GoMetro Traffic wants to help on your holiday journey

Just in time for the holiday season, GoMetro Traffic is an app designed for users travelling on roads. It is a spin-off of South African railway notification app, GoMetro.

“We observed that other traffic applications are focused on navigation, and require a user to keep their GPS on all the time in order to receive traffic information. Obviously, this kills battery life and can overheat your phone,” says Justin Coetzee of GoMetro in a recent press release.

He goes on to say, “Our app doesn’t waste battery life because we don’t use your GPS to send contextual traffic alerts, rather using a saved trip card. We also don’t want to distract you while you are driving, so simply save a trip card and we use the info you have shared with us to determine when to send you a push message about a traffic incident.”

The app allows the user to input their trip’s origin and destination. GoMetro Traffic will then monitor your route for traffic alerts as well as look at traffic statistics for high-risk drive times. It will then notify the user of alternative, safer times, and notify of any traffic problems.

Read more: GoMetro launches Email My Boss button for commuters stuck on trains

GoMetro has partnered with TrafficNet in order to secure their traffic data. Rob Byrne of TrafficNet explains that existing apps on the market focussed more on navigation instead of traffic information. “Our TrafficSA Twitter account grew very quickly to almost 200,000 followers, many of whom are continually asking us for relevant traffic information,” adds Byrne.

“This need led us to collaborate with GoMetro on providing a trip-planning app for drivers,” he adds. It also has a comprehensive list of all toll plazas, stop-go sections and the waiting times for these obstacles in South Africa.

The app is currently available on the Apple App store and will soon be available on Google Play for Android devices.