Public transport is uncoordinated in Lagos. This is basically due to the fact that there is no interactive and engaging platform to get information about navigating around the mega-city. The National Union of Road Transport Workers which is meant to be responsible for information like transport fares, direction among others is doing little or nothing.
Thus, navigating around Lagos is difficult for those who are unfamiliar with the ever busy state. What most Lagosians do is to ask people for directions or they take cabs which can sometimes be expensive. If you are not careful, you may get lost.
For the tech-savvy, they result to Google maps and these maps can only do as much.
This direction palava is about to come to end as Lara.ng has been launched to provide public transportation directions in Lagos and other parts of Nigeria.
Founded by Sam Odeloye (CEO), Nnamdi Nwanze (CTO) and Ladi Ojora (COO) this year, Lara.ng is an Artificial Intelligent chatbot for public transportation that gives directions and quotes the amount of bus fare to anywhere you are going in Lagos.
The startup is like the friend you contact when you find yourself lost in an unfamiliar terrain. Lara offers 24 hours public transport directions to her users.
In order to make the app functional, the founders systematically gathered data, worked on the available data and evolved a user-friendly chatbot they called Lara.
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Currently, available on WhatsApp, Lara.ng will soon be extended to Facebook Messenger according to one of the co-founders, Ladi Ojora. He said: “Soon she would also be available on Facebook Messenger because easy accessibility to her users is a major priority for Lara.
