Two South African young men, who moved to Silicon Valley, one of the world’s centres of technological excellence in California, have developed an app for public transport navigation.

Tyler Hoffman and Unathi Chonco, former learners of Pretoria Boys High School and the University of Pretoria, have released Transit Wise, which they believe will revolutionise public transport in South Africa.

“I hope that we can bring a major reform to public transport as we know it, because these systems can be really useful if maintained and used properly,” said Chonco, who is from Westville outside Durban.

Transit Wise, which is available for free on the App Store, is currently only accessible to Gauteng residents. Plans are being made to expand to the rest of the country.

The app, which they believe will bring more people to public transport systems, will cause a large scale reform in transit systems and directly impact communities around them. It shows one all the necessary steps to get from point A to point B, including the trip duration and costs.

The duo, Hoffman from Pretoria, and Chonco, met in high school when their passion for programming and app development made them realise that working together was the first step to achieve some form of success.

From winning an app development competition in their junior year of high school to developing an app for Android and iPhone devices in their first year of university, Chonco and Hoffman have harnessed the skills to change the face of transportation in the province.