SINGAPORE - More than 180 participants took part in a Hackathon organised by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) over the weekend, and they came up with 20 transport apps to solve commuting woes and improve the public transport experience for users.

The participants, from universities, polytechnics and technology companies, were tasked to design apps under three categories - active mobility, public transport and special needs.

The Transport and You(th) Hackathon started on Friday. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was present on Sunday to give away prizes. He also spoke to winners at an exhibition at the Devan Nair Institute for Employment and Employability.

Participants made use of publicly available datasets from the LTA's DataMall portal.

As part of the Hackathon, five new datasets, including real-time data on bus arrivals and passenger loads and taxi availability, were also launched.

The LTA and Microsoft announced an extension of their collaboration for DataMall@MyTransport.SG, a site which provides land transport data for the public and third-party application developers.

LTA's chief executive Chew Men Leong congratulated the winners, and encouraged them to further develop their creations.

"It is truly heartening to know many of you would want to continue to help create a more liveable and inclusive environment, even well after this event has ended," he said.