JOIN USBengaluru-based app aims to make highway travel seamless
Highway Delite, a Bengaluru-based travel tech start-up, that provides information of verified highway pit stops and wayside amenities across India, recently won the National Startup Award in Tourism Sector- Travel Planning and Discover category. The award is handed over by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade of the Indian government every year to startups that building innovative products and solutions as part of an effort to promote the Startup India campaign.
Rajesh Ghatanatti founded Highway Delite in 2015. The idea was born out of his own experiences of travelling on highways.
“I have slept in the cab I was travelling because I couldn’t get a decent lodge and have had trouble finding a hygenic restaurants more times than I can count. As a business traveller, I faced so many challenges, which got me thinking about those travelling with families, elders and children,” he says.
While the norm is to rely on Google Maps for all things related to navigation, what sets the app apart is the fact that all the information that they provide has been verifie.
“There are instances when Google Maps directs you to a particular location, but then you end up having to hunt for what you were looking. Reviews are only available for some facilities, and even those don’t cover a kot of ground,” he explains.
The platform enables commuters to have real time location across 12 categories including restaurants, dhabas, washroom, fuel pumps, hotels, mechanic, ATMs, pharmacies, hospitals, accident Zones, and souvenir stores. across the above categories including separate women washroom, disabled access, disabled washrooms, first aid kit, digital payments, and others. They have a field team in place that goes an checks out each every facility possible. Photographs are taken as proof.
They include information such as the availability of separate washrooms for women, disablity-friendly access annd washrooms, first aid kit, digital payments, and others.
“We aim to be a single platform where all necessary information that can make travelling on the highway easy is available,” he explains.
To this end they even source information from biking groups. “We work with over 50 groups. They inform us of the facilities they used, and their experience. They also have an open contribution option where customers or merchant can let then know about new outlets,” he says.
However, they keep the information circle to be a closed group to ensure that the information they receive is credible.
They are also working towards intergrating the platform with mobility stakeholders such as automobile brands, auto unions, and travel platforms.
Post lockdown, highway travels have gone back to 90 per cent of pre-covid levels, he says. This has helped improve business activity on hghways.
“Road travel will only increase. Even for vacations, people are more likely to avoid international travel and opt for short road trips,” he says.
To ensure seamless travel during pandemic, they have introduced a system that marks whether the outlets are adhering to necessary protocols.
They will soon introduce a contactless ordering system, where users can place an order for food 45 minutes before they reach the outlet.