Lightning IP's Gavin James creates border checkpoint delay tracker

The managing director of Lightning IP has created a website which tracks the delays at popular border crossing points in almost real time to help residents pick which checkpoint to use.

Mr James, who lives in Albury, said he created the system to make life a bit easier on border residents - but also because as an expectant father he wanted to ensure he knew the quickest route to Wodonga's maternity ward at all times.

Mr James' wife Kendal is not due to give birth until March, but the pair need to cross for maternity appointment and want to know what to do in case the baby is in a rush to be born.

"Having a baby due, that was a bit of the motivation, they have all the maternity over in Wodonga and I'm in Albury," he said.

"We're only a couple of months away so if she goes into labour having the data there I can quickly access is crucial for me."

Mr James has a background as a web developer and created a program that collates all the traffic information available on Google Maps to show how delayed traffic is at each checkpoint and how long resident can expect to wait in line.

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The website covers the major crossings in Albury-Wodonga, comparing delays at the Hume Weir, the Lincoln Causeway and the Hume Highway.

"It probably took me about eight hours to program it," he said.

"With the response we got I was a bit worried it might crash the severs but fortunately not.

"I'm putting in some extra hours to make sure we have more processing power so it's something the community can continue to use as long as we need - hopefully not too long."

Since launching the site, Mr James has been overwhelmed by the response.

"It's something I'd been seeing on social media, people asking which way is the best way, is the Freeway free? etc," he said.

"I thought the data is out there with Google Maps so if I collate it and put it all in one place it might make life a bit easier during the stressful times we're going through.

"We've had an absolutely amazing response, looking at the stats on our website we had close to 4000 people access the information in the last 24 hours.

"It's been very well received by the community, I've had lots of personal messages saying thank you or giving the thumbs up and liking the business page."

Mr James said the system can easily be modified if the situation changes and NSW closes its border to Victoria.

The live delay tracker can be found on the Lightning IP website at https://www.lightningip.com.au/border-crossing-times.