Creating an app to model road mobility networks in Lima, Peru
On December 2023, I visited the Institute for Metropolitan Planning (IMP) in Lima. The director had invited me to share some of my geospatial analysis projects from my master's studies and explore potential collaborations. Around that time, Lima's mayor had announced a bold infrastructure initiative: building 60 flyover bridges to ease traffic congestion in one of the most gridlocked cities in Latin America.
When I asked how the city was simulating the impact of new network designs on urban mobility, the answer was: "We are not simulating anything, our budget is constrained, and there is no political will to solve this problem." I couldn't think of anything else after this meeting. I started thinking about how I could create an easy-to-use tool to simulate urban mobility using open-source data, tools with no subscriptions or licenses, and without data privacy concerns.
My first attempt with FastAPI and React came to an unfortunate halt. Fused allowed me to revisit the idea and easily create an API endpoint and lightweight app I could easily share with anyone.