Lagos-based traffic monitoring platform, Beat Traffik has released an update for their mobile app. The update, Beat Traffik v2.0, is available for Android devices, and it comes with features that allows users receive traffic, accident, and robbery reports; view places of interest; and watch drone traffic videos.
Beat Traffik, founded by Odionye Confidence and Popoola Tobi, is a mobile and web application that provide users with live traffic updates. It was founded in 2014 and has since then helped about 10,000 Lagos commuters avoid traffic through its twitter account and a prototype web application.
The new Beat Traffik app update includes:
- Auto reroute: The app automatically reroutes users based on traffic conditions, navigating them through free or slow traffic areas.
- Places of interest: Where users can locate fuel stations, eateries, hospitals, etc. in their areas.
- Commuter Direction Service: Users can either call to get informed of traffic situations and possible alternatives to take, or they can arrange for Beat Traffik to call them on a subscription basis at a fee of N1,500 monthly.
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Drone traffic feeds: That’ll let users watch live videos taken from Beat Traffik drones.
If you’re wondering how the Beat Traffik team can even use drones in Nigeria in the first place (because there’s still that issue of ridiculous drone regulations), the answer is determination.
In the words of cofounder, Odionye Confidence, “We wrote a letter to the office of the NCAA, addressed early May this year. It was not responded to after weeks. I literally had to walk the streets of the airport, MM1 to be in particular, meeting with most NCAA staff, answering questions regarding our operations and why we needed the license. I had to make couple of friends in the NCAA who gave me a guideline on the particular office to address my letter to. That enabled swift response from the NCAA.”
BeatTraffik for iOS is in the works and it’s just a matter of time before it’ll be released. Meanwhile, Beat Traffik’s partnered with SilverBird Television (STV) so viewers can watch live drone traffic videos on TV. The videos air every week day on STV at 4:55pm.
