Lunchtime rushes at food outlets around campus can put a huge damper on anyone's day. xDine is an app that integrates online ordering into a restaurant’s website in order to provide a way for them to move into the digital age with ease. The app is now being used by the AMS for students in the new SUB.
The AMS has taken this concept and worked it into the Nest. Now, instead of waiting in line for a horrendous amount of time to get your food, students can order their food before even arriving at the building. This means that the precious moments before you have to dash to class will not be spent waiting for food because, in all your smartness, you have ordered your food online.
Something to keep in mind when using the app is that there is a delay in the time you order your food and the time you can pick up your food.
Ava Nasiri, VP Administration of the AMS, explained this as a way to prevent people from ordering their food just to jump to the front of the line.
“You can’t stand next to someone in line, order and get your food before them. There is a bit of a delay for that food outlet to have an opportunity to make your food,” she said. “It’s also preventing the risk for a system in which you have people waiting in line forever because these online orders just pile up and the people in line continue to get bumped down.”
This feature has been at UBC for a year now. Formerly Lunchstreet, it was launched last year and has been updated to complement the new food outlets in the Nest.
The app is simple: you first choose the outlet you want, then select menu item(s) that fit your diet and finally pay by credit or debit card.
For those who pay with debit or credit cards, the app will save time. However, for the hundreds of students, first-years especially, who rely on their meal cards to feed themselves, they are out of luck.
Nasiri said that the AMS is very aware of the students who rely on their UBC Cards and have been in contact with UBC over the use of their cards on the AMS’s xDine. Unfortunately, UBC is trying to get students to pay more if they wish to use their UBC Cards to pay for this service. This is something the AMS is not trying to endorse.
Long term goals for this app seem within reach. The AMS hopes that xDine will allow students to log on anywhere, order from any UBC outlet with either their credit, debit, UBC Card or an AMS gift card; go to the outlet, show them the confirmation number and walk out with their lunch for the day.
Share this article
