Cloud-native architecture
Context
The situation before the platform
Why shared mobility on an island needed one ecosystem instead of several disconnected transport services.
| The business |
A shared mobility operation serving commuters, drivers, fleet operators, enterprises and transportation administrators across Mauritius, spanning carpooling, taxi operations and employee transport. |
| The starting point |
As urban mobility demand grew, organisations, commuters and transport providers faced traffic congestion, inefficient route planning, underutilised vehicle capacity, fragmented transportation services and limited operational visibility. |
| The trigger |
Keeping continuously moving vehicles in sync. High-volume GPS updates, live route recalculation and rider–driver matching all had to work at once, against Mauritius-specific traffic and tourist travel patterns. |
| What they wanted |
One centralised platform covering ride coordination, route planning, automated dispatch, fleet tracking, enterprise mobility and sustainability reporting — from a ride request through to an ESG report. |
| Constraints |
Low-latency GPS synchronisation for vehicles that never stop moving · isolated enterprise environments coordinating carpooling, taxi and employee mobility side by side · multiple operator roles with different permissions · identity verification, safety workflows and accurate CO₂ and ESG reporting built in from the start. |
System
What it runs at today
The platform as delivered, live and scaling across Mauritius.
Enterprise travel costs
30%
Reduction in enterprise travel costs once corporate mobility moved into managed portals
AI capabilities
5
Document verification, smart dispatch and risk, document validation, fleet compliance and automated notifications
Engagement length
18%
Months, with a dedicated product team through build, launch and scaling
Team size
4+
Engineers, designers and QA covering frontend, backend, real-time infrastructure and AI integration
The engineering problem
Four gaps that shaped the build from day one
Not vague pain points — the specific tensions in running live tracking, smart matching, enterprise fleets and ESG reporting on one platform, each paired with what we did about it.
0
1
Keeping moving vehicles in sync, constantly and instantly
Vehicles are always on the move, so GPS data has to update in real time with minimal delay. The system has to absorb a massive flow of location updates from both riders and drivers while recalculating routes as conditions change.
What we did
A live tracking infrastructure built on Socket.IO with RabbitMQ-based communication layers, designed for scalable low-latency GPS synchronisation so location data and trip statuses keep flowing as active trips grow.
0
2
Connecting a rider to the right driver, not just the nearest one
Matching has to account for traffic, demand and location density, and Mauritius adds its own transport patterns and tourist behaviours. Beyond the pairing, the platform has to keep optimising pickup sequences, calculate sensible detours and support shared rides.
What we did
Smart carpool matching algorithms that evaluate rider–driver proximity in real time alongside route feasibility and demand, manage pickup sequencing, minimise detours and balance operational load across the system.
0
3
Isolated fleet environments running several mobility models at once
Enterprise transportation needs more than basic ride coordination. Each organisation needs its own environment, operating independently, handling carpooling, taxi services and employee transport, and supporting riders, drivers, fleet managers and administrators in parallel.
What we did
B2B enterprise mobility portals giving each business a controlled environment with centralised visibility, plus multi-role operational systems and automated driver payouts covering the financial side of fleet operations.
0
4
Safety, identity and CO₂ reporting all in the same system
A shared transport ecosystem only works on trust: safety measures, verified identities and controls that keep users to the features they are authorised for. Alongside that, the platform had to track environmental impact, calculate CO₂ reductions and produce accurate ESG reports.
What we did
Granular access control across roles, AI-assisted document verification for drivers and vehicles, and ESG dashboards computing CO₂ reduction metrics and eco-impact reports from live trip data.
Architecture
How it fits together
Simplified — the shape rather than every service.
0
1
Clients
React.js · TypeScript · Vite.js · Tailwind CSS · Redux Toolkit · AG-Grid
Rider, driver, fleet and administrator interfaces share one frontend stack, with map-based views and operational grids so a trip can be booked on a phone and supervised from a dispatch dashboard.
0
2
Gateway
Node.js · Express.js · JWT · OTP Verification · Bcrypt
An Express API surface on Node.js handles authentication, OTP-based verification and role resolution, so riders, drivers, fleet managers and administrators reach only the operations their role allows.
0
3
Services
Socket.io Live Tracking · RabbitMQ · Haversine Matching · Mapbox Polyline · Driver Payouts · ESG Analytics
Modular backend services separate ride management, matching logic, live tracking, payouts and sustainability analytics, so routing can be tuned without destabilising dispatch or reporting.
0
4
Data & infra
PostgreSQL · Prisma ORM · AWS · Firebase Admin SDK
PostgreSQL accessed through Prisma holds trip, fleet and sustainability data, deployed on AWS for cloud-native scalability, with infrastructure monitoring watching GPS tracking and fleet operations.
Real-time behaviour was treated as an architectural requirement rather than a tuning exercise: Socket.io and RabbitMQ communication layers, modular ride and matching services, and large-scale route simulation before release are what let continuous location updates and live recalculation run together.
Solutions
Six systems doing the actual work
Not a features list — the specific things we built behind every number above.
Live tracking infrastructure
Socket.IO keeps riders and drivers synchronised throughout a journey with continuous low-latency GPS updates, scaling as the number of active trips grows.
Smart carpool matching
Algorithms calculate rider–driver proximity in real time, pair on the most efficient route, sequence pickups and minimise detours for shared trips.
B2B enterprise mobility portals
Dedicated, controlled environments let organisations and fleet operators coordinate employee carpooling, taxi services and corporate travel with full operational visibility.
Multi-role dispatch & visibility
Centralised dashboards give a real-time view across riders, drivers, fleet operators and administrators, so coordination and decisions happen in one place.
Automated driver payouts
An automated payout system pays drivers accurately and on time with full transparency, removing manual financial effort across the network.
ESG & eco-impact dashboards
Dashboards track environmental impact, calculate precise CO₂ reduction metrics and generate eco-impact reports organisations can act on.
Key features
What the platform does day to day
Five AI-driven capabilities, each closing one of the gaps identified above.
| Capability | Runs | Refresh | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI document verification | On submission | Per document | AI-powered OCR processes driver and vehicle documents and generates structured compliance profiles, removing manual review delays |
| Smart dispatch & risk management | Continuous | Real time | Analyses location history and driver behaviour for trip tracking, risk scoring and route deviation detection |
| AI document validation | Driver-facing | Within seconds | Returns instant compliance validation and real-time verification feedback to drivers |
| Fleet compliance management | Admin | Continuous | Monitors credentials, expirations and anomalies, giving administrators centralised compliance visibility |
| AI fleet notifications | Event-driven | On trigger | Generates driver alerts, rider messages and compliance notifications through one communication system |
Integrations
How the moving parts plug in
Mapping, messaging, notifications and analytics reach the platform through one API layer rather than sitting beside it as separate tools.
Connected capabilities
Google Maps API
Geocoding and routing data
Leaflet & Mapbox Polyline
Map rendering and route geometry
Firebase Admin SDK
Driver and rider notifications
AWS
Cloud-native hosting and scale
↓
through one real-time API and messaging layer ↓
Platform integration layer
Node.js & Express API
One contract for every client
Socket.io & RabbitMQ
Live updates and event queues
JWT, OTP & access control
Riders, drivers, fleets, admins
↓
into the core services ↓
Core services
Ride management
Matching & routing
Live tracking
Fleet & enterprise
ESG analytics
Because dispatch, tracking, payouts and sustainability reporting resolve against the same services, a completed trip becomes a driver payment and a CO₂ reduction figure without anyone re-entering it somewhere else.
Security
What protects riders, drivers and fleet data
A shared transport network runs on trust, so identity, authorisation and reliability were designed in rather than bolted on.
Granular access control
Role-based controls keep riders, drivers, fleet managers and administrators to the features and operations they are authorised for, across shared and enterprise environments.
Identity verification
OTP verification and AI-assisted document checks confirm drivers and vehicles, producing structured compliance profiles instead of manually reviewed paperwork.
Safety & risk workflows
Location history and driver behaviour feed trip tracking, risk scoring and route deviation detection, so unusual journeys surface while they are still in progress.
Monitored infrastructure
Infrastructure monitoring tracks GPS synchronisation and fleet operations, detecting issues early as trip volume and the number of connected fleets grow.
Process
How we got there
Five stages, starting with how people actually travel in Mauritius rather than a feature list.
0
1
Transportation research
Studied local commuting behaviour and real-world mobility challenges, analysing rider demand patterns and fleet coordination needs to find the gaps in existing services.
0
2
Architecture & real-time engineering
Designed scalable infrastructure for live trip coordination, built modular backend systems for ride management and matching logic, and integrated Socket.io and RabbitMQ communication layers.
0
3
UI/UX & operational workflows
Operational dashboards gave fleet managers visibility into activity and analytics, while rider and driver workflows were structured around booking, tracking and coordinating trips in real time.
0
4
Sustainability interfaces
Dedicated tracking interfaces made environmental impact legible, so CO₂ reduction and eco-impact reporting sit alongside operational metrics rather than in a separate exercise.
0
5
Validation & operational scaling
Continuous testing and deployment validation, large-scale route simulation and GPS synchronisation testing, plus infrastructure monitoring for fleet operations as usage scales.
Business impact
What changed for the business
Beyond the headline numbers, three things organisations, commuters and drivers noticed first.
Visibility for organisations
Enterprises gained transportation visibility and a way to manage employee mobility centrally, instead of coordinating carpooling, taxis and corporate travel through separate arrangements.
Cheaper journeys for commuters
Shared rides, better matching and optimised routes cut what commuters pay to travel, which is what turned utilisation gains into adoption of shared mobility.
Transparent earning for drivers
Drivers got transparent operational systems and flexible earning opportunities, with automated payouts replacing manual reconciliation.
Commercial outcome
What the engineering choices are worth in operating terms
Every headline number traces back to a specific decision, not a vague platform effect.
| Engineering decision | Operating outcome | Measured effect |
|---|---|---|
| Smart carpool matching & pickup sequencing | Trips are paired on the most efficient route with fewer wasted detours | 46% better ride utilisation |
| Shared mobility coordination across services | Commuters share journeys instead of travelling alone or paying for single-occupancy trips | 33% lower commuter costs |
| Automated driver payouts & multi-role dispatch | Drivers see transparent operations and flexible work across fleets and carpooling | 41% more earning opportunity |
| Socket.io live tracking & enterprise portals | Riders, fleets and enterprises trust the platform enough to make it their default | 89% shared mobility adoption |
Stack
What it's built on
The actual technologies, not feature names with icons attached.
Frontend
- React.js
- TypeScript
- Vite.js
- Tailwind CSS
- Redux Toolkit
- AG-Grid
Backend
- Node.js
- Express.js
- Socket.io
- RabbitMQ
- Haversine algorithms
Data & infra
- PostgreSQL
- Prisma ORM
- AWS
Integrations & security
- Google Maps API
- Leaflet
- Mapbox Polyline
- Firebase Admin SDK
- JWT
- OTP verification
- Bcrypt
Full case study
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- Real-time tracking and matching architecture
- Research-to-scaling process, phase by phase
- Enterprise fleet and ESG reporting decisions in detail
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