For most commuters in India, reaching any destination, especially in the metros, comes with being prepared to be stuck in unpredictable traffic snarls. Local authorities in most cities have not been successful in controlling the traffic flow, especially in the metros. “While I was working in the US, I realized that people kept a tab on traffic updates before they left home or while traveling. In India, on the other hand, people were not used to doing this and apart from radio channels, there was no other traffic update service available,” says Brijraj Vaghani, CEO, Birds Eye Systems, a Mumbai-based startup that offers real-time traffic and travel information for Indian cities through mobile and internet channels under the brand name, Traffline.
Vaghani was pursuing his Masters in Electrical Engineering at the University of Missouri, Kansas City where he met and befriended his roommate, Ravi Khemani who was studying for his Masters in Computer Science. After graduating, they worked in the US for sometime where they observed commuting patterns and behavior of locals. “That’s when we decided that it was time for India to be introduced to this concept too,” says Khemani, COO, Birds Eye Systems. The duo finally decided to relocate to India and kickstarted their idea with a seed capital of Rs. 10 lakh to create an India-specific Intelligent Transportation System. Traffline launched in 2012 and the company raised Rs. 2 crore from Indian Angel Network (IAN) in April of the same year to expand the scope of services to multiple cities and for product development. Pacing up Traffline is a digital service that can be used all-day by users to get a heads-up on the traffic conditions in any city. Its real time traffic map uses color-coded lines that indicate areas of congestion, slow and fast moving traffic with details on jams, road accidents and best alternate routes available. The map is available on both their website and mobile applications. The company also has a helpline and Twitter handle for those who are not comfortable using their website. A call center takes care of this aspect of the business.
“We get traffic data from various sources that include private firms, government, police and public transport utilities and moving probes like
taxis, public transport vehicles and others that have a GPS installed in them. Our followers on social networking sites and people on the field give us information related to accidents and other events,” says Khemani. The network of probes is tracked meticulously after which a patented algorithm collates data from these sources and presents it to users in the desired format. The data is provided on a map of the
area with color coded lines, each representing a different traffic speed. Red shows areas with high traffic congestion, pink for slow moving traffic, blue reflects moderate traffic speed and green shows the routes with smooth vehicles movement.
Source .enterpreneurindia.in
Vaghani was pursuing his Masters in Electrical Engineering at the University of Missouri, Kansas City where he met and befriended his roommate, Ravi Khemani who was studying for his Masters in Computer Science. After graduating, they worked in the US for sometime where they observed commuting patterns and behavior of locals. “That’s when we decided that it was time for India to be introduced to this concept too,” says Khemani, COO, Birds Eye Systems. The duo finally decided to relocate to India and kickstarted their idea with a seed capital of Rs. 10 lakh to create an India-specific Intelligent Transportation System. Traffline launched in 2012 and the company raised Rs. 2 crore from Indian Angel Network (IAN) in April of the same year to expand the scope of services to multiple cities and for product development. Pacing up Traffline is a digital service that can be used all-day by users to get a heads-up on the traffic conditions in any city. Its real time traffic map uses color-coded lines that indicate areas of congestion, slow and fast moving traffic with details on jams, road accidents and best alternate routes available. The map is available on both their website and mobile applications. The company also has a helpline and Twitter handle for those who are not comfortable using their website. A call center takes care of this aspect of the business.
“We get traffic data from various sources that include private firms, government, police and public transport utilities and moving probes like
taxis, public transport vehicles and others that have a GPS installed in them. Our followers on social networking sites and people on the field give us information related to accidents and other events,” says Khemani. The network of probes is tracked meticulously after which a patented algorithm collates data from these sources and presents it to users in the desired format. The data is provided on a map of the
area with color coded lines, each representing a different traffic speed. Red shows areas with high traffic congestion, pink for slow moving traffic, blue reflects moderate traffic speed and green shows the routes with smooth vehicles movement.
Source .enterpreneurindia.in
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