and joins it.

  3. 3 · Ride and pay

    The rider pays the driver. The app keeps a commission.

  1. Demo ride, 9:40. Busch to College Ave. Two riders joined; one seat left.
  2. Demo ride, 10:05. Livingston to Cook/Douglass. Two riders joined; one seat left.
  3. Demo ride, 11:15. College Ave to Livingston. Two riders joined; one seat left.
  4. The campus bus. What we saw: crowded, slow and hard to track.
Illustrative Schematic map, not to scale. Cars, times and riders are demo entries, as in our prototype.Source: our pitch, 2025.

What I did

I designed how the service works, for drivers, riders and the app.

  1. Questioned our first idea and proposed campus ride-pooling instead.
  2. Designed how it works: students already driving to class post the route, departure time and price; riders join a trip and pay the driver; the app keeps a commission.
  3. Used our team’s student survey on interest, willingness to pay and Uber spending to make the case on price.
  4. Co-presented the pitch with a teammate.

Exhibit 4The service I designed, lane by lane

Scroll to send one trip through it

DriverA student already driving to class

The appMatches the two

RiderA student who needs a ride

DriverPosts the tripRoute, time and price, for a trip they make anyway
The appShows itOn a campus map and in a list
RiderJoins a trip that fitsTakes an empty seat
RiderPays for the seatPayment goes to the driver
The appKeeps a commissionOn each ride
DriverIs paid by the riderFor seats that were empty
Illustrative One trip, from posted to paid. The time is a demo entry.Source: our pitch, 2025.

The price argument

Students told us what they spend on Uber. We used it to make our case on price.

Our team ran a student survey for the pitch. It asked about three things:

  • Interest in using the service
  • Willingness to pay
  • Current Uber spending

We used what students told us about Uber to argue that a seat in a car already going to class could cost much less than an Uber.

Exhibit 5One trip, shared: where the money goes

Scroll, or pick the riders

3 riders. Each rider pays the driver for a seat that was empty. The app keeps a commission on each ride.

Illustrative Block sizes are a sketch; each block stands for one rider’s payment.Source: our pitch, 2025.

What we showed the judges

A clickable prototype of the app, so the judges could see how it works.

It showed demo cars on a campus map, the same rides as a list by campus, a page of past rides, and settings with a dark mode.

Exhibit 6The prototype, redrawn: four screens

Pick a screen, tap a car, try dark mode

  1. Map

    9:41DipMap
    BuschLivingstonCollege AveCook/Douglass 9:40 10:05 11:15

    Demo ride

    Leaves 9:40Busch → College Ave

    2 of 3 seats takenRequest to join

  2. Rides

    9:41DipRides by campus
    • From BuschTo College Ave9:40 · 1 seat left
    • From LivingstonTo Cook/Douglass10:05 · 1 seat left
    • From College AveTo Livingston11:15 · 1 seat left
    • From Cook/DouglassTo Busch12:30 · 2 seats left

  3. Past rides

    9:41DipPast rides
    • Busch → College AveMonday · demo
    • Livingston → BuschTuesday · demo
    • College Ave → Cook/DouglassThursday · demo
    • Cook/Douglass → LivingstonFriday · demo
    • Busch → College AveMonday · demo
    • Livingston → Cook/DouglassTuesday · demo

  4. Settings

    9:41DipSettings

    Appearance

    Dark mode
Illustrative Redrawn for this page. Cars, times and rides are demo entries, as in our prototype.Source: our clickable prototype, 2025.

What happened

We pitched Dip, our campus ride-pooling idea, at Rutgers Road to Silicon Valley.

Pitch · clickable prototype

We walked the judges through it on our clickable prototype, and I presented it with a teammate.

My part
Proposed the ride-pooling idea, designed how it works, co-presented the pitch.
Together
The student survey, the clickable prototype and the pitch deck.

So whatThe idea: seats in cars already heading to class become the supply, which keeps the price low.

SkillsStudent survey · Service design · Pitching

Exhibit 7Our pitch, part by part

Scroll to deal the deck
  1. 01The problemCrowded buses and stressful waits between campuses.
  2. 02The idea: DipRides between campuses with students already driving to class.
  3. 03Verified ridesIdentity and driver checks, part of the proposal.
  4. 04The appA campus map of cars, with departure times, seats and a button to request to join.
  5. 05Paying for a tripRiders pay in the app; the driver is paid; the app keeps a service fee.
  6. 06How it makes moneyA commission on each ride, plus ads for study and productivity.

Dip

Our pitchRutgers Road to Silicon Valley, 2025. A team of three.

Six parts of our pitch deck, a line each.Source: our pitch deck, 2025.

Built with

  • Figma, clickable prototype
  • Canva, pitch deck

Figma for the clickable prototype and Canva for the pitch deck.