It’s believed that Bangalore is one of the drivers of the world’s IT traffic towards India. It’s no surprise then, that Bangalore is the first in India to get a solution for tackling traffic issues, using IT. Mapunity Information Services develops GIS for government departments, civil society organisations, and development initiatives of commercial ventures. It rolled out the Bangalore Transport Information System (BTIS) in June this year with Airtel and the Bangalore Traffic Police as partners. The system allows users to plan their trips based on immediate traffic information, and also helps road traffic authorities monitor patterns of movement in real time.

Dr. Ashwin Mahesh, CEO, Mapunity speaks to Biztech 2.0 about using IT to address India’s social issues.

Can you brief us about how BTIS works, and the technological architecture used?

The basic idea is that most people have cell phones with them, and therefore if you track phone logs in real time, you can arrive at points of congestion. Once Airtel agreed to work with us, they installed micro towers in certain congested areas at traffic crossings. We mine the data from their network and use our processing engine to map it spatially using GIS.

We‘ve created analytical algorithms, based on historical data, to help us judge when the traffic is smooth, slow or delayed. We also created predictive algorithms that help estimate how long a trip would take from point A to point B. This information is available to users on the web, and by SMS.

Some people ask if looking at Airtel customers alone is enough. The conventional understanding is that 15-20% of the total population has to be sampled to ensure that the data is representative of the whole. Airtel has 40 or 45% of the market, which is more than adequate.

A real time system like this is bound to have thrown up some glitches. Could you share a few of them with us?

You can’t call these glitches, but there are some small concerns we face. We currently have network towers that monitor 80% of the junctions in Bangalore. This is therefore not 100% coverage, but as technology rolls out, we will be able to extend our coverage. Another aspect is that although we have worked with the traffic department to determine 95% of the one ways, there may still be some occasions where we suggest a route and people get back to us saying they encountered one ways. So we have a platform to build on, there is no structured system at this stage, but we’ll get there.

How long does it take to roll out the system and how much customisation is required?

It takes two or three days, at the most. We are about to launch the system in Hyderabad, and we found that although we had planned for 3 weeks to create the system for that city, 2 days were enough to create a proto-type. We have a ‘first participation’ agreement with Airtel, and when we look at a new city, we do this together. We will soon launch in Hyderabad, and Pune and Delhi have shown interest as well.

The technology itself is easily replicated and does not require much customisation. We do need to take local knowledge into account and work with authorities on that. Other than that, Airtel has to work out permission issues with regard to sharing of data. At this rate, if we launch the system at a new place every 2-4 months, we can soon go national.

In what ways can the solution be used to address social issues?

Yes, car-pooling is one of the features of this system that can reduce the number of cars on the road. With 600 vehicles being added to the road daily in Bangalore alone, it can make a huge impact. People can send a group SMS to their colleagues or friends or even find other people who go the same way. A few companies have asked if we can arrange this service specifically for their employees. I’m trying to get electric cycle and scooter makers to join into this to make the experience more eco friendly. If someone has to be picked up from within a km, they wouldn’t mind riding to the place.

We can actually extend this technology to different urban development initiatives. We can also map things like road construction, broken streetlights etc., which affect traffic in a way, hence different government departments can work from the same platform. We’re also working in the public health space, where for example, we can map the areas where cholera is rampant. We’re doing some rural energy mapping as well.

It takes time for social issues to be addressed using IT. Why is that, and how do you sustain revenue?

With social issues, there is a complexity of information involved. We need to be able to visualise this complexity first, to analyse it, and that’s what this method allows us to do. With the involvement of experts and government we can build technology that will add this value. The Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) in Bangalore, Mr M N Reddi, was one of the first people who showed interest in this kind of spatial information technology, and we used the opportunity.

For sustainability, I believe in a ‘cost model’ rather than a revenue model. Mapunity is more like a research lab, in that sense. If you build something useful, someone somewhere will pay for it. Some companies think it’s a fantastic opportunity to partner with us in solving a social problem, and they also see that we’re working on some key technologies with significant future potential. Airtel has of course provided a huge amount of support as well. We have some support from industry associations like CII and also from some government administrators, which helps us find the money for our work.

What we’re finding is that many of the things we’re working on are not that complicated. You just need someone to imagine solutions, and then develop them. It enthuses us that building technology for India, makes IT a little more real for everyone.