Have you waited at the bus stop, not sure if the bus is coming or has gone?
Dileep Kumar, an IT professional, has developed an application on the android platform called ‘My MTC ,’ which, he claims, gives real-time information about the location of buses.
“The idea behind the app is to give people the right information at the right time,” says Dileep, who took eight months to build the app, which was launched two months ago.
Dileep says 70 per cent of buses, especially deluxe and AC ones, have been provided a GPS systems. However, the don’t work in these buses, he adds.
“The app can tell them when their buses are likely to come. Accordingly, they can either wait or take another mode of transport,” he adds.
The app is based on crowd sourcing technology and depends on updates about bus routes by users. The GPS will take the location of the phone. Anyone looking for the same bus will immediately get a notification. “When people tag a bus, they get alerts about it when someone someone updates its location. The app requires regular feedback from people,” says Dileep.
In the last two months, the app has seen 2,500 downloads and has 500 regular users. Dileep believes that once it catches up, the app is bound to be a success.
Apart from the real-time information, the app also provides detailed bus route maps, information on road diversions, fare changes, provides information about the location of the nearest bus stop and the buses that stop there.
The app can be downloaded free of cost from Google Play Store by typing My MTC. Dileep is working on developing the app on other platforms such as IPhone and Windows.
