The Chennai Bus app, with more than 1.10 lakh downloads, has been received well by the commuters in the city.
A senior official of the MTC said the Chennai Bus app launched for Android mobile phones would soon be available on the iOS platform for iPhone users with testing of the software under progress.
Launched by Transport Minister S.S. Sivasankar to help commuters to get real time movement of the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) in May this year, the app has become a hit among commuters.
Developed on the Locate and Access My Bus (LAMB) platform, the app provides real time bus data through the GPS equipment fitted in the MTC’s fleet of 3,454 buses giving commuters information on the timings of the buses at bus stops. This has been particularly helpful to those coming from other States.
T. Purushothaman, a resident of Medavakkam, said the app provides information on bus route numbers along with the estimated arrival time of the buses at bus stops. The installation of GPS equipment in buses has not only helped in getting real time data but also helped the MTC officials bring in operational efficiency and other route improvements.
The official said since the fixing of GPS equipment, the depot managers have been able to bring in operational efficiency of identifying routes which have high commuter volume, avoiding bunching of buses, and find travel time involved in various routes. All the data is readily available to the branch managers in computers for taking operational decisions, he said.