Mobile applications are here to stay and flourish as every new business that is set up in the city is opting for it. Many youngsters have been designing and innovating a variety of apps for a range of social uses. Vishwas Jayarama is one of them. An engineering graduate, who quit his job as a scientist from DRDO, has come out with a social innovation called HopOn, a mobile app, currently in android, for real time carpooling, which was launched in April.
Traffic volume
"We realised that we needed to do something with the existing infrastructure so as to reduce the traffic volume in this city. So, we developed a patent building model out of this. HopOn is a system, which will look beyond the normal options of public transportation by providing the fastest and most personalised results to suit one’s needs. It takes care of instant and unplanned ride sharing needs to reduce the travel time, emissions and money spent by common man to reach destination," says Vishwas, the co-founder.
He and his friends conducted a market research and launched the application, which is now in its Beta stage. "We are currently concentrating our efforts in Electronics City, Kengeri, areas like Hosur Road, Silk Board and will be take it up in a phase wise manner. Our aim is to reach inaccessible areas," explains Vishwas who has approached the Bangalore Traffic Police which is campaigning for car pooling.
Car pooling system
"We have presented this application and jointly came up with a method as to how we can improve and implement the system. We thought it would be apt if we can have lanes or specific slots for car poolers. In fact, car pooling in Bangalore started three years ago with radio announcements, which is yet to pick up," he adds. Right now they have around 400 sign ups. But the issue now is coordination, admits Vishwas. He opines, "People tend to be late for work and there will be last minute drop outs and all this was kept in mind before coming out with the app. Since most of them use smart phones, this application is user friendly. We also have a system where car pooling can be done among womenfolk."
- shardhaa@newindianexpress.com