UrbanLink: Cardano-Powered EV Carpool for Urban Mobility

[Proposal setup] Proposal title

Please provide your proposal title

UrbanLink: Cardano-Powered EV Carpool for Urban Mobility

[Proposal Summary] Budget Information

Enter the amount of funding you are requesting in ADA

165600

[Proposal Summary] Time

Please specify how many months you expect your project to last

9

[Proposal Summary] Translation Information

Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated

No

Original Language

en

[Proposal Summary] Problem Statement

What is the problem you want to solve?

Accra’s daily commuters face severe traffic congestion, long travel times, and rising transport costs, worsened by unreliable and poorly coordinated transport systems

[Proposal Summary] Supporting Documentation

Supporting links

• https://github.com/JUSTICEESSIELP/
,
• https://github.com/MegaBytee
,
• https://www.figma.com/proto/7yMjQMgLS192OTu2L3Leez/UrbanLink?node-id=0-1&p=f&t=i5y8swnA1YqkqDR6-0&scaling=scale-down&content-scaling=fixed&starting-point-node-id=14%3A849
,
• https://magomotorsghana.com/Ev.html
,
• https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/156dgh_fr691srl88BDjogdMF6I-1ZXvL?usp=sharing

[Proposal Summary] Project Dependencies

Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

Yes

Describe any dependencies or write 'No dependencies'

Mago Motors Ghana. They will provide the EV buses required for the operational pilot. They supply a 10-seater EV bus for scheduled rides, ensuring reliable transport capacity. Additionally, Mago Motors Ghana supports logistics coordination for the pilot, including driver availability, bus maintenance, and operational safety throughout the pilot phase. The company is affiliated with Mago Motors Japan, strengthening the credibility and technical backing behind the buses and services provided. Their partnership in this project is formalized through a signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which secures commitment and clearly outlines responsibilities.

[Proposal Summary] Project Open Source

Will your project's outputs be fully open source?

No

Please provide details on the intellectual property (IP) status of your project outputs, including whether they will be released as open source or retained under another licence.

UrbanLink will provide open-source API documentation and smart contract templates for the Cardano community. The mobile application itself will remain proprietary during the pilot phase but may be partially opened later to allow developers to build on backend integrations and core features. License: MIT License Scope: API documentation and smart contracts available for replication and improvement by the community.

[Theme Selection] Theme

Please choose the most relevant theme and tag related to the outcomes of your proposal

Marketplace

[Campaign Category] Category Questions

Describe what makes your idea innovative compared to what has been previously launched in the market (whether by you or others).

UrbanLink is innovative because it combines scheduled EV carpooling, fiat payments, and blockchain-backed trip and reputation logging — a combination not previously offered in Accra. Traditional buses are cheap but overcrowded, slow, and unreliable, while ride-hailing apps often lack transparency, predictability, and trust mechanisms. UrbanLink addresses these gaps by:

• Scheduled Rides: Unlike on-demand apps, commuters can rely on predictable pick-up and drop-off times, reducing uncertainty and wait times.
• EV Integration: Environmentally friendly vehicles reduce emissions and offer a more comfortable ride than conventional minibuses.
• Blockchain Transparency: Using Cardano, all trips and reputations are recorded immutably, fostering trust between riders and drivers.
• Local Adaptation: Payments start in fiat to accommodate users unfamiliar with crypto, but are logged in ADA equivalents on the backend, bridging traditional finance and blockchain.
• Validated Demand: We conducted a market research survey with over 1,000 respondents, all employees from more than 20 different companies across Accra, and the results show a strong demand, confirming both usability and scalability potential. Find survey results here.

This approach uniquely merges tech, sustainability, trust, and local usability, creating a solution tailored for Accra’s commuting challenges rather than replicating existing models.

Describe what your prototype or MVP will demonstrate, and where it can be accessed.

The UrbanLink MVP will demonstrate a fully functional scheduled EV carpool platform for Accra, showcasing:

• Trip Requests & Scheduling: Riders create and schedule trips, specifying pick-up and drop-off locations and preferred times.
• Payments: Passengers pay in fiat, with backend logging of ADA-equivalent values on the Cardano blockchain.
• Decentralized Identity (DID): Drivers, riders, and EV buses are all registered with DIDs, ensuring trust, accountability, and verifiable participation.
• Reputation System: Blockchain-backed ratings record and display reliability and feedback for drivers, riders, and buses.
• Operational Pilot: Real-world deployment with 100 active users completing 200 rides, using EV 10-seater buses provided by Mago Motors, all registered with DIDs for transparency.

The MVP will be accessible via mobile dApp during the pilot phase and deployed on the Cardano testnet for smart contract testing, backend logging, and reputation tracking. Screenshots, demo videos, and analytics reports will be shared with assessors and the Cardano community.

Describe realistic measures of success, ideally with on-chain metrics.

1. User Engagement:

• Target: 100 active riders participating in the operational pilot.
• On-chain metric: Number of unique rider DIDs interacting with the platform.

1. Trip Volume:

• Target: 200 completed rides during the pilot.
• On-chain metric: Smart contract logs of trip creation, bookings, and completions recorded on Cardano.

1. Payment Transparency:

• Target: All ride payments logged accurately in ADA-equivalent values on the backend.
• On-chain metric: Number of transactions recorded, showing correct fiat-to-ADA mapping.

1. Reputation System:

• Target: At least 80% of users submit ratings after rides.
• On-chain metric: Blockchain records of user feedback and ratings, associated with rider, driver, and bus DIDs.

[Your Project and Solution] Solution

Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem

UrbanLink is a scheduled EV carpool platform designed to address the inefficiencies, unreliability, and stress of daily commuting in Accra.

Traditional transport is often overcrowded, slow, and unpredictable, forcing commuters to spend excessive time and money while enduring uncomfortable rides. UrbanLink’s solution integrates technology, sustainability, and trust mechanisms to solve these challenges:

• Scheduled Rides:

Unlike traditional buses that stop at every bus stop, UrbanLink allows riders to create and schedule trips in advance via a mobile dApp. This ensures that trips run on predictable timelines, reducing uncertainty, waiting times, and travel-related stress. Drivers do not create trips; instead, they provide the vehicles and act as verified operators, which simplifies operations and ensures safety.

• Electric Vehicle Integration:

UrbanLink exclusively uses EV 10-seater buses provided by Mago Motors for the pilot program. EVs provide a comfortable, eco-friendly alternative to traditional minibuses while maintaining operational reliability. Each bus is registered with a Decentralized Identity (DID), allowing riders and the community to verify the vehicle and driver, enhancing trust.

• Payment System:

To accommodate users unfamiliar with crypto, UrbanLink accepts fiat payments during the pilot. These payments are logged in ADA-equivalent values on the Cardano backend, creating immutable, blockchain-based transaction records without requiring riders to directly hold or use ADA. This approach bridges traditional finance with blockchain transparency, building confidence in Cardano-enabled applications.

• Decentralized Identity (DID):

Drivers, riders, and buses are all registered with DIDs, which provides a trustable, verifiable digital identity. This prevents misuse, ensures accountability, and allows for secure, verifiable interactions between participants, addressing trust issues common in traditional transport.

• Reputation System:

UrbanLink integrates a blockchain-backed reputation system that records ratings and feedback for drivers, riders, and buses. This creates accountability, encourages responsible behavior, and allows participants to make informed decisions when booking rides. Unlike informal systems, the on-chain nature ensures that reputations are tamper-proof and transparent.

• Operational Pilot:

The pilot program is designed for 100 active users completing 200 rides. The MVP will demonstrate real-world usability, operational reliability, and the effectiveness of the reputation system and backend logging. By validating the platform in a controlled environment, UrbanLink can gather user feedback, refine processes, and prepare for scalable deployment.

• Blockchain Integration & Transparency:

All relevant data — trip requests, bookings, payments (ADA equivalents), and reputations — are recorded on the Cardano blockchain via smart contracts. This ensures transparency, traceability, and auditability, directly addressing the problem of opaque or unreliable transport systems.

• Evidence-Based Design:

UrbanLink’s development is informed by 1,000+ survey responses, showing that more than 95% of respondents are open to a structured carpooling alternative.

This data validates both demand and usability, ensuring that the solution is grounded in real commuter needs. These respondents are employees from more than 20 different companies across Accra. Find market research survey results here.

[Your Project and Solution] Impact

Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community

UrbanLink is designed not only to solve commuting challenges in Accra but also to showcase the practical utility, scalability, and social relevance of Cardano in real-world applications. The positive impact on the wider Cardano community can be seen across several dimensions:

• Demonstrating Real-World Utility:

UrbanLink bridges traditional finance and blockchain by allowing riders to pay in fiat while logging ADA-equivalent values on Cardano. This provides a practical example of Cardano’s use in everyday transactions, showing how blockchain can support large-scale, real-world operations even in regions where crypto adoption is still emerging.

• On-Chain Data for Ecosystem Insights:

All interactions — trip requests, bookings, payments, and reputations — are recorded immutably on Cardano. This generates valuable on-chain data that developers, researchers, and other projects can use to understand usage patterns, smart contract performance, and user behavior. These insights can inform future dApp development, system optimizations, and ecosystem scaling strategies.

• Enhanced Trust and Transparency:

By integrating DID-based identities for drivers, riders, and buses and recording reputations on-chain, UrbanLink strengthens trust in blockchain systems. This demonstrates the potential of decentralized identity and blockchain verification in public-facing applications, inspiring confidence in other Cardano-based projects.

• Showcasing Scalable Smart Contract Applications:

UrbanLink will deploy smart contracts to handle trip booking, payments, and reputation tracking. The operational pilot will demonstrate how smart contracts can manage real-world, high-frequency transactions reliably, serving as a template for other use cases and encouraging developers to explore Cardano’s technical capabilities.

• Driving Community Engagement and Adoption:

Through the pilot, UrbanLink will engage 100 active users and collect extensive feedback, creating an early community of participants who interact with Cardano-enabled systems without prior crypto experience. This represents organic onboarding of new users, increasing familiarity and trust with Cardano technologies.

• Providing a Blueprint for Social Impact dApps:

UrbanLink demonstrates how Cardano can be leveraged for socially impactful applications—in this case, improving transportation efficiency, reducing commuting stress, and offering environmentally friendly EV rides. This positions Cardano as a blockchain capable of solving real societal problems, attracting both developers and impact-oriented investors to the ecosystem.

• Catalyzing Future Projects:

The insights, data, and operational knowledge gained from UrbanLink will inform future Funding rounds and other Cardano initiatives, offering a tested model for combining blockchain transparency, decentralized identity, and real-world logistics. This creates a ripple effect, strengthening the Cardano ecosystem’s maturity and credibility.

[Your Project and Solution] Capabilities & Feasibility

What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

1. Capability to Deliver with Trust and Accountability:

UrbanLink is led by a team with a proven track record in business development, project management, and blockchain integration. The team has successfully:

• Conducted market research survey with 1,000+ respondents, who are employees from over 20 companies across Accra, to validate commuter demand, demonstrating strong research and community engagement skills. Over 95% are open to a structured carpooling alternative as that proposed by UrbanLink. Find survey details here.
• Established a formal partnership with Mago Motors, backed by a signed MoU, ensuring operational reliability and accountability for vehicle supply and driver coordination.
• Managed prior projects integrating technology solutions for real-world applications, demonstrating competence in coordinating complex processes and ensuring timely delivery.
• Built trust through transparent communication and rigorous documentation at every stage, ensuring stakeholders,including users, drivers, and the Cardano community, are consistently informed and engaged.

1. Approach to Validate Feasibility:

UrbanLink’s feasibility will be validated through multiple mechanisms:

• Operational Pilot: Deploying the MVP with 100 active users completing 200 rides provides real-world validation of system reliability, usability, and rider adoption.
• Blockchain Logging: All trip interactions, payments, and reputations will be logged on Cardano, allowing the team to monitor and validate transaction integrity, smart contract performance, and data accuracy.
• User Feedback: Structured surveys and feedback collection during the pilot will provide actionable insights on platform usability, trust, and satisfaction.
• Technical Testing: Comprehensive internal testing of smart contracts, backend integration, and DID functionality will ensure operational readiness and scalability.
• Data-Driven Decision Making: On-chain metrics, transaction logs, and pilot analytics will provide empirical evidence of the platform’s effectiveness and the feasibility of scaling UrbanLink beyond the pilot.

Together, these measures ensure high levels of trust, accountability, and verifiable feasibility, demonstrating to both the Cardano community and potential investors that UrbanLink can deliver a reliable, impactful, and blockchain-enabled urban mobility solution.

[Milestones] Project Milestones

Milestone Title

Platform Architecture, API Documentation, and UI Wireframes

Milestone Outputs

• Design a scalable backend architecture using FastAPI/Django to manage seamless communication between user-facing applications, smart contracts, and Cardano blockchain, ensuring high performance and future scalability.
• Produce complete API documentation detailing endpoints, authentication, data structures, and blockchain integration for smooth developer implementation and long-term maintainability.
• Create detailed UI wireframes in Figma illustrating rider-driven trip creation, booking flows, payment interfaces, and DID verification, optimized for web and mobile user experience.

Acceptance Criteria

• Backend architecture is fully defined, optimized, and reviewed for scalability, maintainability, and performance.
• API documentation covers all integration points, validated by technical reviewers.
• UI wireframes demonstrate all key workflows including trip creation, booking, payments, and DID authentication, approved for development

Evidence of Completion

• GitHub or shared links for backend architecture and API documentation.
• Figma wireframes or shareable links showing workflow designs for web and mobile platforms.
• Completed developer requirement sheets detailing all features and interactions

Delivery Month

2

Cost

31000

Progress

20 %

Milestone Title

Smart Contract Development and Testing

Milestone Outputs

• Develop smart contracts to manage trip bookings, payment escrows, and trip completion verification, ensuring transparency and trust between riders and drivers.
• Conduct thorough unit testing and security audits on smart contracts to confirm correctness, reliability, and secure blockchain operations.
• Peer reviews and internal audits to ensure smart contracts meet technical and security standards, and implement feedback for optimization.

Acceptance Criteria

• Smart contracts deployed on Cardano testnet using tADA and function correctly for bookings, payments, and completion verification.
• Unit tests validate functional correctness, security, and error handling.
• Peer review reports confirm compliance with technical specifications and project requirements.

Evidence of Completion

• Testnet transaction logs demonstrating successful execution of trips, payments, and completion agreements.
• Unit testing documentation with methodology, scenarios, results, and resolution logs.
• Peer review feedback and enhancement documentation for smart contracts.

Delivery Month

2

Cost

31000

Progress

40 %

Milestone Title

MVP Development (Mobile dApp)

Milestone Outputs

• Integrate smart contracts, DID authentication, and blockchain reputation system into an MVP, allowing riders to create trips, book rides, and interact with a transparent feedback system.
• Build responsive web and mobile applications that enable users to book rides, make payments, and view reputation scores efficiently.
• Conduct internal testing of the MVP for functionality, usability, integration, and cross-platform performance.

Acceptance Criteria

• MVP deployed on Cardano testnet supporting full workflows for riders: trip creation, booking, payment, and reputation interactions.
• Internal testing confirms usability, reliability, and performance across platforms, with issues documented and resolved.
• Smart contract execution and DID authentication operate without errors and meet performance benchmarks.

Evidence of Completion

• Demo videos or screenshots of MVP workflows.
• Internal testing reports including scenarios, results, issues resolved, and user feedback.
• Demonstration of blockchain interactions and DID verification in the MVP

Delivery Month

2

Cost

31000

Progress

60 %

Milestone Title

Operational Pilot & User Feedback

Milestone Outputs

• Launch pilot program with 100 active users completing 200 rides using EV 10-seater buses from Mago Motors, each bus registered with a DID for trust and verification.
• Collect structured user feedback on usability, payment reliability, and reputation system functionality.
• Track real-world system performance, including booking efficiency, transaction success, and platform uptime.

Acceptance Criteria

• 100 active participants complete 200 rides successfully.
• ≥75% of participants provide structured feedback covering usability, payment experience, and reputation system.
• System meets benchmarks: ≥95% transaction success, ≤5 min booking time

Evidence of Completion

• User feedback surveys and interview summaries.
• Analytics reports showing trip completions, payments, and performance metrics.
• Media (photos/videos) documenting pilot usage and platform interactions.

Delivery Month

3

Cost

50500

Progress

90 %

Milestone Title

Closeout, Launch, and Expansion

Milestone Outputs

• Expand platform adoption post-pilot, increasing user base and completed rides.
• Implement ADA loyalty/reward system to incentivize repeat usage and active participation.
• Integrate pilot feedback to optimize platform usability, performance, and stability.
• Execute marketing campaigns to increase awareness and accelerate adoption.
• Produce final closeout report and video documenting outcomes, lessons, and impact.

Acceptance Criteria

• All prior milestones approved by milestone reviewers.
• Closeout report and video approved and published to the Cardano community.
• Increased adoption, usage metrics, and functioning loyalty/rewards system

Evidence of Completion

• Analytics reports showing active user growth and ride completions.
• Transaction logs demonstrating ADA rewards usage.
• Marketing campaign metrics and assets showing outreach and engagement.
• Final closeout report and video shared publicly.

Delivery Month

1

Cost

15600

Progress

100 %

[Final Pitch] Budget & Costs

Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

1. Platform Architecture, API Documentation, and UI Wireframes – 17,000 ADA

• Backend Architecture & Database Design: 7,000 ADA
• API Design & Documentation: 5,000 ADA
• UI/UX Wireframes (Figma): 3,500 ADA
• Project Management & Coordination: 1,500 ADA

1. Smart Contract Development and Testing – 28,000 ADA

• Smart Contract Coding (Booking, Payments, Reputation): 15,000 ADA
• Unit Testing & QA: 6,000 ADA
• Peer Reviews & Security Audits: 5,000 ADA
• Documentation & Technical Review: 2,000 ADA

1. Minimum Viable Product (MVP) Development – 30,000 ADA

• Frontend Development (Mobile dApp): 12,000 ADA
• Backend Integration & API Implementation: 10,000 ADA
• Blockchain Integration (Wallets, ADA Logging, Reputation System): 5,000 ADA
• DevOps & Cloud Setup / Project Coordination: 3,000 ADA

1. Operational Pilot & User Feedback – 50,500 ADA

• Vehicle Operations (4 EV 10-seater buses, Drivers, Logistics)
• User Onboarding & Support
• Monitoring & Data Collection Tools
• Feedback Gathering & Analysis

1. Closeout, Launch, and Expansion – 35,100 ADA

• Loyalty & Rewards System Development: 10,000 ADA
• Marketing & Promotional Campaign: 12,000 ADA
• Platform Optimizations & Bug Fixes: 8,000 ADA
• Final Reporting & Closeout Video Production: 5,100 ADA

1. Contingency – 10,000 ADA

• Reserved for unexpected operational costs, inflation, or other unforeseen expenses.

[Final Pitch] Value for Money

How does the cost of the project represent value for the Cardano ecosystem?

The total budget of 155,600 ADA represents exceptional value for the Cardano ecosystem because every expense is directly tied to creating tangible on-chain utility, real-world impact, and ecosystem adoption.

• Practical On-Chain Use Cases

Every trip, booking, payment, and reputation record is logged on the Cardano blockchain, demonstrating smart contract functionality and DID integration in a real-world scenario.

This provides measurable, verifiable blockchain activity that can serve as reference data for other projects, developers, and researchers in the ecosystem.

• Pilot-Driven Validation:

The operational pilot engages 100 active users completing 200 rides with EV buses.

This validates system reliability, smart contract performance, and user experience in a controlled but real-world environment, reducing risks for future deployments.

• Scalable, Reusable Components:

The platform architecture, smart contracts, APIs, and UI wireframes will be documented and potentially open-sourced, providing reusable building blocks for other dApps, reducing future development costs for the Cardano community.

• Bridging Traditional Finance and Blockchain:

By starting with fiat payments logged as ADA equivalents, UrbanLink encourages adoption by users unfamiliar with crypto while still building on-chain activity.

This lowers barriers for Cardano adoption, broadening the ecosystem’s user base without compromising blockchain benefits.

• Sustainable Mobility Integration:

Using EV buses with DIDs combines environmental sustainability with blockchain transparency.

This showcases Cardano’s capability to support socially impactful, real-world initiatives, attracting attention from developers, investors, and communities worldwide.

• Risk Mitigation and Contingency Planning:

The inclusion of a 10,000 ADA contingency ensures that unforeseen costs or inflation do not disrupt milestone delivery, demonstrating prudent financial management and accountability.

The allocation ensures that every ADA contributes to technical innovation, operational validation, ecosystem engagement, and measurable impact, maximizing value for the Cardano community while providing a scalable model for future blockchain-enabled urban mobility solutions.

[Self-Assessment] Self-Assessment Checklist

I confirm that evidence of prior research, whitepaper, design, or proof-of-concept is provided.

Yes

I confirm that the proposal includes ecosystem research and uses the findings to either (a) justify its uniqueness over existing solutions or (b) demonstrate the value of its novel approach.

Yes

I confirm that the proposal demonstrates technical capability via verifiable in-house talent or a confirmed development partner (GitHub, LinkedIn, portfolio, etc.)

Yes

I confirm that the proposer and all team members are in good standing with prior Catalyst projects.

Yes

I confirm that the proposal clearly defines the problem and the value of the on-chain utility.

Yes

I confirm that the primary goal of the proposal is a working prototype deployed on at least a Cardano testnet.

Yes

I confirm that the proposal outlines a credible and clear technical plan and architecture.

Yes

I confirm that the budget and timeline (≤ 12 months) are realistic for the proposed work.

Yes

I confirm that the proposal includes a community engagement and feedback plan to amplify prototype adoption with the Cardano ecosystem.

Yes

I confirm that the budget is for future development only; excludes retroactive funding, incentives, giveaways, re-granting, or sub-treasuries.

Yes

[Required Acknowledgements] Consent & Confirmation

I Agree

Yes