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CITY TO HOST SMARTPHONE "AMAZING RACE" FOR GEEKS   (Mon., April 9, 2012)—The City Department of Information Technology (DIT) is hosting "Geeks on DaBus," a city-wide version of The Amazing Race to test new bus applications for mobile devices on Thursday, April 12.               Geeks carrying their mobile devices can join Mayor Peter Carlisle to share their experience on a ride from anywhere on the island to The Greenhouse Innovation Hub at 685 Auahi Street in Kakaako.                "This is an opportunity for the public to tell us about their experience riding TheBus and evaluating our new applications," Carlisle said. "We plan to have fun but more importantly, we'll get to see how well these applications track bus locations, estimated times of arrival, and route experience."               "We're hoping those who are tech savvy and other interested parties will document their trips and provide feedback—including photography—concerning DaBus app performance," said Forest Frizzell, Deputy Director of DIT.               Those who arrive by noon at The Greenhouse in Kakaako, can enjoy a free lunch, Frizzell said. He added riders can join the event from anywhere on the island, at any time, and meet at the Greenhouse. Mayor Carlisle will participate by riding a bus to Kakaako from a location near Honolulu Hale.               Those participating in the event can use applications, including DaBus, which can be downloaded for Apple devices from the App Store. For other devices, Internet applications include Allb.us and Hea.TheBus.org.  All of these free apps and more can be downloaded on the City's transparency website at http://can-do.honolulu.gov/. Registration for Geeks on DaBus is required in advance for catering purposes, sign up online at http://dabushnl.eventbrite.com/               Frizzell said he hopes participants will form teams and share their experiences using the hashtag: #DaBusHNL. Lunch at the Greenhouse will also include a meeting with app developers Andy Yip and Jane Zeng, and members of the Oahu Transit Service, including President and General Manager Roger Morton. City employees will answer questions about TheBus and the performance of the new Internet applications.                                                                     -30-   Media contact: Forest Frizzell, Department of Information Technology, 768-7806.