The builder's path
For: Kyoto residents can't get on crowded city buses, and visitors can't see which less crowded way to reach the same sight.
“Some things are under our control, while others are not under our control.”
Routes to a solution
Each route is a different kind of journey, with real people and organisations to contact at each step, starting with those in Kyoto.
Step 1
Join an incubator or startup mission
They connect you to schemes and officials.
Y Combinator's free course and co-founder matching.
Accelerator for tech nonprofits.
Network of civic tech groups in many countries; find the one near the problem.
Step 2
Win a seed grant
Prove the idea works with a small, funded prototype.
Funds bold ideas in global health and humanitarian work.
Let the people a free tool helps fund its maintainer directly.
Grants for open source that makes the internet better.
Funds open source solutions from emerging economies.
Step 3
Pilot with a public body
A district, city or department tries it with real people.
Network of civic tech groups in many countries; find the one near the problem.
Ideas, sources and tools for this problem, from first interviews to funding.
Japan's open data platform for public transport timetables and positions.
Runs the city bus network and the overtourism measures.
Starter prompt
Built from this problem's brief. Paste it into Claude or any AI assistant.
Help me design and build a first working prototype for this problem in Kyoto, Japan. Problem: Kyoto residents can't get on crowded city buses, and visitors can't see which less crowded way to reach the same sight. Who it hurts: Residents, students and patients who depend on city buses, and visitors heading to the same temples and shrines. The moment it hurts: A bus stop near a major sight in peak season, with a long queue of visitors and full buses passing by. What people do today: Visitors follow map apps to the most direct bus. Residents leave earlier or give up. The city is planning higher fares for non-residents and has added tourist-only buses. Why it is still unsolved: Visitors don't see crowding, and the routing apps they use don't show subway or walking options as equal choices when buses are full. What solved looks like: A visitor-facing page, linked from hotels and stations, that for each major sight shows how crowded the direct buses are right now and a clear alternative by subway, train or walking, with the time difference. Where: Kyoto, Japan First, list what you would need to learn from the people affected before building, as interview questions. Then propose the simplest version that would help, the screens or messages it needs, and the data it would use. Keep it cheap to run, accessible, and respectful of people's privacy. Flag anything you are unsure about instead of guessing.
Talk to the people who live it before you build.
“The unexamined life is not worth living.”
ὁ δὲ ἀνεξέταστος βίος οὐ βιωτὸς ἀνθρώπῳ
Get a working version in front of people fast.
Using AI is not cheating. Every tool carries the work of the people who made it, and using it well is how knowledge has always moved forward. The thinking, the care for the people who live the problem, and the judgement are still yours.
“The Analytical Engine weaves algebraical patterns just as the Jacquard-loom weaves flowers and leaves.”
Open data that fits this problem.
“You cannot step twice into the same river.”
Tools matched to what this problem needs.
“Arise, awake; seek out the wise and learn.”
उत्तिष्ठत जाग्रत प्राप्य वरान्निबोधत
uttiṣṭhata jāgrata prāpya varān nibodhata
Ship it responsibly, and find help and funding.
“Act, keeping in view the welfare of the world.”
लोकसंग्रहमेवापि सम्पश्यन्कर्तुमर्हसि
lokasaṅgraham evāpi sampaśyan kartum arhasi
Kit written for this problem from its brief; every link was checked. Links go to each provider's own site. Zetema is not paid for any listing.