National Highway Authority of India currently is planning to build a citizen facing interface which can cater to all highway related needs of NH commuters. NHAI already has an Android mobile application called Sukhaad Yatra (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rsawh.nhia&hl=en_IN&gl=US) which needs to be upgraded and advanced further.
Citizens are invited to share their ideas on how the Sukhad Yatra app can be improved with additional features/ integrations to better service the needs of citizens. The end outcome is to improve the experience of NH commuters and build a robust medium of 2-way communication.
The tool will not be limited to but can cover the following areas:
● Informing users of construction and maintenance activities
● Allowing users to register complaints pertaining to the condition of the highway or highway activities such as toll (for eg. If wait times for a toll gate are too long or if FasTag is not working at a gate)
● Allow users to rate highways on various characteristics of the highway around their experience as a rider (on both negative and positive characteristics of experience, for example whether the NH offers a scenic route or view)
● Allow user to access emergency and first response services on the highway
● Allow users to access information on wayside amenities, petrol pumps, EV stations etc. Information about location of facilities along the route can be searched on Google Maps but this is hard to access for non smartphone users.
● Allow users to report traffic congestion, accidents, debris, toll-relates issues, request EV charging points etc to local command centres (Eg. Waze)
● The interface should be able to cater to user-needs of commuters with and without smartphones
● The interface should have a strong focus on UX, intuitive and centred around the day-to-day needs and experience of highway users.
The interface can also operate as a platform through which multiple existing private and public applications can link to such as NH’s toll free number, toll management system etc or travel related apps (MapMyIndia, Google Maps etc) which already have a high user-base. The platform should leverage strengths of existing IT applications and not reinvent where necessary.
The design should cater to all kinds of NH users such as:
● Commercial (trucking etc) who may or may not have a smartphone and a user design which caters to their needs
● Personal long-distance commuter which may not be as frequent but may have access to smartphones
● Local residents who live around the highways and use it more frequently than private long distance commuters
Submissions to this can be in the form of app mock-ups/ prototypes, presentations, concept notes on platform and other interfaces, list of desired features by commuters etc.
Tha last date of submission of ideas is 15th June 2022.
