Escaping the web of traffic
An ex-IITian has designed a website that will give real time information
An ex-IITian has designed a website that will give real time information
If you are planning to travel long distance by road and do not wish to get stuck in the city’s heavy traffic, help is just a click away. Traffic woes can be solved in a jiffy, if the traffic department adopts a simple system devised by an IITian. Akshay Mishra, an alumnus of IIT-Bombay, along with a networking engineer, Sandeep Adiwarekar, will soon launch a website that will give you real time update of the city’s traffic.
The website, www.roadjams.info, will also keep you informed of big potholes and flooded areas in the city. The idea, which is supported by UB Desai, senior faculty from the electrical engineering department, is set to become a reality in a month’s time.
“It is an interesting concept but we will need volunteers to help us upload information. The website can be accessed by anyone wanting to make long distance trips in the city by road. Those having GPRS-enabled mobile phones can get the updates on their cell,” Mishra said.
Traffic will be tracked on Google Maps. The site needs participation of individual commuters and agencies like BEST, traffic police, autorickshaw and taxi services. Any individual can participate using a GPRS-enabled mobile phone or a smart phone with an external device which will receive information and send it to the central server.
“If you are on the Western Express Highway and witness a major traffic jam, you have to manually put a check mark on road jam, one of the options available to you. The other options are clear road and slow traffic. If you see a pothole, you will mark the option and the system will upload it within seconds,” Adiwarekar said. Though now the system is manual, it will soon be automated and will upload the information by sensing the traffic movement.
“We will have to depend on manual work for authenticity in the current form, but we will soon upgrade the system,” said Mishra. At present, they are trying to seek support through their personal networks and visitors at important IIT events. “We will try to rope in as many people as possible within a month,” Adiwarekar said.
“I will have to see the blueprint to check the feasibility of the project,” DCP traffic, Harish Baijal said.