Timing is everything, and when it comes to getting to work on time, it is safe to say the men and women at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa may have a worse commute than most.

Four roads lead to entrances at MacDill, and since Sept. 11, 2001, the base's population has tripled, leaving the routes to work jammed with extra cars and trucks.

Scott Hood has worked on base for 16 years and wishes there were a better way to control the traffic.

"It's frustrating," he said. "Everyone has vented about it. Everyone talks about it and I'm sure that powers that be understand. If there were other avenues they would probably come up with something."

That's where Pinellas County engineer Dick Kane comes in. In partnership with the Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority, he's working with a team at MacDill to develop an application to show actual traffic delays on the roads leading to the base. It's called VIA 511.

"MacDill wants everybody to have that information, because as a good citizen in the community there they don't want people cutting through every place looking for the shortest route," Kane said. "They want them to know the quickest way in.  Just go to that gate, get to their jobs on time, get to their meetings on time.  So they've been fabulous to work with."

Kane's application measures traffic flow on any street any where, and for MacDill he's isolated their bottleneck, the four roads that lead to the base gates, showing the traffic flow at 60-second intervals.

Kane says this technology can be applied to any road.

"The great thing about a community-sourced app is that it lets the community help themselves," he said. "They can make an informed decision."

To download the app, visit https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/via511/id1063948222?mt=8.