‘Mitra’ app for KSRTC commuters launched

May 31, 2016 12:00 am | Updated 05:43 am IST - MYSURU:

Another step:Kataria R.K., KSRTC MD; E.V. Ramana Reddy, Principal Secretary, Transport; D.S. Mishra, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development; and others at the launch of the mobile application for intra-city bus operations, in Mysuru on Monday.— PHOTO: M.A. Sriram

Another step:Kataria R.K., KSRTC MD; E.V. Ramana Reddy, Principal Secretary, Transport; D.S. Mishra, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development; and others at the launch of the mobile application for intra-city bus operations, in Mysuru on Monday.— PHOTO: M.A. Sriram

An Android-based mobile application for the use of commuters under the Mysuru Intelligent Transport System (ITS) platform of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) was launched here on Monday.

D.S. Mishra, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development, launched the “Mitra” mobile app in the presence of E.V. Ramana Reddy, Principal Secretary, Transport, Bengaluru, R.K. Kataria, KSRTC Managing Director, and Ramesh Krishnan from the World Bank. The app was launched during the two-day Knowledge Sharing Workshop on ITS here.

The app has been developed by the students of Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering (SJCE), Mysuru. The app offers real-time data to commuters on the intra-city bus operations here. The app is available on Google Playstore. KSRTC felicitated the students led by G. Punith for developing the app for free. The other members of the students’ group are Abhishek S., Vikranth, Venkatesh Kurle and Raghavendra Bada, all students of computer and information science. Each student got a cash prize of Rs. 5,000 and a certificate.

Tracking the list of buses based on the user’s location; getting the buses; time-table schedule; finding the next bus at your location; buses nearby; women safety; and alerts are among the features of the app.

Importantly, KSRTC has shared its real-time information about its bus operations here, “big data,” with many engineering students and asked them to develop the app accordingly.

Over a dozen student groups had been shortlisted by the KSRTC screening committee for developing the app after an “Appathon” conducted in the city in February.

After a technical review, the concepts of two student groups had been approved. Among the two, the app developed by Mr. Punith and his classmates from SJCE was selected.

The app focuses on location-based information as a commuter can get information on the number of buses and their arrival time at a particular location using the app. Also, the app comes with an alert facility for commuters. For example, if there is a schedule change on any route or on their preferred routes, it alerts the commuters.

It gives information of the tourist spots and buses to the spots with a list of routes.

There is a map facility showing the area around any stop. This can be layered in the style of Google Maps to show available amenities.

Besides the facility of tracking a bus, the app helps to search by route or by stop and journey can be planned between any origin and destination pair, giving the best routing.

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