Traffline: An App That Gives You Traffic Updates on the Go

Traffic snarls is one of the major reasons for tardiness in India. ‘Running on Indian Standard Time’ is a frequently used expression in the case of latecomers. Accidents, VIP routes, excavation work on roads lead to traffic jams. Traffline helps to know which roads will be congested before setting out. We've seen instances of the traffic police helping citizens using social media.

‘Traffline’, is an app developed by Bird Eye Systems Pvt. Ltd. that shows live traffic conditions in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. The Traffline app maps out traffic flow on your desired route in the city.

So, for instance, if you want to know the traffic situation, specifically between Dadar East to Bandra West, the map marks out the stretches on the route where traffic is congested, slow, moderate and smooth using colour coding. You can also access this on the Traffline website.

Traffline also provides traffic updates in real time on Twitter through its city-specific Twitter handles - @TrafflineMUM, @TrafflineDEL and @TrafflineBLORE for Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore respectively. These traffic updates are provided only between 8 am and 9 pm.

Accident between car and bus at Borivali west Mahada colony traffic is slow in both directions

— Traffline Mumbai (@TrafflineMUM) June 27, 2013

Traffline also has an on-field team which reports traffic information from various parts of the city. As soon as the information is reported, it is cross-verified against the Traffline website. The information is then relayed on Twitter. Traffline also monitors different traffic related hashtags on Twitter to reach out to commuters. They update their followers on traffic disruptions caused by rallies, festivals, occasions and accidents.

On Facebook, Traffline posts road safety tips and traffic related information, Safety tips etc.

The Traffline app is available on iPhone, Android and Blackberry. In addition to this, Traffline also provides daily traffic alerts on Loop Mobile and one can call on their helpline for live traffic help. Particularly in the monsoons, this app is a huge boon for commuters as it can help them zeroin on a route of their choice.

But while the Traffline website provides updates 24 x 7, the Twitter handle only provides updates between 8am and 9pm from Monday to Saturday. I believe they can easily leverage the power of social media by providing round-the-clock updates on Twitter, especially since peak hour traffic seems to extend well beyond 9 pm on most days. Plus, there are always traffic snarls on a Sunday. Twitter is a great platform to reach out to its audience instead of limiting it to only six days of the week.