Notre Dame undergraduates Luke Blazek and Brian George, together with their childhood friend Tom Vazhekatt, a student at the University of Texas at Dallas, have launched an app called Routora that uses artificial intelligence to provide faster, more efficient multi-stop routes.
The app, which integrates seamlessly with Google Maps, Apple Maps and Waze, not only saves drivers’ time and money, but also reduces their carbon footprint. It is targeted toward people running everyday errands and independent drivers for companies like Amazon, Walmart and Target — who represent an underserved population, according to Blazek and George.
With no money spent on marketing, Routora has now amassed more than 30,000 drivers from over 90 countries who have saved a combined 1.7 million miles on the road, $300,000 in fuel costs and over 600 kilograms in carbon dioxide emissions — the equivalent of saving 31,000 trees.