NextStep

Inspiration

Our inspiration came from wanting a better, more flexible digital mapping experience—one that not only shows routes from A to B but also weaves in health, safety, environmental considerations, and community building. We saw potential for a tool that can:

• Suggest scenic, well-lit walking paths for exercise or leisurely strolls.
• Surface environmentally friendly commute options (e.g. bike routes, green corridors).
• Highlight community events or local meetups to help people connect.
• Keep travelers informed of safety conditions, like night visibility or road closures.

We set out to create a map-based “search engine” that uses natural language queries (“find me a scenic walking route” or “what community events are happening this weekend?”) and places everything on an interactive map.

What it does

NextStep is a versatile map application that:

• Searches Anything: Use natural language to find normal driving routes, scenic alternatives with better night visibility, local news articles, or upcoming community meetups and events.
• Emphasizes Health & Safety: Offers route variants factoring in healthier, safer or well-lit areas at night.
• Focuses on Environment: Surfaces eco-friendly transit options, scenic hiking spots, or low-emission routes.
• Builds Community: Integrates data on local meetups, neighborhood gatherings, or volunteering opportunities, so you can easily see where people are connecting.

How we built it

Backend built with JavaScript and Bun, with a Next.js frontend, and word processing done with Chat Completions API. Web scraping done with Puppeteer. Maps made OpenStreetMap and Google Maps API.

Challenges we ran into

1. Rate Limiting & API Quotas: We quickly hit our Google search tokens cap, pushing us to explore new methods of data retrieval.
2. Data Complexity: Integrating environment- and health-related data (like well-lit routes, scenic viewpoints) required creative scraping and filtering.
3. Balancing Multiple Sources: Merging local event boards, safety reports, and route info into one cohesive UI.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Incorporating community and environmental data, we've integrated local event scraping and scenic route recommendations, bridging the gap between digital maps and user-focused needs like health and safety. Our natural language approach handles everything from “Plan a day hike near me” to “Find the best lit route for a late jog,” delivering relevant map results on the fly. Despite API rate limits, we adapted our methods and stayed true to creating a more holistic mapping experience. Users gain a healthier, safer, and more community-driven mapping tool—flexible enough to fit all their everyday needs.

What we learned

We discovered the complexity of integrating data from multiple sources—especially balancing APIs, web scraping, and AI-driven query processing for routes and local events. Along the way, we gained deeper insights into handling environmental and safety-focused datasets, aligning them with user-centric design principles. We also learned how to adapt quickly when facing rate limits or changing requirements, ensuring our final solution remained both flexible and people-focused.

What's next for NextStep

NextStep aims to expand its reach by incorporating more specialized data—such as crowd-sourced safety reports, updated environmental impact scores, or real-time public transit conditions. We plan to refine the AI-driven query handling to offer even more nuanced route suggestions (e.g., “scenic route with the fewest hills”). Ultimately, we envision NextStep as a holistic travel and community companion—integrating local commerce, user-submitted reviews, and shared trip itineraries to encourage healthier, greener, and more socially connected journeys.

Built With

• bun
• filmora
• google-maps
• next.js
• openstreetmap
• puppeteer