Ready...Set...Ride uses the Operating System

Ready...Set...Ride is a mobile application that uses GPS tracking to provide students with accurate, real time arrival times of Centro buses and shuttles. In addition to bus arrival times, Ready...Set...Ride will also provide directions to nearest bus stops, transit directions from one location go another, bus route maps, and alerts for each time the every bus is running its final route.


Operating systems are the most important components of a functioning computer. An operating system is defined as a set of programs containing instructions that work together to coordinate all the activities among computer hardware resources. An operating system controls basic functions of a computer, functions that will be very much needed to run operate Ready...Set...Ride. Ready...Set...Ride will need an operating system when starting and shutting down all computers in the main office, including the main system where all the data and monitoring configuration required to run the mobile application stems from.

In addition to starting and shutting down all computers in the main office, Ready...Set...Ride will use a custom crated operating system to create a graphical user interface (GUI) with which the users will interact with menus, and issue commands through the application. The GUI will also determine how information is displayed on the screen. In addition, the operating system will help with updating the software automatically, so users don't have to worry about installing new feature by themselves. 


Due to the fact that Ready...Set..Ride is an application built for mobile use, in order to access the great features offered by it, one would a phone. However, in order for a phone to be of any good use, the device would need an operating system to handle it's configuration, monitor performance, memory, and applications (including Ready...Set...Ride). Mobile devices have a different kind of operating system called an Embedded operating system which is essentially a scaled down version of operating systems used on computers.