HYDERABAD: Commuters travelling in RTC buses, including the city buses, can track the exact location of their bus and plan their journey accordingly as APSRTC is incorporating GPS-GPRS technology in over 3,500 buses by next month.
Equipped with the Vehicle Tracking System, this technology will disseminate information to passengers about arrival of buses on LED and LCD screens to be installed at 102 stages in the capital and at 87 strategic locations in different districts.
Information will also be provided in the buses as well through audio announcements and scrolling in televisions. The technology would also be beneficial to authorities to track the vehicle’s location and maintain punctuality. In case of any delay or breakdown, authorities can track the location of the bus and arrange another bus. Drivers skipping stages or cutting short the trips too can be detected through monitoring in the main control room, explains APSRTC Executive Director (IT) G. Jaya Rao.
Under a pilot project, authorities are planning to install the GPS –GPRS facility in 2,000 city buses and 1,500 long-distance buses operating on the Hyderabad-Vijayawada, Hyderabad-Bangalore, Hyderabad-Karimnagar and Vijayawada-Tirupati routes.
Another special feature about this technology is that two surveillance cameras would be installed in each bus, with a maximum of 48 hours footage storage capacity. These cameras can come in handy during any untoward incidents like the recent attack on Hyderabad-bound Shirdi bus by robbers at Jamkhed in Maharashtra, he says. Four exclusive control rooms are to be established at Picket, Bus Bhavan, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam. Estimated to cost Rs.18 crore, which is totally funded by the Central government, the project will be taken up by CMC Limited. Towards operation and maintenance, RTC needs to pay Rs. 350 per bus every month to CMC Limited, he adds.
