In Lagos, commuting presents untold experiences, with drivers harassed by conditions beyond their control, but traffic remains the biggest challenge. While sitting in traffic in the city may seem like a necessary evil, several app developers have found ways to make navigating the Nigerian roads less agonizing.
Making your way through the streets of Lagos has never been easier thanks to these navigational apps which provide detailed street maps transit information and provide interesting data on commuting.
If you are stuck in a gridlock or looking for easy ways to get past a roadblock, we've got you covered. Here, Jovago.com, Africa's no.1 online hotel booking portal has rounded up 8 apps that will help you get to your destination faster.
Gidi traffic.
Available on Android and Microsoft
Gidi traffic is a community-based traffic and navigation app that lets you share real-time transit information in Lagos. It alerts you before you approach police, accidents, road hazards or traffic jams and lets you scout the city for jobs, stores, labor, people and places. You can also make inquiries about anything and get replies instantly, as well as share traffic reports with your friends on the numerous Social Networks you are on.
JonnyWaka 316
Available on Android
A mobile app designed to improve road user experience, safe and efficient road management as well as reduction of road hazards, JonnyWaka316 gives users the opportunity to help the administrators upload traffic incidents like accidents, flood and armed robberies for everyone to see and the incidents are then marked on the road, route, and map showing the precise locations. The app assists authorities like Nigeria's Federal Road Safety Corp, FRSC and the Nigerian police to monitor and report traffic situations, track road crimes and armed robberies.
The Traffic Lite App
Available on Google Play Store, Blackberry App world and IPhone's iStore
TrafficLiteApp aimed at easing traffic on Lagos routes, is a community-based traffic application which provides real-time traffic updates including accidents, traps and hazards on the road, to subscribers on its platform, helping them save time, money and aids in improving daily commuting for all. Its traffic report shows the actual cumulative speed on the route, actual number of road commuters present on the route, an estimated travel time, route distance and bottlenecks along the route. Users can also save custom routes and share with friends as well as send automatic traffic route reports or alerts.
Tsaboin TrafficTalk app
Available on Blackberry, Android, Windows Phone and Facebook
Tsaboin Traffic Talk app provides a forum for commuters in Lagos to share real-time traffic experiences, road conditions and also other related issues like accidents and bad roads through text updates and photos. These updates are sorted by the thousands of daily users into bus stops or terminals, and these users can also follow friends that ply routes they are interested in, to see what updates their friends post or broadcast on their home feed. The app recently added live traffic cameras, however, their services are limited to Apapa, Ikeja, Ikorodu, Island, Surulere and Yaba areas of Lagos.
Traffikator
Available for Blackberry
A social traffic app, Traffikator delivers instant traffic info using a combination of crowd-sourced traffic updates and geolocation. The app allows for easier movement in Lagos via location data (GPS) and reports send to the Traffikator Network and generates maps that show you the traffic situation all over the city. Users can connect and chat with users on the Traffikator Network directly on your mobile phone, and can also tweet at them, vice-versa.
Traffic butter
Available for download for Blackberry devices, Android devices, Apple iPads and iPhones.
TrafficButter eases the Lagos transit stress by providing real-time updates through a mobile App which captures traffic situations, and presents them to its users in a concise manner.
Road Peer
Available on Blackberry (BB OS 6 & 7 compatible)
There's no better way to know what's happening on the roads than to see it for yourself. Roadpeer, a location-based mobile app for viewing and reporting traffic conditions on major roads in Lagos, uses maps and GPS, allowing view and reporting with a click of the button. The app gathers user-reports and uses an intelligent programming algorithm to analyze and publish traffic conditions to all its users in real-time.It also has a social-networking feature, where those in gridlocks can share information; communicate on alternative routes and conditions of the road.
Available on BlackBerry only (BB10 currently not supported)
