When the first big snow dump covered Winnipeg this week, the developers of a new phone app put their technology to the test.
sa国际传媒淵ou can think of it as Uber for snow removal,sa国际传媒� said OnTheStep founder Buhle Mwanza, referring to the ride-hailing app.
Mwanza spent months developing the on-demand snow clearing app, which connects homeowners with shovellers sa国际传媒� called steppers sa国际传媒� to get their driveways and walkways cleared.
Looking around at snow-covered driveways on Thursday, the University of Manitoba computer science student said he was inspired by Winnipegsa国际传媒檚 nickname of Winterpeg.
sa国际传媒淚 was just thinking why not make a problem all of us have to go through as innovative and fun as possible and really embrace that Winterpeg identity?sa国际传媒�
Homeowners can download the app for free and set up a profile, including location, size of driveway and how many cars park there. When the snow starts to fall, as it always does in large quantities in Winnipeg, they can request shovelling services from their phone.
Once a price is set, a shovelling notification goes out to all the steppers in the area and one sa国际传媒� or a team, depending on the size of the job sa国际传媒� will get to work.
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Homeowners get notifications of each aspect of the job: when the stepper arrives, when the work is done, and when the money goes through.
The app launched earlier this month, but the city had yet to see much snow. As Environment Canada put out a special weather statement for the incoming winter storm on Wednesday, Mwanza became excited to see if people would want the service and how it would all work.
He went to the first shovel request himself and the homeowner was so excited, they took photos together. But soon after, more and more requests started to come in.
OnTheStep recently partnered with Hire-A-Refugee, a local organization that connects refugees with jobs, but the demand for services was outpacing the supply of shovellers.
So Mwanza, along with the other OnTheStep team members sa国际传媒� Tyrel Praymayer, Alex Shao and Tristen Wong sa国际传媒� pulled out their shovels and got to work. From the first request Wednesday afternoon until around 3 a.m. Thursday, the group trudged up and down driveways with shovels.
sa国际传媒淚 feel like snow and Winnipeg is sort of like a bonding experience. We all have to deal with it,sa国际传媒� said Praymayer, OnTheStepsa国际传媒檚 marketing manager and student at the Asper School of Business at the University of Manitoba.
sa国际传媒淲innipeg is great inspiration for this app. Itsa国际传媒檚 a beautiful way of incorporating Winnipeg into innovation.sa国际传媒�
Despite a night and morning of shovelling, team members said they are excited by the demand of the first big snowfall.
sa国际传媒淪now definitely has a different identity in our mindsets now,sa国际传媒� Mwanza said.
Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press
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