Commute ‘smart’ with these five useful mobile apps

Make your daily commute smarter with these five useful smartphone apps.

The Google Maps app logo is seen on a smartphone in this picture illustration taken September 15, 2017. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Files (REUTERS)

Gone are days of maps, now smartphones have become the one-stop destination for almost all your commuting problems. There are several apps that you can download on your Android and iOS devices from the Google Play Store or App Store that may help you navigate busy streets and unknown places.

The location or commuting apps not just tell you the route but all give you live updates, including traffic congestion, alternative routes, roads diversion, estimated time of arrival.

Google Maps: The app helps you with real-time GPS navigation, traffic status from your source to arrival destination and ETA (estimated time of arrival). Google Maps automatically reroutes if there is a lot of traffic, road closure on your route.

If you are driving to office you can save your office and home address on Google Maps and it will tell you the best possible route to reach to work on time.

m-Indicator: If you are in Mumbai and you commute in local trains, then m-indicator is the best app for you. This app provides live tracking of Mumbai local trains along with information on public transport in other cities, including Delhi and Pune.

It has information on local train timings, fare and platforms details among other things. There is a live chat option where you can talk to other app users and ask about availability and delay of public transport.

Chalo: Taking the bus daily to commute to your office? Chalo is one app that you can rely on. You will no longer have to reach your bus stop in advance and wait for your bus as the app provides live updates.

Chalo, which was previously known as Zophop, is currently available in Agra, Bhopal, Guwahati, Indore, Jabalpur, Jaipur, Kanpur, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mathura, Mangaluru, Meerut, Nagpur, Patna, Prayagraj and Ujjain. It will soon be available in Bengaluru and Goa.

The app also allows you to know about the cheapest and fastest trips to a particular destination. Chalo is available in 7 languages English, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Malayalam, Assamese and Kannada.

Ridlr: Through Ridlr you can book tickets for buses and metros. It also provides the timetable for most public vehicles.

Ridlr is available in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Pune, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Bhavnagar, Indore, Bellary, Vijayawada, Ludhiana, Vadodara and Nagpur.

One Delhi: Launched by the Delhi government, One Delhi helps you to get the real-time ETA of all the orange buses plying in the national capital, routes of buses and metros, and finding out the nearest bus stops.