Loyola grad students create push alert app for CTA elevators

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Two graduate students at Loyola University designed an app that tells CTA commuters when elevators are out of service.

Software Engineering students Sam Siner and Tyler Arndt originally created the app for a class project, but it soon turned into something more.

"We realized that we wanted to do something that we could use and something that we could give back to the community, as well," Arndt said.

"We found pretty quickly that elevator outages were a big issue," Siner added. "Something that happens frequently and people don't often know if elevators are down or up."

Working elevators at CTA train stops are important for people with disabilities, parents with strollers and people with luggage.

So when they're not working, it can be a huge inconvenience.

That's why the pair created "Elevate," to "close the communication gap" and notify commuters when elevators are in- and out-of-service.

Using the app is simple. Commuters open it and "favorite" their preferred train stations. From there, the app will send push alerts and let people know when elevators stop working and when they're back up-and-running.

That's it.

"If we had an app that was hard to use or navigate we're not really fixing the communication gap," Arndt said. "So, by making it very easy-to-use, the communication gap is fixed."

As reported by Block Club Chicago, "Elevate" was released on Android platforms last summer and beta-tested for Rogers Park residents.

The app has information for all CTA lines and is updated every 30 minutes. Siner and Arndt hope to release a version of "Elevate" for iPhone users soon.