Birds Eye Systems' Traffline facilitates tracking traffic real-time

Traffic congestion has been and currently still is the biggest problem faced by people living in key Indian metros. While most people only crib about it and forget about it as routine, Brijraj Vaghani and Ravi Khemani, co-founders of Mumbai-based Birds Eye Systems (BES) have decided to do something about it.

Backed with recent funding from Indian Angels Network (IAN) and significant work experience with wireless and internet companies in the US, the duo have launched a unique product called Traffline, which is a low-cost, real-time traffic monitoring system that broadcasts live traffic conditions to road commuters using its patented technology. The company also provides software and mobile applications, for transport related applications.

According to Brijraj Vaghani, users can download traffic related information from their online platform (www.traffline.com) and plan / optimise their road journey accordingly. “Real-time traffic monitoring is very common in the US but is not something done very seriously in India as yet as it is perceived to be very capital intensive. Taking the partnership approach, we collect raw data from various entities that use global positioning system (GPS) for their businesses. Using a patented algorithm, the data is then compiled to offer real-time traffic updates. This information is very useful to road commuters, traffic police, emergency service providers and infrastructure and city planning agencies,” said Vaghani.

Launched early this year, Traffline is currently available in cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore and claims to have nearly 1,000 visitors a day. The company had also launched a taxi booking service in September 2011 thereby building a user base of 15,000. In the coming few quarters BES will add more cities and taxi service providers to its network.

“We are planning integrate additional external sources with the Traffline platform and offer wider coverage. We will shortly start offering customised solutions to map providers that they can use to value add their products. The logistics companies will benefit from historical data on traffic patterns to plan their routing better,” said Khemani.

For people on the move, the company has also launched a mobile version of the website (www.m.traffline.com) there by allowing users to avail real time traffic information on their handsets. For Android and iPhone users, a mobile application (beta) has been developed and is available for downloads. An advanced version of this mobile app with integrated social networking will be introduced in the coming months.

Built on a platform that continuously analyses live vehicle movement and displays results on Traffline.com, the results are also made available in an easy to read text format on the mobile version. The service is currently free of charge for both web and mobile versions though the company is likely to unveil paid versions in the coming months.